The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1979)

I'll tell you why so serious

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Widely criticised and panned by many critics over the past two decades, this is a film which deserves a lot more respect than it currently has, i.e. mainly serving as the whipping boy of late Hammer horror by critics who have watched the film on fast-forward. While plagued by some obvious flaws, THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES still manages to be one of the most enjoyable, trashy (and most of all fun) Hammer horror films that was ever made, with the tongue firmly in cheek this time around.The main problem with the film lies in the fact Dracula is no longer played by Christopher Lee, but instead the unknown John Forbes-Robertson (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) with a ton of make-up on his face which makes him look more like a clown than any kind of threatening king of the undead. This really does make a mockery of Dracula and the film would have been a lot less embarrassing if they had made it without Dracula at all, let's face it, his presence is definitely a superfluous one. Why couldn't the leader of the vampires have been the bald Chinese guy, plain and simple, instead of dragging the Dracula character through the mud once more? I suppose the idea was to draw in the crowds, but by this time most fans were disappointed with Dracula 1972 AD and THE SATANIC RITES OF Dracula, and wouldn't bother anyway. The fact that Lee wasn't playing Dracula was yet another slap in the face and another reason to avoid this film.Still, let's forget about that minor miscalculation, and instead concentrate on what makes this film fun: the incredible mix of classic Hammer horror (blood drinking vampires, helpless girls chained up) and ferocious martial arts action, which is nowhere near as bad as the critics would have you believe and somewhat breathless on first viewing as huge battles take place. These martial arts sequences are the focus of the film, there are four in all, and they're all excellent in the famed Shaw Brothers style. The critics were just surprised by this film, in that it wasn't a typical Gothic chiller, instead more action-orientated, and acted in a hostile way because people just don't like change. Still, Hammer were desperate for success in the wake of popular horror like THE EXORCIST so anything would have been worth a try at this stage.Watching these Chinese guys run around with huge plastic weapons painted silver, like big axes, spears and bows, is just sheer cheesy brilliance. The special effects team went overboard too, so there is plenty of blood spraying from mouths and throats being slashed open in all the graphic, rubbery and far too bright detail we've come to expect from the '70s. Added to the copious red stuff, more exploitation was stuffed in, taking the form of topless maidens at the mercy of the vampires in their home. The rest of the special effects, apart from the bloodshed, mainly take the form of a number of decayings, where a vampire is killed and the body pulled through a hole in the ground underneath it, so it looks like the creature is rotting away quickly. I'll never get tired of these classic Hammer vampire deaths, although there are a number of deaths like this so less attention has been paid to each individual one, in the interests of time I suppose, some disintegrations do look a bit rushed. In the final disintegration, of Dracula no less, it even looks like they've stolen makeup ideas from THE REPTILE! It wouldn't surprise me.The cast is mainly Chinese, apart from a handful of British actors who obviously take centre stage. Robin Stewart, playing Van Helsing's son, comes across as a weakling and should have died early, but if it's some consolation, then it's great to have Peter Cushing on board, as he once again lends dignity to the proceedings, even if he doesn't really get in on the action until the finale, where he burns a few zombie slaves. Cushing is totally in command as the authoritative Van Helsing, as he lectures at a university, or informs his martial artists of ways to destroy the vampires. Once again he plays the character as slightly fussy, with a strong sense of humour and a total dedication to fight the forces of darkness. Julie Ege (CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT) is on hand to supply the Hammer glamour, and she is awful as always, although her death scene is pretty good. Her sheer ineptitude remains a fascinating aspect to this actress' career - how did she get in films in the first place? However, it's David Chiang who comes across best as the loyal friend of the Van Helsings.This film has it all, and unfortunately I don't think that I'll ever find a film like it again. Amid the fantastic fight sequences, we have spooky images of undead zombies rising from their graves in slow-motion (an image previously used in PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES to equally good effect) to match anything that Fulci did, horrible scenes of blood being drained into a pot by the evil vampires, and the overall image of the undead themselves, as decayed yet regal, the make up is both horrendously cheap and tacky looking, but also slightly disturbing. It's the weird, single round eye that they have on the vampire's masks which does it. All in all, this is a great cult film, and one of the favourites in my collection.

This a prequel to The satanic rites of Dracula. The it is great movie. It is very scary. If you do not get scared of this movie. Then no movie will scary you. It is the ninth hammer Dracula movie. It takes please after the first six hammer Dracula movies. But before the seventh and eighth hammer Dracula movies. This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. See this a movie. It is a must see. The first eight hammer Dracula movies are a little better. But this is one of the best horror movies ever. This a 70's horror classic. Dracula kills a c.h.i.n.e.s.e man. He shape s.h.i.f.e.s into a him. He goes to China to rise seven vampires that where gold mask and suits. Very scary.

The Hammer Dracula series started very strongly with Horror of Dracula, which is still one of Hammer's best films. The following four follow-ups ranged from solid to very good and Scars of Dracula was just about above average. Dracula A.D. 1972 and Satanic Rites of Dracula while not quite as horrible as reputed were disappointing. The good news, is for all its flaws, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is an improvement on the previous two entries but not on par with the first five films.It's very stylishly photographed with very effective camera angles and foreboding and vibrant colours, and has the most vivid set designs of any Hammer Dracula film since Taste the Blood of Dracula. Particularly true here is the Dracula's castle set for the prologue, which gave off a real spookiness that was much needed. James Bernard makes a welcome return, after hearing such outdated, unintentionally cheesy and out of place music for Dracula A.D. 1972 and Satanic Rites of Dracula it was really welcome to hear the rousing, thunderously booming and wonderfully eerie scoring provided by Bernard here. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is often a lot of fun, has a great atmosphere and rarely feels dull, and Roy Ward Baker directs rousingly. The fight sequences are very entertaining and excellently choreographed, and Peter Cushing can do no wrong, playing with real involvement and professionalism and it is another classy performance.However, most of the acting is weak(apart from Cushing, Robin Stewart is likable as well), with Julie Ege's vapid and expressionless acting skills not matching her luscious looks, David Chiang looking and sounding awkward and John Forbes-Robertson completely missing the suavity and menace for Dracula(instead coming over as too overly-theatrical, Christopher Lee may have lost interest in playing Dracula halfway through the series but is sorely missed here). The dialogue is often stilted, the special effects are laughably cheap and the vampire make-up even less believable and the climax is far too brief, too rushed and too easy.All in all, fun and decent but middling final entry in the Hammer Dracula series. 6/10 Bethany Cox

What a fun treat this flick was. I've always been a fan of classic monster movies, Frankenstein, Dracula, etc. When it comes to the Hammer Horror films, I tend to favor those films over the more noticeable Universal films. They're in color, they have a lot more imagery to look at and the acting (particularly the acting from Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing) is top notch for films made in the 50s, 60s and 70s. While Horror of Dracula and Curse of Frankenstein remain two of my all time favorite horror films, there is one other film that I've been dying to review ever since I gave it a watch a few months ago. It's the 1974 horror/action thriller, The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, directed by Roy Ward Baker and Chang Cheh. If you're looking for a film that combines horror with fast paced ninja action and fighting, this might be a winner in your book, because it's an interesting and entertaining piece of cult classic filmmaking. First off, I'll point out that this is more of an adult film with some things that may be a bit disturbing in the eyes of young viewers. There's disturbing torture scenes, blood and gore and gruesome death scenes that may thrill you, chill you or make you spill. Luckily, there's not a lot of it and there's enough action to take your mind off those certain elements. It's as if they took a vampire film and blended it together with a Bruce Lee film. The action scenes are fun packed and exhilarating to watch, reminiscent of the action scenes in Enter the Dragon and Game of Death. Whenever you need a rush of adrenaline, watch the action scenes in this film. They will surely give you that burst of energy you've been longing for. I should also point out that this is the first Hammer film where Christopher Lee does not play Dracula. Instead, Dracula is portrayed by John Forbes Robertson, whose voice is dubbed over by David de Keyser. It's a bit of ridiculous voice over work, but it's a cheesy movie to begin with. It's a bunch of warriors fighting off bloodthirsty vampires for heaven sake! The final fight between Van Helsing and Dracula is a bit underwhelming and anti climatic. Dracula topples over, turns into a pile of dust and Van Helsing looks on as if nothing happened. Bullcakes! A brutal beatdown like the one in Horror of Dracula would have been much more epic. This is one of the last Hammer Dracula films after all. But it doesn't matter. The last hour or so has been nothing but entertainment for me, for the action is so great to watch and gets you in that action packed kinda spirit. The plot is typical for a early 70s action thriller, but it's not to say that the plot isn't interesting. It involves ancient stories from yesteryear, medallions and Dracula taking the form of a average Chinese villager. How unique! The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires can be considered a masterpiece in it's own right even if the acting is not the greatest, the cinematography is a bit off and the film has a touch of datedness. Nevertheless, you can come to enjoy this flick for the off the wall and outlandish piece of cinema it is. It's not the least bit boring, nor does it drag. It will keep you captivated until the screen turns black and white letters appear on the screen.