[.ca] Captain Kronos Vampire

From Amazon.com:
Forget Van Helsing. Captain Kronos is the great swashbuckling vampire hunter. Hard-faced Horst Janson is the brooding Kronos, a rangy, sword-wielding soldier who hunts the vampire scourge with his jovial hunchbacked partner, Grost (John Cater), and his earthy peasant girl lover, hazelnut eyed beauty Caroline Munro. Director-writer Brian Clemens, who so entertainingly put genres in the blender on the TV series The Avengers, imaginatively rewrites vampire lore from the film's haunting first scene: a shrouded, shadowy predator (looking more like death incarnate than a traditional vampire) drains a comely maiden of her very youth, leaving the girl an aged, wizened husk. Clemens lacks the budget and the cinematic snap to bring his visual ideas to full fruition, but his well-wrought characters, inspired ideas, and swashbuckling swordfights make this entertaining reinterpretation of the vampire movie a cult classic. --Sean Axmaker

just when the genre needed a blood transfusion....:
It's hard to make vampire movies fresh - that said - any vampire movie that plays with the traditional myths and still manages to carry a somewhat interesting plot deserves some props. Kronos is one of those movies. The film also demonstrates once again how well Hammer studios uses trick shots, lighting and natural scenery to establish the sense of foreboding doom and peril. If you're interested in starting a collection of vampire movies, and you already have Dracula, Horror of Dracula, The Fearless Vampire Killers, The Hunger, Near Dark, and the Frank Langella version of Dracula with Laurence Olivier...you might as well go ahead and buy this one too.

The vampires aren't the only thing that sucks.:
Alright, normally I love a good B-movie but this dosen't even rate that high. Captain Kronos is a lame attempt at a vampire tale. It ignores most of the traditional rules which you will either love or hate and is pitifully acted. The first 1/3 of the movie is all set up and exposition with no pay off at the end. Most of the movie consists of Kronos flashing a colgate smile and giving lines to his new found girlfriend that even Austin Powers would find chessy.The rest of it are scenes of young girls who suddenly have a black robbed figure appear out of no where while on a frollick some where or another and have their youth drained away. The climax if you can call it that is as about as scary as robin hood men in tights without the humor. If you read these other reviews and are tempted remmeber this 99% who write them are die hard fans who will love it no matter what because it's a hammer film. The other one % just got screwed.

The Only Man Alive Feared by the Walking Dead!:
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) aka Kronos is one of the better films to come from Hammer Studios in the 70's. It's basically a horror movie with a heaping helping of adventure thrown in and just a whole lot of fun. Written and directed by Brian Clemens, the film stars German actor Horst Janson as Captain Kronos, a master of the sword and ex-solider, a freelance vampire killer, accompanied by the hunchbacked Professor Hieronymos Grost (John Cater), an authority on vampirism and good friend to Kronos. The film also stars the lovely and infinitely easy on the eyes Caroline Munro who appeared in others films like Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The film wastes no time on the horror aspect as we witness a young, comely woman in the woods attacked by a mysterious, cloaked stranger. The once young woman is now old and withered, due to having her youth literally drained from her person. A couple more attacks occur within the small English village, and this prompts Dr. Marcus (John Carson), the local physician, to contact his old friend, Captain Kronos. On the way to the village, Kronos and Grost meet Carla (Monroe), an errant peasant girl, whom they allow to tag along, probably because she's so hot. On arriving in the small village, Grost utilizes a unique vampire detection device to try and track the vile creature terrorizing the village, while Kronos has mad monkey love with Carla and rests for the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, the village loses a couple more young women, decreasing the overall population greatly as I didn't see a whole lot of townsfolk to begin with...The hunt is on as Kronos and Grost search for clues as to the identity and location of the vampire. Dr. Marcus may already have the answer to the mystery, but is not forthcoming due to personal reasons. Also, forces have begun to conspire against Kronos and his group, and our hero seems to be threatened from a number of sides. What drives the man to do what he does? His motivations are spelled out later in the film, and while pretty simple, they satisfy nicely. Will Captain Kronos discover the identity of the evil that plagues the village before he succumbs to it himself? What secret does Dr. Marcus harbor? Do we get to see Caroline Munro in the raw? Watch the movie and find out... I really enjoyed a number of elements within this film. The notion that there are actually different types of vampires, and different methods of dispatch for each was a nice touch. Also, Janson really provided a wonderful performance as the sort of swashbuckling hero, one with no fear, and an eagerness to perform his self define task of ridding the lands of the scourge of vampirism. I also liked that his friend and maybe even mentor, the hunchbacked Professor Grost was actually presented as a highly intelligent individual, capable of assisting his friend in their exploits with the undead. The swordplay within the movie was a whole lot of fun, but I was a bit perplexed with scenes where Kronos would jam his swords into the ground, or use them to dig in the dirt. I know little of swords, but I would have thought a master swordsman would take more care with his weapons, not using them in such fashion for fear of dulling or nicking the blades. Oh well, a minor nuance that struck me as strange. The whole mystery element as to who is the vampire is played for all it's worth, and there are obtuse clues sprinkled throughout the story that may help the viewer uncover this on their own. The print provided by Paramount looks excellent and there is a commentary track available including genre historian Jonathan Sothcott, filmmaker Brian Clemens and actress Caroline Munro. Kronos is swashbuckling action, Hammer style, and well worth looking into whether you're a fan of horror, action, or both. Cookieman108

Kaptain Kronos Kibboshes Kreepy Killers With A Killer Kayo!:
Captain Kronos, TO THE RESCUE! A killer vampire hunter, hot & sexy English STUD and an expert swordsman to boot, who, with the physical & sexual assistance of the gorgeous gypsy shorty Carla and his hunchbacked homeboy, Professor Grost, scour the whole of England in search of a vampire that is draining the life out of all the pretty country girls, leaving them dead & horribly aged in the process. I bought this movie on sale and was quite pleased with my purchase. TOO BAD that there wasn't a Captain Kronos Trilogy out there. I would buy 'em ALL!

Captain Kronos: "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" revisited:
Admirably scored by Laurie Johnson and an interesting adaptation of the usual Vampire story.You would expect this to be terrible because of the lack of Hammer regulars like Lee or Cushing but I must admit that this movie holds it's own with a set of no-names, probably due to a well written script and decent direction. The characters remind you of Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" pictures with bad guys who light matches on the backs of hunchbacks, etc. Here we have the usual set of nasty barroom boys who try to start fights with every newcomer and they meet their match after...what else?... insulting a hunchback and losing 3 to 1 odds against Captain Kronos and his swordplay. Similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this movie could have been a prototype for the future "Scooby crew". Unusual and somewhat entertaining. Certainly for any Vampire fan.