On one side is the vampire hunter: quiet, determined… he stands with the naked blade of his samurai sword waiting for blood. His own mother fell victim to vampirism and his hatred has fueled a terrible need for vengeance. His sword has sent many men, dead and undead, to their final rest.
On the other side, of course, is his prey. He doesn’t think he is prey, though. How can he be? Born to privilege, this European aristocrat has amassed great and dark powers that have set him above not only men but even death itself. How dare this whelp challenge him? This will be the final confrontation; it will end tonight.
You may think this is a scene from one of the Blade films except for one small point: the vampire hunter is wearing mid-18th or early 19th century regimental coat as he is “late of the Imperial Guard.” He is Captain Kronos.
I’ll admit that this movie only barely qualifies as a martial arts movie because our hero, for some reason that is not explained, wields both a European saber and katana. October is a time for horror movies, though, and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is one of my favorites. There are many great horror movies out there for the martial arts fan. Besides the Blade films and Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, you will find martial skills pitted against the undead over and over. Some to check out (some because they are awful, others because they are awesome) include:
Steven Seagal in Against the Dark
The Vampire Effect (aka The Twins Effect, Donnie Yen action and Jackie Chan cameo)
Blood The Last Vampire (live action or animated)
The Mr. Vampire Series
Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters
Spooky Encounters (maybe not technically vampires…)
Vampire Hunter D
Versus
Even given these more “legitimate” martial arts titles, I still believe that this oft-overlooked classic will appeal to many genre fans. Produced by the famous Hammer Studios, it was hoped to the the first in a series of the good captain’s adventures. Unfortunately, it was the only Kronos film to be made. It’s nod to the new found popularity of martial arts movies was quite astute as it carries a copyright date of 1972, although it wasn’t released until 1974. Of course, this was the same year that Hammer and Shaw released their epic co-productionLegend of the Seven Golden Vampires.
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter has been overshadowed for decades by other Hammer releases featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. While it lacks the major Hammer stars, it does feature the absolutely gorgeous Caroline Munro (Spy Who Loved Me, Dracula AD 1972, the Dr. Phibes films) as a gypsy girl tagging along with the heroes. Kronos is played by German actor Horst Janson and his hunchbacked sidekick Grost is portrayed by John Cater (the Dr. Phibes movies, I, Claudius). Captain Kronos was written and directed by Brian Clemens, who was the principal writer on the original The Avengers series.
The charm of Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter lies in its creative approach to the vampire genre. The vampires in this film do not suck blood and they are not confined to a nocturnal existence. This is because, has Professor Grost explains, there are as many varieties of vampire just as there are many different species of predator. Given the great range of vampiric foes, one of the heroes challenges is to figure out exactly what they are dealing with and how they can be killed. Had this been a series it would have been fun just to see the new and varied types of vampires threatening the heroes.
Unfortunately, the series was not made and that does leave us with many unanswered questions. You will be told of Kronos’ origins as a vampire hunter, but his Japanese blade is never explained. In fact, much of Kronos’ past remains a mystery including exactly which army he served, which war(s) he fought and how he met his friend and mentor Professor Grost. However, none of these mysteries are integral to the story presented… although where the damn samurai sword came from does nag at my soul every time I think about the movie!
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is available on standard definition DVD from Amazon (or as a download). On the plus side, it is letterboxed, a fairly clean copy (there are a few small scratches on the print) and less than $10. The drawbacks of the current release include the complete lack of special features and the possibility that it is an edited version. I can not be 100% sure, but I really though that my old VHS copy had a brief nude scene and a touch more blood than this R rated DVD.
