Monster of the Day #519

Updated on July 18, 2012 By Ken Begg 18 Comments

Ancient Chinese secret, huh?

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  • Flangepart

    “Fangs!- for the memories…” “Wow, it this an undead audience.”

    Asian Vampires, tonight on jabootu.

  • Gamera977

    Watched this again fairly recently. I like the film but seems like it could have used a little more work integrating the horror and martial arts halfs into one coherent movie. Still a lot of fun.
    I did find this guy a lot more effective than Drac’s true form and wish he’d stayed in this way though the climax. The European Dracula actor just didn’t do much for me but I loved this guy. 

  • Ken_Begg

    John-Forbes Robertson was clearly hired for the role because he ‘vaguely looks like Christopher Lee.’ He’s about as good as you would suspect from that criteria. The big problem, however, as I identified decades ago when I first wrote my Halloween movies piece, is that by default the (generally) hard continuity of the Hammer Dracula films meant that Dracula would often be resurrected, run around a few weeks, and then get killed again. That didn’t really make him out to be all that awesome. Here’s it’s entirely laughable; he shows up for about one minute, menacing a 60 year-old man, before impaling himself through his own clumsiness.

  • GalaxyJane

    I don’t care, I love this movie! Then again I’d happily watch Peter Cushing read the phone book.  I will say I much prefer the original HK version to the American drive-in cut, which moves some stuff confusingly out of order so they can edit the same boobs in all over the damn movie. And fight scenes, lots of fight scenes, but not the plot, we didn’t need to carry much of *that* over, that would be silly.
     
    Man it’s been years since I watched this one, probably time to replace my VHS with a DVD, since I haven’t had a working VCR in at least half a decade.

  • Ericb

    “Dracula would often be resurrected, run around a few weeks, and then get killed again.”

    A lot of times he didn’t even bother running around but got someone else to do the running around for him while a sulked in a basement or an abandoned church somewhere. 

  • Gamera977

    Thanks Ken, you hit the nail on the head there. I’d rather Helsing had went to China to fight an Asian vampire lord but as you said they had to have Drac as the main villain. I never really liked any Hammer Drac movie that much beyond ‘Brides of Dracula’ for the reasons you pointed out while I did like ‘Kronos’ largely because it shifted gears and did something new.  

  • The Rev.

    I assume this is Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires from the comments.  If so, I caught that late one night on TNT, back when they played this sort of thing.  I remember enjoying it quite a bit.  I don’t know if it’ll hold up so many years later, but I’m happy to give it a shot.  Is it out on DVD?

  • GalaxyJane

    Looking at Amazon, it’s apparently out of print at the moment, but there are some used copies floating around at a bit of a markup.

  • Ken_Begg

    It was out long ago on a disc with both versions of the film, but it’s out of print. You might be able to flag down a used copy, although I’m not sure what it would run you.

  • Gamera977

    Wow, I picked the Anchor Bay two disk version of it along with ‘Frankenstein Created Woman’ a few years ago for about seven bucks on one of Amazon’s Halloween horror sales. Have no idea which version this one is – I’m assuming the original version. 

  • It includes both versions. The British print, LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES, and the American cut, given the delirious title THE SEVEN BROTHERS AND THEIR ONE SISTER MEET DRACULA! I saw the longer British version, and will go back and watch the American cut one of these days. I’m looking forward to it. Goofy as all get out, but fun stuff. Can’t go wrong with Cushing, even if this was some years beyond NIGHT CREATURES and THE BRIDES OF DRACULA!

  • I first saw the US trailer on the tape I got of WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS. I remain awed by the title. THE SEVEN BROTHERS AND THEIR ONE SISTER MEET DRACULA! In a way, though, that does a better job of selling the wacky cross-breed of kung fu and Hammer horror than the rather more elegant British title of THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES. That sounds more like a treasure-seeking adventure movie.

  • Gamera977

    ‘TSBaTOSMD’????? Gee, how did you fit that on a theater marquee??? Love it!!! I’d have loved to seen this at a drive-in. 

  • I think the actual title card simply reads THE 7 BROTHERS MEET DRACULA, a little easier to cram onto a poster, but the trailer announcer gleefully spouts the full title. I really dig that “AND THEIR ONE SISTER” he throws in there. I imagine he was out of breath after every line read!

  • GalaxyJane

    The weirdest thing about the American version is that it is not just shorter, but that it also recycles scenes within the same movie (because, again, BOOBIES!!!), so there is even more of a difference in terms of amout of footage than the difference in running times suggests.

  • Gamera977

    Yeah, I found ‘Seven Brothers’ on the reverse side of the DVD. Thanks Rock, I hadn’t even thought to flip the thing over! I just watched it and just as you said GJ they seem to have dumped about 1/3rd of the movie (mostly the plot from the beginning) and then repeated elements of the rampaging undead and the sacrifice scenes with the topless gals about THREE times….
    Nice to know it’s there but I expect I’ll be watching the original UK cut from now on.

  • zombiewhacker

    Fun movie, but they made a big mistake letting the Shaw Bros handle the makeup and special effects.

    Dracula. Is. Not. GREEN.

  • Ken_Begg

    Well, neither is Godzilla (until recently) or the Frankenstein Monster.