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Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter

Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter

List Price: $14.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Rewarding, And Different, Kind Of Vampire Movie
Review: A very different type of horror movie from pretty well everything I've seen, the closest comparison to "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter" would probably be "Brotherhood Of The Wolf" and then, to a lesser extent, maybe "The Ghoul" (1975 with Peter Cushing). Part vampire horror movie, part supernatural detective story, and part sword-slashing adventure movie. Set in England in - what would it be? 1800s or 1700s maybe - in a lush, gorgeous forest with small homesteads and winding wagon roads nestled amongst the greenery and bubbling brooks with great production design and photography, the movie pits professional evil-doer fighter Kronos and his allies against a new breed of vampire preying on the local villagers. With Horst Janson displaying solid screen prescence as Kronos, the scorchingly hot Caroline Munro as the vivacious, big-hearted (and occasionally naked) lead damsel, and John Cater brilliant as Kronos's kindly, learned, hunchbacked sidekick/mentor, not to mention a small bushel of lovely village girls filling out both their roles and their costumes admirably. A vampire picture with great crossover appeal, and fellow horror fans, don't pass this one up just because of its low blood factor. This is an original, classy gem in a unique style; I wish a round of sequels had followed, perhaps with the protagonists battling unorthodox mummies, werewolves or some other horror staple. One of the best vampire movies.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Captain Kronos: "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" revisited
Review: 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.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The vampires aren't the only thing that sucks.
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Three Musketeers Meets Dracula
Review: Capt.Kronos Vampire Hunter has a good mix of sword fights and
vampire mythos.Hammer Horror outing about a 19th century
swashbuckler out to save the world from the undead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Original twist on vampire theme
Review: Captain Kronos is a vampire film that focuses more on the vampire hunter and his pursuit of a youth draining vampire. This film also combines some swashbuckling action with a vampire film. This film is different from most vampire films, in that the identity of the vampire is somewhat of a mystery and we see a deliberate professional vampire hunter attempting to deduce who the vampire is and how to stop them. The acting is campy in spots, but overall effective for this film. It is really a shame that the sequel never came about. This film is highly recommended for fans of horror and action movies.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kaptain Kronos Kibboshes Kreepy Killers With A Killer Kayo!
Review: 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!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Only Man Alive Feared by the Walking Dead!
Review: 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

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Only Man Alive Feared by the Walking Dead!
Review: 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

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Hammer Vampire/Action flick rolled into one.
Review: First of all this is one of the better of Hammer's later films and features good performances by the dashing Horst Jansen and the radiant Caroline Munro. As the film itself has already been reviewed extensively this review will focus on the quality of the DVD release.
First of all "Captain Kronos" has been given a very nice, but not exceptional transfer. The contrast and picture are fine and the colors are decent for a 1972 production. The sound mix is largely confined to the center channel, but dialogue is clear and easily understandable. The picture has been letterboxed at 1:85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced for widescreen tv's (This may explain why the reviewer from Richmond, Va was getting a full-screen picture, assuming he is using an Apex DVD player, the early models can't handle anamorphic enhancements and will blow up a 1:85:1 DVD formatted for 16:9 to fill the screen.) Paramount notes this item, the 16:9 enhancement, under "special features". I don't consider that, nor the dolby encoded soundtrack, nor the English subtitles (the film has not been closed captioned) as "special features" or extras. These are now standard features on DVD releases. The only extra is a running commentary by the Director Brian Clemens, actress Caroline Munro and a film historian. I guess for Paramount that makes this a "special editon", however the films trailer (which should also be a standard feature on a 2003 DVD release) is missing. In fairness, it should be noted that the trailer may no longer exist. However, a short featurette on the making of the film, some TV spots, even just a few pages of text with bios on the cast and crew would have rounded out this release better. Overall the Film gets an A-, Video quality gets a B+, Audio quality gets a B, Extras, or the lack thereof, gets a C.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Hammer Vampire/Action flick rolled into one.
Review: First of all this is one of the better of Hammer's later films and features good performances by the dashing Horst Jansen and the radiant Caroline Munro. As the film itself has already been reviewed extensively this review will focus on the quality of the DVD release.
First of all "Captain Kronos" has been given a very nice, but not exceptional transfer. The contrast and picture are fine and the colors are decent for a 1972 production. The sound mix is largely confined to the center channel, but dialogue is clear and easily understandable. The picture has been letterboxed at 1:85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced for widescreen tv's (This may explain why the reviewer from Richmond, Va was getting a full-screen picture, assuming he is using an Apex DVD player, the early models can't handle anamorphic enhancements and will blow up a 1:85:1 DVD formatted for 16:9 to fill the screen.) Paramount notes this item, the 16:9 enhancement, under "special features". I don't consider that, nor the dolby encoded soundtrack, nor the English subtitles (the film has not been closed captioned) as "special features" or extras. These are now standard features on DVD releases. The only extra is a running commentary by the Director Brian Clemens, actress Caroline Munro and a film historian. I guess for Paramount that makes this a "special editon", however the films trailer (which should also be a standard feature on a 2003 DVD release) is missing. In fairness, it should be noted that the trailer may no longer exist. However, a short featurette on the making of the film, some TV spots, even just a few pages of text with bios on the cast and crew would have rounded out this release better. Overall the Film gets an A-, Video quality gets a B+, Audio quality gets a B, Extras, or the lack thereof, gets a C.


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