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Stars:
Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant, Caroline Munro, Joan Cater, and Lois
Daine
Writer:
Brian Clemens
Director:
Brian Clemens
Feature
length: 91 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Writer/Director/Producer Brian Clemens, Actress Caroline
Munro, and Genre Historian Jonathan Sothcott
Languages:
English Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 13
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1974/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Arriving
at the request of an old friend from the military comes Captain Kronos (Horst
Janson), a valiant professional Vampire Hunter with quick reflexes, a samurai
sword, and his assistants, the occult expert and hunchback Professor Grost, and
a lovely gypsy played by the beautiful Caroline Munro. There are many kinds of
vampires and sunlight, the cross, decapitation, or a stake through the heart
cannot kill all of them. This vampire is impervious to all of these defenses and
more and instead of drinking the blood of its victims; the vampire kisses them
and in the process steals their youth and life force. The origins of this
vampire are a surprise for any Hammer film fan since while the film is not a
sequel to a previous series; it does tie-in with one of the more popular Hammer
Studios characters by the film’s end. To say more would be to spoil the fun.
Writer, Producer, and Director Brian Clemens creates a brand new vampire
mythology all his own that some say is a forerunner to the “Buffy The Vampire
Slayer” series despite the fact the film takes place in approximately the 16th
century. The film was released as a double feature by Paramount along with
“Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell.” Both were released on DVD day and
date of each other, but sold separately and make for a great home video
Halloween double feature for fans of Hammer Film Productions.
There
is a fair amount of humor in the film that thankfully never gets too campy and
some scenes were shot much like a western. In the feature length audio
commentary track Brian Clemens reveals that much of the staging was inspired by
various spaghetti westerns and the classic film “Shane.” The character of
Captain Kronos proved to be popular enough that had the Hammer Studios not gone
bankrupt, more adventures placing the character in different times and places
would have followed. A comic book series featuring the character had a short run
in the 1970s too. Actress Caroline Munro’s career as perhaps the sexiest genre
vixen from the 1970s got started with this film and lead to roles in “The
Golden Voyage Of Sinbad” as well as the “007” adventure “The Spy Who
Loved Me.” Munro is very humble and gracious throughout the commentary and
Genre Historian Jonathan Sothcott keeps the momentum up by asking key questions.
“Captain
Kronos: Vampire Hunter” is presented in an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1)
aspect ratio with a largely beautiful transfer though some scenes contain a bit
of grain and a shimmering effect that appears to be a result of age. The English
Two Channel Monaural Soundtrack is quite full and clear. English Captions and
Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are encoded as options. The menus are
standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
“Captain
Kronos: Vampire Hunter” is available on DVD-Video now from Paramount Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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