The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

1974

Directors- Roy Ward Baker and Chang Cheh

Cast- Peter Cushing, David Chiang, Julie Ege, Chan Shen, Robin Stewart, John Forbes-Robertson, Szu Shih, David de Keyser, Lau Kar-wing, Huang Pei-Chih, Wang Chiang

           

     In a remote Chinese village, seven vampires rule the countryside like warlords. Unlike western vampires that hide in their remote castles and crypts, these vampires ride out on horseback and terrorize the locals. They have at their disposal a magical gong that awakens the undead, summoning them an army. A local farmer has finally had all he can stand and crashes their compound, trying to save his daughter from their clutches. He fails and dies but not before he takes one of the vampires with him. This helps the local villagers develop a little backbone and they no longer live in fear of the vampire warlords.

            

     The priest that serves the vampires (Chan Shen) takes a journey to Transylvania to enlist the help of Count Dracula in restoring the vampires to their former glory. Dracula sees this as a chance to expand his power and agrees to go, but not before killing the priest and taking on his form.

            

     Van Helsing (Peter Cushing, in his final portrayal of the character), having apparently defeated the undead threat in Europe, is touring Asia and lecturing at a Chinese university. When he brings up the subject of vampirism, he is scoffed at by all the learned academics. There is one man though, that knows too well that what Van Helsing says is true.

           

     Hsi Ching (David Chang) tells Van Helsing that his ancestral village is the home of the Golden Vampires and enlists Van Helsing’s aid in destroying them. Joining them is a squad of elite martial arts specials, Van Helsing’s son and a rich European lady (Julie Ege) who is seeking adventure.

           

     Julie Ege had worked with Hammer before in Creatures the World Forgot. She had a decent part in this film but it was too short given her screen presence. Even though she was a statuesque blonde, she lends the film some exotic appeal with her Norwegian accent. After the absence of a Hammer starlet in the previous film, it was good to see that they finished the series with one.

As for John Forbes-Robertson as Dracula, well who can compare to Christopher Lee?  The part was so small I don’t know why they would risk fan ire by replacing Lee. They could have just left the Count out and it wouldn’t have changed the story. They didn’t even use his real voice. Dracula’s dialogue was provided by veteran vocal talent, David de Keyser. You may not know the name but you know his work. His voice was used in Vampire Circus, Zardoz, and he was the voice of the Holy Grail in John Boorman’s Excalibur.

            

     As for Cushing, his parts in Dracula 1972 A.D. and especially Satanic Rites ofDracula, were so-so. This performance was a return to what we had seen in Horror of Dracula and Brides of Dracula.

            

     This film, the last in the Hammer Dracula franchise, is a combined effort of the two greatest institutions in 70’s genre entertainment; Hammer Films and Shaw Brothers Studios. Hammer, though dead by the end of the decade was turning out some of its best, and most experimental work in the first half of the decade with films like Twins of Evil, Vampire Circus and To the Devil a Daughter. The Shaw Brothers, meanwhile were giving us martial arts movies that are still considered must watch viewing for fans of the genre today.

            

     

   

   What impresses me is how well the two companies, and styles, merged. Parts of the movie feel very much like the Hammer films of old (the colorful cinematography, the music), something that was missing from the film’s predecessor, Satanic Rites of Dracula. Other parts seems very much like a Shaw Brother’s film (the exaggerated fight choreography, the shiny silver blades, the blood that is so bright it’s almost pink).

            

     The directorial duties were split between Roy Ward Baker and Chang Cheh, both masters of their respective genres. Baker directed the sci-fi horror Quatermassand the Pit, Vampire Lovers (the blue print for the lesbian vampire genre), and Scars of Dracula. Chang Cheh directed over 90 films including Kid with the Golden Arm, Ten Tigers from Kwangtung, not to mention Five Deadly Venoms, the film that may be the second best martial arts movie of all time (hard to beat Enter the Dragon).

           

     The Dracula series had a shaky timeline with some of the films tying into each other and others not. This one may or may not tie into the others. I guess it really doesn’t matter as continuity isn’t the selling point of this film; it’s the highly entertaining combination of western and eastern fantasy flavors, paving the way for films like Big Trouble in Little China. Now, 7 Golden Vampires is no Big Trouble, but if you want entertainment, then take a look at one of the last films in the Hammer line.