276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Both notions have been hinted at in other Hammers (notablyDracula Has Risen From The GraveandVampire Circus), but here they're spelled out at the beginning.

Establishing Character Moment: The leading bar thug. Humiliating a tavern wench, then threatening to kill a man who fails to laugh at her misery.An excellent, atypical addition to the Hammer cycle which breathes life into some of the old vampire clichés that Hammer were keen to use at the time, thanks to a tongue-in-cheek script and direction from AVENGERS man Brian Clemens. A good cast, fine photography, a wonderfully evocative music score and a good eye for pacing make this a highly enjoyable, intelligent film, and definitely one of Hammer's best - full stop. Like all Hammer Horror films "Kronos" benefits from having a short 90- minute running time, concentrating more on action and bloodletting than the idle chat that typified Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula". It is also good to see a vampire film in which the hero is dangerous and unpredictable and not entirely wholesome such as the Van Helsing character often is. Stealth Sequel: To the Karnstein Trilogy. Lady Durward turns out be a Karnstein by birth, leading to all sorts of Epileptic Trees. Ingrid Pitt was even offered the role as a Casting Gag but turned it down. Carla seeks refuge at Durward Manor to distract the household while Kronos sneaks inside. The "bedridden" Lady Durward reveals herself as the newly-youthful vampire, and she hypnotizes Carla and the Durward siblings. Lady Durward has raised her husband Hagen (William Hobbs) from the grave. She offers the mesmerized Carla to her husband, but Kronos erupts from hiding. Kronos uses the new sword's mirrored blade to turn Lady Durward's hypnotic gaze against her. He kills Lord Durward in a duel, and then destroys Lady Durward. But Munro’s big acting break, in 1972, was thanks not to such screen work but her continuing efforts for booze and seamen. James Carreras, head of Hammer horror, had also been transfixed by a Lamb’s Navy Rum billboard. As a result, she became – like Ingrid Pitt, Joanna Lumley, Kate O’Mara – fated to spend aeons being nibbled by gaunt men with false teeth.

Filmed under the time allotted and within the confines of its strict budget, the smooth production was a testament to Clemens’ vision, careful planning and immaculate execution. A kinetic, earthy picture, Kronos succeeds in presenting a film that feels altogether new when compared to Hammer’s other blood-thirsty entries while simultaneously employing and subverting many of the tropes which comprise those narratives. Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter is written and directed by Brian Clemens. It stars Horst Janson, John Cater, John Carson, Caroline Munro, Shane Briant, Lois Daine and Wanda Ventham. Out of Hammer Film Productions, music is by Laurie Johnson and cinematography by Ian Wilson. In the end, the hero prevails— at a cost— and must move on. For a man like Captain Kronos, evil is his burden to eradicate. His is a calling that no creature, no town and no woman can halt, and his stories are destined to be as much myth as they are truth. Wherever there is innocence being stalked in the woods, drained of its essence or terrorized by those vile things which dwell in the dark, Captain Kronos will be there. And so he rides, a familiar theme rising on the horizon as the sun settles below the hilly greens.Eisner nails the ruthless aesthetic of making a socio-political survival thriller in 2000s horror terms. There’s an unctuous malaise to 2010’s The Crazies that submerges audiences in a rural American nightmare. From start to finish, a sense of hopelessness keeps us on edge as David’s group marches towards their inevitable fates. Romero does well to represent the government as manipulative, incompetent fools who poison the country they’re meant to protect, which Eisner doesn’t need to do as heavily this time. Plenty happens between 1973 and 2010 that makes Romero’s assertions less and less fantastical, which lets Eisner lean into the utter inhumanity Ogen Marsh’s population endures as tax-paying collateral damage.

Mysterious Past: Most of Kronos' past, where he came from, and how long he's been doing his gig are left vague. Grost says Kronos is "formerly of the Imperial Guard," and he served alongside Marcus, but what empire is never explained and the only hint is that his family became vampires. How he got his katana alone would be enough to have a story about it. While few of the Hammer horror films took themselves too seriously it was in the 1970s when the cycle became almost a parody of itself and "Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter" is perhaps the best example of this. Although it is a little known film it is certainly one of the best horrors, largely due to its original take on the vampire theme and imaginative, albeit risky, casting. Aristocrats Are Evil: A Kronos staple, though in this case the aristocratic Elders of Serechurch appear merely shady, rather than malicious. Or so it seems. Horst Janson, John Carson, Caroline Munro, John Cater, Shane Briant, Lois Daine, Wanda Ventham, William Hobbs, Ian Hendry A novelisation of the film, written by Guy Adams under the title Kronos, was published in 2011 by Arrow Publishing, in association with Hammer and the Random House Group.In a better world, there would be way more than just one movie with Captain Kronos (Horst Janson, dubbed by Julian Holloway) in it. Along with his partner Professor Hieronymus Grost (John Cater), he's come to town to investigate a series of vampire-style murders, but while he's there, why not romance Carla (Caroline Munro), a gypsy girl in jail for dancing on the Sabbath? Grost goes on to explain: "There are as many species of vampires as there are birds of prey. The traditional stake through the heart does not always hold good, you know... The cross can only protect those who firmly believe." That's not to say that everything in this movie is great though. I do think that the sword fighting scenes are a bit cheesy if I'm going to be honest. I understand why they are there though. Like we get a stand-off in a bar where we see how great Kronos is as a swordsmen along with him defeating a gang of men thinking that he murdered someone. This is all to culminate in the finale where he has to duel with the master creature who is an impressive swordsman themselves. It is a way to show that both have met their match so I get it.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment