I Just Saw

The film I just saw at my local art centre’s Classic Horror Nights was Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, the only directorial work of Brian Clemens, a British screenwriter and television producer. He also wrote this swashbuckling tale of a swordsman roaming the countryside in search of bloodsuckers.

Coming to a settlement, Captain Kronos (Horst Janson, but as with Darth Vader, his voice is looped in from another actor: Julian Holloway; Horst’s German accent was considered too thick) is informed that it’s been targeted by a special breed of vamp that drains the youth of its victims, leaving aged crones where once pretty girls looked out from golden locks. (In a surprisingly effective shot, the victim’s hair remains youthful while her face is desiccated.)

Assisted by hunchback Dr Hieronymous Grost (John Cater) and Carla (Caroline Munro), a gypsy whom they rescue from a stocks after she danced on the Sabbath, Kronos investigates. And is drawn towards a lonely manor house where a brother and sister tend their aged and widowed mother…

The film did poorly at the box office and sounded the death knell for Hammer, the production house behind a lot of Gothic horror and fantasy films of the 1960s. It had been in decline for a while, branching out the previous year to make the comedy film Holiday on the Buses, which did well financially but was a crappy adaptation of an already bland television show. (A fourth film in the Buses series was mooted but never materialised.)

Unlike Holiday, Kronos went on to gain a well-deserved cult following and critical reappraisal, even spawning a couple of comic books and a 2011 novelisation by Doctor Who perennial Guy Adams. It’s easy to see why. The film is far from perfect and has a lot of very ‘70s elements that date it now (there was a fair bit of laughter at the screening I attended), but it’s got a decent plot, real atmosphere, and a smashing climax.

The horror scenes are frequently effective, such as when a hooded figure lures a man to his doom, and make excellent use of the woodland setting. The film is remarkably successful in its melding of genres. If you’ve ever wanted to see Errol Flynn crossed with Van Helsing, this is the movie for you.

It understands its limitations as an action film (it was made for £160,000, which today would be 1.4M; more than a shoestring, I guess, but not by much) and so wisely goes for comedy in some scenes. (There’s a very funny bit where Kronos fends off three thugs in a tavern.) It’s hugely suspenseful in other scenes, though, especially the climactic confrontation. So while it has its share of pacing issues, and social attitudes that’ll make you cringe these days (one woman is referred to in the credits simply as “whore”; her parents must have been pleased!), this is a charming piece of genre history that should be better known than it is.