The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)

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The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was a 1974 horror film produced by Hammer Studios and Shaw Brothers Studio. It was released in North America in an edited version as The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula.

Plot

Professor Lawrence Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) gives a lecture in 1904 at a Chongqing (Chungking) university on Chinese vampire legend. He speaks of an unknown rural village that has been terrorized by vampires for many years. After the lecture, a student (David Chiang) informs him that the legend is true and that he knows the location of the village. He then asks Professor Van Helsing if he would be willing to travel to the village and destroy the vampire menace. Van Helsing agrees and embarks with his son, the student and his six kung-fu trained siblings on a dangerous journey funded by a wealthy widow (Julie Ege). The seven golden vampires, however, are acting under the guidance of Count Dracula himself, masquerading as a mad taoist monk.

Production

Both Roy Ward Baker, a British director who had helmed several previous Hammer films, and Chang Cheh, a veteran Hong Kong action director, worked on the movie, though only Baker is credited.

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was a co-production with Hong Kong's Shaw Studio, made in the hope of garnering some of the kung fu movie market share.

The movie was released with various titles in different locations, including The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula and Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires. It is a clear precursor of the ghost kung fu comedy genre initiated by Sammo Hung some ten years later (Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Mr. Vampire). During some scenes involving roving gangs of undead, several vampires can be seen hopping up and down, as vampires tend to do in Chinese vampire films.

The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula version trims twenty minutes of the film's footage and soundtrack and loops several remaining scenes to fill the running time. The Anchor Bay DVD release features both the Seven Brothers Meet Dracula version and the original uncut Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires version.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker, Chang Cheh - Produced by Don Houghton, Run Me Shaw, Run Run Shaw, Vee King Shaw - Written by Don Houghton - Starring Peter Cushing, David Chiang, Robin Stewart, Julie Ege, John Forbes-Robertson - Music by James Bernard - Cinematography Roy Ford, John Wilcox - Editing by Chris Barnes - Studio Hammer Studios, Shaw Brothers Studio - Distributed by Warner Bros. (UK)- Dynamite Entertainment (USA) - Release date(s) 1974 - Running time 83 min. - Country Hong Kong/United Kingdom - Language English/Chinese (Mandarin)

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_7_Golden_Vampires