The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires/The Seven Brothers meet Dracula

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is a less than successful hybrid combining Hammer horror and mid-70s chop socky movie as Dracula (not Christopher Lee but an inadequate John Forbes Robertson), for reasons never really explained, possesses the body of a Chinese bad guy to control six golden vampires while Cushing's Van Helsing, on a far from successful Chinese lecture tour, finds himself teaming up with seven brothers and their one sister to rid a remote Chinese village of yada yada yada.. "Black belt against black magic" screams the trailer, and while it's not as poor as I recalled, the only things going for it are a few okay action scenes and a magnificent display of bosom heaving from Julie Ege in one particularly memorable shot.

But it's a masterpiece compared to the butchered US version, retitled The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, which makes it sound like a bad Howard Keel musical. Although the original was far from dialog-heavy, a good two-thirds of the dialog has been dropped completely (in some cases you can still see the actors' lips moving but no sound emerging). Even more bizarre is the opening two reels, which reuse much of the same footage three times in a row in three separate scenes, hoping that by flipping it around no-one will notice. The end result is a surreal experience that just washes over you.

Anchor Bay's extras package is particularly good: both cuts of the film, the US trailer (which the narrator constantly refers to as 'The Seven Brothers and Their One Sister Meet Dracula'!) and the old LP narrated by Peter Cushing as an audio extra. However, the double-bill set with Frankenstein Created Woman is a better bet than this individual release/

Libretio is right on the money--THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES is a minor part of the Hammer library, but an interesting pastiche, and one heckuva lotta fun! There is absolutely nothing to take seriously here, so enjoy! Enjoy!
I loved the bouncing zombies in their skull masks, the Seven Golden Vampires who run around in what look like thick mudpacks (I guess only Drac looks good after four hundred years!), the first-generation chop-socky fights (no telegraphed punches here. . .well, maybe a few. . .well, maybe all of 'em), the stiff-upper lip delivery of the always wonderful Peter Cushing (although here he is so rail-thin and gaunt that you can't help but wish for the athletic Sherlock Holmes he played just about twenty years before), the exciting James Bernard score and the great sets. Grand, just grand.
And it was very interesting to see the two radically different cuts of the film. The truncated, hour-and-a-quarter version uses the same Vampires/Zombie village attack material several times, but by cutting story (huh?) it runs fifteen minutes shorter than the vastly superior original cut. It does have the better "bad" title, though: THE SEVEN BROTHERS AND THEIR ONE SISTER MEET DRACULA! Wotta hoot!
And the real treat is the audio promo story on side one! Rarer than hens' teeth, and here it is! With the fabulous UK poster artwork, as well! Love it, love it, love it!
You may not want to actually buy this one without renting it first, but check it out and you just might decide that THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES is so bad, it's great!
Have fun!

I think this was an inter­esting idea given the time the film was made to link the horror and Kung‑Fu genres. Apparently there were many problems involved with the shooting of a Euro­pean film in Hong Kong, at the Shaw Brothers studios. Despite these problems the film is good visually, and is reminiscent of the earlier Hammer 'Dracula' films.

The acting standard is about average, with the customary excellent performance from Peter Cushing in the pivotal role. Sadly missing from the cast is Chris Lee; John Forbes‑Robertson is hopelessly miscast as Dracula. This problem is not helped by the poor Dracula make-up, which often got laughs in the cinema.

Thankfully Dracula doesn't appear too often in the film, and it may have been improved if they had cut him out altogether! Convincing performances are delivered by all of the Chinese cast. The golden vampires are impressive (and were a good, original idea), in their golden masks and me­dallions, etc.

Another, possibly intentional, humorous touch are the zombies. They appear to virtually hop around every­where in a very comical manner. Les Bowie's special effects are marvelous, especially the resur­rection scenes (somewhat similar in nature to the sequence in 'Plague of the Zombies').

Julie Ege is enticing as the film's love‑interest. David Chiang (who had previously worked with Bruce Lee) plays the leader of the brothers well, and has only a slight accent. His Kung‑Fu tech­niques are highly convincing.

Totally mix‑cast is Robin Stewart (a British TV com­edy 'actor') as Van Helsing's inept son Leyland. His style of acting appears to come from the 'oak‑school', and his presence always seems to detract from the atmosphere of the film.

The movie is beautifully crafted by the consistently amazing Roy ward Baker (the style recalls memo­ries of his earlier 'Vampire Lovers'). Even without the Kung‑Fu this would have stood alone as a good horror film. The Martial‑Arts aspect comple­ments the film, and it amply deserves its cult classic status.

Sadly the film didn't receive its deserved wide‑release after completion in 1974. It has only been around the UK film circuit a couple of times since then, usually on the lower half of an inferior double‑bill. It took five years to be released in the States, with a ridiculous title change. However, it has still managed to become a cult film.

Only a butchered version was available in America. Most Hammer fans avidly sit through this film many times whenever it makes one of it's rare screen appearances.

It was one of the old Hammer company's last at­tempts at a comeback to the horror genre, the other being 'To the devil, a daughter' in 1975. Neither film was finan­cially successful enough to keep the company above water, so that further movies could be made.

One great asset of the film is the superb score by James Bernard and Phil Martell. (A story read by Peter Cushing with some music is available on an exceed­ingly rare soundtrack LP.) As an ex‑martial artist I feel that the Kung‑Fu sections were of a high enough stan­dard to satisfy fans of that particular genre, as well as the straight horror fans. Kung‑Fu films were extremely popular in 1974/5 following the Bruce Lee movies.

It makes a pleasant change to see vampires being killed by the use of unusual weapons and fighting methods (the fight scenes were always ac­tion‑packed and highly exciting), rather than the traditional ‑ run into the ground ‑ stakes, crosses, garlic, etc.

On subsequent viewings the film holds up well and never becomes boring, audiences never seem to tire when watching it. It's a great shame that this film is virtually the only one of its kind, being a most agree­able blend of differing film styles.

Despite the minor flaws of Dracula and Leyland, Roy Ward Baker is to be commended on the con­struction of an atmospheric and enjoyable film; a fitting tribute to the skill and craftsmanship of the Hammer cast and crew.

This is one of the worst Hammer Movies Ever Made this is even considerd to be a Sequel to "Satanic Rites of Dracula" NO IT ISNT this is not a sequel has nothing to do with the Dracula Series if this is a Sequel there are a few things Wrong with This

1. Satanic Rites of Dracula took place in "1974" This happens in "1904" NO SEQUEL

2. The Van Helsing in this can't be the one from the previous one or from "Horror of Dracula"

3. This could have been the prequel to "Horror of Dracula" if they had stuck with the year the movie starts in which is "1804" Because "Horror" starts in the year "1885" but they messed it up

Dont bother with this one I only got this because I am a Big Fan of Hammer. Dracula "John Forbes Robinson" Looks Horrible in this

After Satanic Rites Lee Refused to put on the Cape who could blame him Peter Cushing Returns as Van Helsing and that does not help this poor movie the Dracula in this looks like a christopher lee wanna be he wears lip stick it looks very predictable