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“The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires” – A Hammer / Shaw Brothers Mashup

Hammer Films and Shaw Brothers Studios join forces to create a unique blend of horror and kung fu.

Kah/Dracula hypnotizes a victim.

By the early 1970s Hammer Film Productions, undisputed members of horror royalty, were beginning to see a drop in interest for its traditional, gothic films. The studio had made its name in the 1950s and 1960s with lavish productions that retold classic horror stories with films like Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein cementing the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing into the pantheon of horror film legends. 

By the time the 1970s rolled around, Hammer found itself struggling with changing tastes. Visceral, modern horror films such as The Exorcist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre were taking horror out of the Gothic castles of the Hammer classics and into the streets and towns of the modern world. Hammer needed something fresh, and they found it off the coast of China. 

Title splash reading "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" with the number seven large, gilded, and styalized.
Title splash.

In Hong Kong, Shaw Brothers Studio was riding high on the Kung Fu craze that had smashed into the American psyche with the kicks and punches of Bruce Lee. Though Shaw Brothers Studio never released a film with Lee[1], they were undisputed masters of the genre. With a steady stream of films including the likes of The One-Armed Swordsman,The Boxer from Shantung, and Come Drink With Me, the Shaw Brothers catapulted stars like Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, and David Chiang onto the international stage. 

A collaboration between these two legendary studios, Hammer and Shaw—combining the gothic horror of Hammer and the swashbuckling, kung-fu adventures of the Shaw Brothers—was the type of bold move Hammer Studios felt they needed to make. The result was an enigmatic mix of classic horror and kung-fu that still stands as a unique relic of cinematic experimentation. 

At the center of the film is Peter Cushing, reprising his role as Professor Van Helsing, a character he had already played five times in Hammer’s Dracula series. Even in a film as bizarre as this, Cushing remains committed, delivering his lines with the same gravitas and energy that had made him Hammer’s most reliable leading man.

By this point, Cushing was no stranger to unusual projects—earlier in the decade, he had appeared in everything from the sci-fi adventure Dr. Who and the Daleks to horror anthologies like Tales from the Crypt.[2] His presence in The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires helps ground the film in Hammer’s traditional atmosphere, even when the action veers into martial arts spectacle.

Two men sit by a fire, talking.
Van Helsing and Ching discuss the golden vampires.

However, despite marketing the film as another of Van Helsing’s adventures fighting the infamous Count Dracula, Cushing is not the real star of the picture. That role falls on the fantastic David Chiang, one of the biggest stars of Hong Kong’s action cinema in the 1970s. Chiang had risen to fame under the direction of Chang Cheh, starring in films like Vengeance!, The Blood Brothers, and The Boxer from Shantung

The film opens with an old Chinese man climbing through the hills of Transylvania. Any fan of Shaw Brothers films will be right at home as the man makes his way through the wilderness. If it wasn’t for the “Transylvania, 1804” caption, you’d be forgiven to think that this was another Shaw Brothers Kung Fu adventure. But, when the gothic castle is revealed in the distance we know we are in for something special.

Inside the castle the wandering man meets Count Dracula—this time played by John Forbes-Robertson instead of Christopher Lee, who had finally tired of the role. Forbes-Robertson was a competent character actor, appearing in films like Nicholas and Alexandra, but Lee’s absence is sure to disappoint many fans of his iconic performances as Dracula. 

An Eastern European castle sits on top of a hill. A Chinese shaman walks at its base.
The castle of Count Dracula.

Inside the fantastic, green-lit scenery of the classic Hammer castle we learn that the seven golden vampires in China are waning in power. Dracula uses this opportunity to seize power and takes over the body of the visiting man, Kah, (played by Chan Shen, a veteran Shaw Brothers actor known for The Chinese Boxer and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin) in order to take his place as the leader of the golden vampires. 

A shaman kneels before Count Dracula.
Kah, the leader of the seven golden vampires, kneels before Count Dracula.

A century later Professor Van Helsing lays out a summary of Chinese vampire legends to a disinterested crowd at Shanghai University. Only Hsi Ching (played by Chiang) believes the Professor’s story and enlists him to adventure to his childhood village in order to slay the golden vampires. With the exposition complete, an intrepid party of Ching’s sister and four brothers, Van Helsing’s son Leyland (played by Robin Stewart), and Vanessa Buran (played by Julie Ege) set off across the Chinese wilderness. 

A well dressed older gentlemen with prominent cheek bones gives a lecture with a blackboard behind him.
Professor Van Helsing delivering a lecture.

Once the action moves to China, the film finds its footing, at least visually. The cinematography is lush, with mist-shrouded landscapes, eerie temples, and vivid use of color that blend Hammer’s gothic aesthetic with Shaw Brothers’ more stylized approach to action. Roy Ward Baker, the film’s credited director, was no stranger to Hammer horror, having previously helmed Quatermass and the Pit and Scars of Dracula.

However, there were reports that Baker struggled with the martial arts sequences, which led to Shaw Brothers veteran Chang Cheh—one of Hong Kong’s most influential action directors—handling additional fight choreography and reshoots. Chang was responsible for some of Shaw Brothers’ biggest hits, including Five Deadly Venoms and The One-Armed Swordsman, and his influence is evident in the film’s action scenes.

A traditional Chinese castle looms in the dark. A peasant stands in front of it with a hand-plow. The door at the base glows green with ominous light.
The castle of the seven golden vampires.

The martial arts sequences are, as to be expected, a strong point of the film. Unlike most Western productions of the time, which still struggled to capture the fluidity and rhythm of Hong Kong fight choreography, the Shaw Brothers had already perfected the formula.

The action is fast-paced, acrobatic, and choreographed with a precision that stands in stark contrast to Hammer’s more stagey and restrained fight scenes. A particularly illustrative scene has Cushing’s Van Helsing wielding a torch in the graceful, theatrical style of stage swordplay while Chiang tears into the attacking undead with a lethal onslaught of cinematic kung fu. 

A man with a staff/spear fends off a group of attackers.
Hsi Po-Kwei fends off attackers with his flashing spear.

However, where the film stumbles is in its storytelling. The plot is thin even by Hammer standards. Much of the dialog is used to explain the vampire threat. Having the characters learn some of the mythology through experience would be more effective.

The titular golden vampires themselves are visually striking, with rotting faces and shimmering golden masks, but they lack personality or a strong central villain to make them truly memorable. In comparison to the fleshed out vampires of western film and legend with their larger-than-life personalities and massive emotions, the golden vampires feel empty.

A golden-masked vampire with rotting flesh.
One of the seven golden vampires stares at his dying comrade.

Despite these shortcomings, there are moments that will bring a smile to any fan of genre adventures. One highlight is the introduction of Ching’s siblings, a classic moment reminiscent of introducing a band of gunslingers. The script speaks for itself:

“My brothers would die in your defense—this is our way. You should know more of the others and perhaps keep their names in some corner of your memory. My twin brothers, the swordsman Sung and San, wield blades of burning silver. Chi-Tao, the massive one, carries a mace and has the strength of ten oxen. Po-Kwei, who long ago chose the short-stepping spear, has since become its master. Ta, the axeman, and Kwei, the bowman—you already know them. And we must not forget Mai Kwei, our little sister. May I predict that your son will not easily forget her name.”

– Hsi Ching introducing his siblings to Van Helsing

Despite its flaws, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires has developed a cult following, largely because of its sheer uniqueness. For those with an active imagination, the film offers a great framework for an enjoyable adventure that will not be found elsewhere.

 

[1] Some say that Bruce Lee did work on an unfinished project with Shaw Brothers Studio. You can read more about that here.

[2] And of course, later, Grand Moff Tarkin in Star WarsWatch a charming video of him discussing the role here.

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Written by James Dean Tully

Tully is a horror writer from the Deep South.

Cover art of the book Mukbang by Alyanna Poe. Features an overweight bald man with maggots falling out of his right eye socket. His other eye socket and mouth are decayed.

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