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Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

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Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

R

Released Apr 7, 1974

1h 31m

Horror

Adventure

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6 Reviews

60%

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2,500+ Ratings

Debonair supernatural expert Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) and his hunchbacked assistant, Grost (John Cater), meet their match when they encounter a village where vampires have been stealing the vitality of young women, leaving them elderly and decrepit. Armed with his sword and formidable deductive reasoning, Kronos begins to solve the macabre mystery, with evidence pointing to the aristocratic Lady Durward (Wanda Ventham) and her family as prime suspects.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

The story is clearly marked by the Edgar Allan Poe template which contributed to the Hammer brand identity, but Clemens’s script has a charm and humour of its own.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 16, 2025

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Today, irony has started to look more and more like the death knell for serious horror films, and so the relative straightforwardness of a Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is a welcome throwback.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 27, 2003

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…ripe for a reboot, Kronos was widely seen on tv, and offers a recognisable IP due a revival; he’s got his own logo, a swashbuckling look, and a lush barnet... the uberglam Janson and Munro make a great team, and Brian Clemens turns cliches inside out...

Rated: 4/5

Jan 17, 2025

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Alberto Abuín

Espinof

A film with laughable dialogues and some awkwardness in its staging. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 15, 2016

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Oct 21, 2005

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Scott Weinberg

eFilmCritic.com

A goofily endearing old chestnut, and one that any self-respecting horror fan will eventually want to check out for themselves.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 6, 2004

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Audience Member

Well, I guess it works really well as a guilty pleasure (along a bunch of other Hammer productions).

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

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? The only movie directed by Brian Clemens, who also wrote for the Avengers as well as the movies Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, And Soon the Darkness and — I'm sorry — Highlander 2: The Quickening, this really has everything I want in a movie. A tough hero. A gorgeous girl. Evil incarnate. And enough fighting and swashbuckling to keep me invested for 91 minutes. You have to love a movie that posits that different vampires need to be killed in different ways, then has a scene where the heroes try every method to kill one of the undead until it stays dead. For everyone that says that this movie is kind of boring, it's a movie that has a sword with a mirror on it that kills bloodsuckers and Caroline Munro is in it. I mean, are you that greedy that you want any more than that? Also, in my perfect world, there would have totally been a Kronos and Christopher Lee face-off. I'm not one for remakes, but this is one that should happen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

Love this movie, have it all, is scary, have mistery, have a surprise twist, Caroline Munroe is breathtaking, beautiful enviroments, totally recommended.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

The swashbuckling film that can be considered a spin-off to the "Karnstien Trilogy" of films. While not as good as the first film in the trilogy it does meet the same level of quality as its third, rising above the middle film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

Muy pulp y con momentos delirantemente divertidos; lástima que no sean muchos....

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Frances H

These old Hammer films are usually laughable and funny with horribly bad acting and ludicrous plots. This one is not exception! So bad they are hilarious!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/30/20

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Brian Clemens

Director

Horst Janson

Captain Kronos

John Cater

Prof. Hieronymos Grost

Caroline Munro

Carla

John Carson

Dr. Marcus

Shane Briant

Paul Durward

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Synopsis

Debonair supernatural expert Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) and his hunchbacked assistant, Grost (John Cater), meet their match when they encounter a village where vampires have been stealing the vitality of young women, leaving them elderly and decrepit. Armed with his sword and formidable deductive reasoning, Kronos begins to solve the macabre mystery, with evidence pointing to the aristocratic Lady Durward (Wanda Ventham) and her family as prime suspects.

Director: Brian Clemens
Producer: Brian Clemens, Albert Fennell
Screenwriter: Brian Clemens
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Hammer Film Productions Limited
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 7, 1974, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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