7 Golden Vampires is beautiful to look at. Hammer Studio left behind the usual lush English mansions and decrepit castles. In their place are stunning Buddhist temples and a decrepit Chinese village! Hammer always knows how to make visually pleasing films and this one is no exception. Furthermore, the musical score is big and brash for the most part, sending a signal to the audience that this is an epic adventure.
The cast includes Peter Cushing [Star Wars, Horror of Dracula] as Professor Laurence Van Helsing who happens to be lecturing at a nearby university and is persuaded to join the villagers in their fight against the agents of darkness. Cushing is perfect for the role and does his usual excellent work in fleshing out his character. David Chiang [Once Upon a Time in China II, Blood Brothers] is Hsi Ching who is Cushing's guide, confidant and warrior on the side. He does a great job as well.
The martial arts scenes include everything you would expect: swords, daggers, death punches, acrobatics and really terrible fake blood. I love it! Placing horror on top of this is just icing on the cake. The two merge very well in this film and it's fun to watch the director weave them together. Furthermore, the horror elements are highly stylized. The look of both the vampires and the zombie warriors is unique and very well done.
Speaking of directors, Roy Ward Baker [Asylum, The Avengers; TV Series] really does a fine job moving things along and keeping things interesting. I can't remember seeing anything like this film before 1974. If anyone out there knows of another Kung Fu Horror Spectacular before this one, let me know. I definitely want to watch it!
I guess you can tell I really enjoyed The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Don't miss it!
RATING: Excellent.
For more info check out the film's entry in IMDB.