Peter Cushing returns as Van Helsing once again but this time he's jumped across the pond and is a lecturer in China.
When an opportunity arises to investigate some local vampire mythology he teams with a group of martial artists to foil the scheme of the Prince of Darkness himself Dracula.
What makes this stand out from all the other Hammer Horror films is the attempt at genre blending. Hammer Horror blended with martial arts and with a proper martial arts movie studio to assist them.
Somehow it actually manages to work, the plot is credible and the action is fast and furious.
Peter Cushing is oddly stoic here and not on form at all and the absence of Christopher Lee is highly damaging. John Forbes-Robertson was just not up to the job at all.
Regardless this is a fun little Hammer Horror film that tries to break away from the usual mould. Less cheesy, tad more violent but the awful looking bats are still present.
The Good:
Decent choreography
Some nice ideas
The Bad:
John Forbes-Robertson
Some even worse than usual sfx
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Women cannot go to unknown territories
Christopher Lee simply IS Dracula, replacing him is like re-casting Freddy Kreuger and nobody would ever do that! Right?
When an opportunity arises to investigate some local vampire mythology he teams with a group of martial artists to foil the scheme of the Prince of Darkness himself Dracula.
What makes this stand out from all the other Hammer Horror films is the attempt at genre blending. Hammer Horror blended with martial arts and with a proper martial arts movie studio to assist them.
Somehow it actually manages to work, the plot is credible and the action is fast and furious.
Peter Cushing is oddly stoic here and not on form at all and the absence of Christopher Lee is highly damaging. John Forbes-Robertson was just not up to the job at all.
Regardless this is a fun little Hammer Horror film that tries to break away from the usual mould. Less cheesy, tad more violent but the awful looking bats are still present.
The Good:
Decent choreography
Some nice ideas
The Bad:
John Forbes-Robertson
Some even worse than usual sfx
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Women cannot go to unknown territories
Christopher Lee simply IS Dracula, replacing him is like re-casting Freddy Kreuger and nobody would ever do that! Right?