Billie Morin
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Quiet Muffin
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Rainey Dawn
Captain Kronos is a bit on the corny side but it is fun to watch. Captain Kronos is a swashbuckling vampire hunter that is reminiscent of a comic book superhero. He was featured in a grand total of 4 Hammer Magazine Comics: The House of Hammer » 3 issues (#1, #2, #3) and Hammer's Halls of Horror » 1 issue (#20).The movie is decent - funny sometimes. It's not a bad afternoon film. It's quite fun to watch, has a pretty good story, good costuming and sets, and a dashing, daring vampire hunter named Captain Kronos!Basically if you like vampire stories, a comic book feel to a film, swashbuckling, and a film that does not take itself to seriously then you might enjoy Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter. It's entertaining!7/10
dworldeater
Captain Kronos is a little different for Hammer, but a worthy addition to their canon of films. Fitting into Hammer easily with the same feel and Gothic style, but different in its approach with some original and new ideas for its time. Just like the title indicates our hero is Captain Kronos and his occupation is to hunt vampires. He is an expert swordsman formerly of the King's Imperial Guard, self employed with his hunchback assistant Grost. They investigate a village that has their young women drained of their youth by a vampire. Speaking of women, our hero Kronos has a great one, picking up gypsy girl(Caroline Monroe) who is gorgeous, talented and worked on many classic horror flicks, most notably the ultra brutal 1980 classic Maniac. The rules for killing vampires are different and varied in this film and according to expert Grost there are many different kinds of vampires as well. Our hero Kronos , played by Horst Janson is kind of a half vampire who survived getting bit by one and continues to hunt them. Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter is way ahead of its time as a hybrid of horror and action, throwing in elements from western and samurai films. The action is not nearly as abundant as in a film like Blade, but I'm pretty sure Kronos influenced it. Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter is one of my favorites of the later Hammer films, as well as being one of the most well made also. If you are a fan of both action and horror, Kronos comes highly recommended.
Theo Robertson
An unnamed region in 17th Century Eurpoe is being stalked by a vampire . The bodies of young woman are being found who have lost their youth , their vitality and lifeforce has been drained from them . In to this region rides a mysterious soldier of fortune Captain Kronos I first saw this in my early teens and remembered it well as a very creepy and exciting horror movie featuring vampires and their nemesis in the shape of Captain Kronos . Two scenes I remembered very well were the opening pre-title sequence of a young woman consumed by a vampire and the scene in an Inn involving a trio of loud mouthed ruffians . I couldn't recall any else from the film and that's simply because there's very little memorable about the movie . The opening sequence is striking and well done but the Inn sequence is ridiculous as it cuts to an Inn keeper and his daughter hiding behind the counter as Kronos gets in to a stand off with three hooligans . Some people seem to have described this movie as a " spaghetti horror movie " and you can see their point and much of this opinion is probably down to this silly scene which merely seems to exist to shoehorn a relatively well known name in the shape of Ian Hendry . Horst Janson has a dubious starring role as Kronos . I say dubious because he looks like a cross between Bjorn Borg and Roman Polanski and if someone is corrupting young girls then a Polanski lookalike is the last person you're going to trust to save the situation . Caroline Munro is very noticeable looking hot , sultry and sexy . No make up required and unfortunately no acting required eitherI can see what writer/director Brian Clemens is trying to do here and that is bring a new twist on the vampire legend for Hammer studios which by this point in its history was becoming a little bit too old fashioned . It was also meant kick start a series of films revolving around Captain Kronos but this film combining horror chills and swashbuckling thrills doesn't succeed simply down to the two aspects cancelling one another out . It is moderately entertaining and does pull the rug out from under the audiences feet as to who the vampires are but it's not a great horror movie
Tony Bush
In the early seventies, faced with competition from more visceral and explicit censor-busting movies such as The Exorcist, The Devils, Don't Look Now, etc, Hammer were already past their sell-by date. Their home-spun and hokey low-budget potboilers were fast losing ground, shored up by the failing gimmickry of bringing Dracula into the 20th century (AD '72 and Satanic Rites) and upping the female nudity content whilst adding strong exploitative lesbian overtones to their vamp flicks (The Vampire Lovers, Lust For A Vampire).It couldn't last, and it didn't.Kronos can be seen as either a brave experiment or a foolhardy stab at creating a life-preserver for the studio. The original idea was for a series of Kronos movies to be produced, and it's not a bad premise. Swashbuckling hero with academic hunchback sidekick in tow gallops around rustic non-specific locales as a vampire slaying troubleshooter. What's not to like? Clemens and Fennel had been brought in by the studio to give it new life. Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde had been a box office success so their agenda continued with Kronos. It failed to click with the masses and rapidly slipped off the box office radar before hardly registering a blip.Adding to it's problems was the fact that the BBFC gave it a AA certificate, which made it suitable for viewing by 14 year olds and up. Audiences at the time were far more interested in adult themed shockers awarded the "for adults only" X certificate. The teen demographic it may have appealed to as a result were equally disinterested.To the film itself. Dr Marcus enlists the help of old army comrade Captain Kronos when local girls are found drained not of blood, but of youth, and left to die as ravaged old crones. Kronos and his assistant, Grost, arrive with sultry Caroline Munro (Carla - token crumpet and sex object) and begin their investigations - much to the chagrin of the local mob and secretive arbitrary gentry (the Durward family). It doesn't take a genius with a slide-rule to figure out who is responsible for what.Horst Janson looks the part as Kronos - agile, virile, blonde, athletic and cool - but acts with all the charisma of a cinder-block. Still, the film is a blast. The twists on the vampire legend, the well choreographed sword-fights (especially the climactic duel), the sparse and doom-laden atmosphere it invokes with almost nil special effects to speak of, minimalist sets and landscapes, positions it apart from its stable-mates. When Kronos kills three hired thugs in a bar in less than a heartbeat with a single sword slash, the reference point is resolutely Spaghetti Western. The movie draws on its influences (Yojimbo, Leone, Scaramouche, etc) and fashions them into a unique viewing experience.There are nods to counter culture - Kronos smokes dope ("A Chinese herb" he explains) and indulges in sado-masochistic sex (suggested, not shown). With a better more high-profile lead actor and some production values he, the film and the projected series could have been contenders. As it was, we are left with one of the most individual and distinctive pieces Hammer ever churned out.It's a standalone cult classic that demands appreciation by a new and differently informed audience. Rather than label it a failed experiment, I prefer to think of it as ahead of its time.
