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Directed by legendary writer Brian Clemens this macabre vampire yarn is marked by the Edgar Allan Poe template but has a charm and humour all of its own

The sword fighting vampire genre never really took off, but it wasn’t for the want of trying by this very enjoyable Hammer horror from 1974, a macabre swashbuckler written and directed by British genre legend Brian Clemens; his sole feature directing credit in fact. Clemens was a prolific writer who did so much to get TV audiences addicted to The Avengers, The Persuaders and The Professionals and it surely must have occurred to him that this trio of vampire-hunting leads could well have been spun off into a recurring TV series, perhaps under the aegis of Lew Grade.

German star and international co-production veteran Horst Janson plays Captain Kronos (dubbed by British actor Julian Holloway), a blond ex-army officer in a hilarious panto military outfit,...

Titan Comics' "Hammer Comics: Captain Kronos" #1, based on the 1974 horror feature, is written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Tom Mandrake, with covers by Mike Perkins and Mandrake:

"...in the depths of Eastern Europe, the legendary vampire hunter, 'Captain Kronos', and his two assistants, 'Grost' and 'Carla', are called to help rid a town of its vampire plague.

"However, beneath the surface of the beleaguered town a malevolent force far more evil and deadly is awakening and it might just be the match of Kronos..."

The R-rated "Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter" (1974) was written and directed by Brian Clemens for Hammer Film Productions, starring Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.

"...debonair supernatural expert 'Captain Kronos' (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...

Titan Comics' "Hammer Comics: Captain Kronos" #1, based on the 1974 horror feature, is written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Tom Mandrake, with covers by Mike Perkins and Mandrake:

"...in the depths of Eastern Europe, the legendary vampire hunter, 'Captain Kronos', and his two assistants, 'Grost' and 'Carla', are called to help rid a town of its vampire plague.

"However, beneath the surface of the beleaguered town a malevolent force far more evil and deadly is awakening and it might just be the match of Kronos..."

The R-rated "Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter" (1974) was written and directed by Brian Clemens for Hammer Film Productions, starring Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.

"...debonair supernatural expert 'Captain Kronos' (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...

Hammer Comics' "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter" #1, based on the 1974 cult horror feature, is written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Tom Mandrake, with covers by Mandrake and Mike Perkins:

"...in the depths of Eastern Europe, legendary vampire hunter 'Captain Kronos', and his two assistants, 'Grost' and 'Carla', are called to help rid a town of its vampire plague.

"However, beneath the surface of the beleaguered town a malevolent force far more evil is awakening and it might just be a deadly match for Kronos..."

The R-rated "Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter" (1974) was written and directed by Brian Clemens for Hammer Film Productions, starring Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.

"...debonair supernatural expert 'Captain Kronos' (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,...

Hammer Comics' "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter" #1, based on the horror feature, is written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Tom Mandrake, with covers by Mandrake and Mike Perkins:

"...in the depths of Eastern Europe, legendary vampire hunter 'Captain Kronos', and his two assistants, 'Grost' and 'Carla', are called to help rid a town of its vampire plague.

"However, beneath the surface of the beleaguered town a malevolent force far more evil is awakening and it might just be a deadly match for Kronos..."

The R-rated "Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter" (1974) was written and directed by Brian Clemens for Hammer Film Productions, starring Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.

"...debonair supernatural expert 'Captain Kronos' (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,...

A real outlier in Hammer’s history, Brian Clemen’s gothic swashbuckler is one of the studio’s most purely enjoyable efforts. Horst Janson plays the Robin Hood-like vampire hunter and John Cater is his stake-wielding sidekick, Professor Hieronymus Grost. Caroline Munro plays a sultry gypsy girl and Laurie Johnson (composer for TV’s The Avengers) provides the rousing score.

The post Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Titan Comics' "Hammer Comics: Captain Kronos" #1, based on the 1974 horror feature, available September 27, 2017, is written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Tom Mandrake, with covers by Mike Perkins and Tom Mandrake:

"...in the depths of Eastern Europe, the legendary vampire hunter, 'Captain Kronos', and his two assistants, 'Grost' and 'Carla', are called to help rid a town of its vampire plague.

"However, beneath the surface of the beleaguered town a malevolent force far more evil and deadly is awakening and it might just be the match of Kronos..."

The R-rated "Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter" (1974) was written and directed by Brian Clemens for Hammer Film Productions, starring Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.

"...debonair supernatural expert 'Captain Kronos' (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..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Captain Kronos- Vampire Hunter"...

At last night’s John Cater premiere, we ran into the legend that is Dexter Fletcher, who was there, in his words, ‘to see Mark Strong’*.

We’d never miss an opportunity to chat to Dexter, particularly not when his debut movie, Wild Bill is coming out in a matter of weeks. As well as talking about the mammoth press tour he’s been on to promote the movie, and the addictive effects of directing, Fletcher hinted at what his follow up picture might be, and it’s not what you’d expect…

You’re only a few weeks out from Wild Bill hitting cinemas, looking forward to it?

It’s been a fairly long road I suppose, but here we are, and it’s literally round the corner… It’s been finished for a while. Universal have picked it up, and they’re giving it a fairly wide release,...

Here’s what must be the final trailer released for John Cater formerly known as John Carer of Mars directed by Pixar legend, Andrew Stanton. The movie stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church and Willem Dafoe.

Check out the trailer below and click here for all our coverage.

From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet,...

Here’s a nice new Spanish poster for Disney new movie, John Carter. Now I said in the title that it is very ‘Disney’ and that is no surprise since after-all, it is a Disney movie! But that said, the posters they’ve used up to now have been more like Clash of the Titans or even Tron Legacy with the look logos and close up shots of the characters from the movie, this one is more about the journey!

John Carter is based on the books by Edgar Rice Burrows. Andrew Stanton​ who previously directed Finding Nemo​ and Wall·E and this time ventures into live action.

The movie stars Taylor Kitsch​ , Lynn Collins​, Samantha Morton​ , Mark Strong​, Ciaran Hinds​, Dominic West, James Purefoy​, Daryl Sabara​, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston​, Thomas Hayden Church​, Willem Dafoe​.

Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping...

On the audio commentary for his Pixar film ‘The Incredibles’, director Brad Bird proclaims that he will punch the next person he hears refer to animation as a genre rather than an art form. Often belittled as an attraction aimed primarily at young audiences, over the past decade animation has found a wider and more adult audience on the big screen. World cinema has acted almost as a breading ground for animation directors creating vibrant, emotional, funny and engaging films. Chico & Rita from Spain, Persepolis from France and Waltz with Bashir from Israel were all award winning, highly regarded and best of all, widely distributed animation films aimed at an adult audience. Pixar’s Up, a computer-animated feature, even opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2009! So why is it that at this exciting time two of North America’s most interested and talented animation directors take the leap from one...

The ever beneficient people at Apple have delivered a new poster for Disney’s long awaited adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Cater (of Mars but don’t tell anyone).

Further details of Andrew Stanton’s film have been unveiled recently, most notably some excellent new artwork, and slowly but surely Disney have started to let us in on the whole John Carter thing.

We’ve seen a few trailers and Dave went along to Disney to see twenty minutes of the finished film introduced by Stanton himself who, like fellow Pixarian Brad Bird, has a lot of expectation for his forthcoming live action feature.

Here’s the new poster for the film which, while being a striking design, seems to suit a cover design for the inevitable movie-tie in novel. Nice new tag-line though.

Here’s the poster,...

On this weeks episode of the Popcast, we are on Harry Potter Overload! Our panel discusses what we think is the next big franchise to fill the void left by the end of Harry Potter. We review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Recap the John Cater, Contagion, Hugo, Dark Knight Rises and Sherlock Holmes trailers in a new section called Trailer Park, discuss pop culture news and play Box Office or Bust!

Subscribe and Rate via iTunes. Be sure to follow @the_Popcast and @NapiersNews. Follow the hosts: Jim @Jim_Napier, Dan @danielsarath and Mal @iammalkovich. Listen to the earlier episodes of the podcast on our Podomatic page!

Rachael Ray has confessed that her dog Isaboo "has the run of the house". The celebrity chef and talkshow host confessed to People that she and husband John cater to the pit bull and almost think of her as a child. "I make a dog-friendly version of almost everything that we make for dinner, so she gets a lot of home-cooked food," Ray explained. "She likes barley or orzo with chicken stock, carrots and parsley. She likes parsley a lot." Ray went on to reveal that Isaboo's (more)...

Pixar is already working on a live action movie for Disney, in the sci-fi film John Cater of Mars. Now word is that they may apply their computer animation talents to something a little different too. Comic Artist Brendan McCarthy says the people behind Toy Story 3 are contemplating making a CGI movie out of Doctor Strange. In an interview with Bad Librarianship he reveals: .I was over in Hollywood earlier this year mooching about, and I had a meeting at Disney and the conversation drifted around to Pixar animating a Dr. Strange movie.. Alright, that.s pretty vague. How serious was this conversation? He doesn.t say. We know that Marvel has indeed hired writers to work on a Dr. Strange script, but exactly how it will be used (though at one point Patrick Dempsey was rumored to be playing the character. Could it be for Pixar? Now that...

This week:

Avatar makes it four in a row; Willem Dafoe heads to Mars next week; Maggie Grace and Billy Bob Thornton move Faster with Dwayne Johnson; The Sitter makes it to the big screen; Polanski’s The Ghost Writer gets a release date and James Franco finds that there isn’t a mountain high enough to stop him working with Danny Boyle in 127 Hours.

Box Office

James Cameron’s Avatar was number one for the fourth weekend in a row with a mighty take of $48.5 million. With a huge $429 million in the bank domestically, the film is now the highest grossing film of 2009 and is already on its way to being the second biggest of all time (domestic) after Cameron’s own Titanic. On a worldwide level the film has now banked $1.3 billion and it looks like it might just beat Titanic’s final gross of $1.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr...

Cinema Retro London correspondent Adrian Smith brings us the inside story of the recent reunion of Captain Kronos cast members.

Brian Clemens, Horst Janon, Caroline Munro, Lois Dane and John Cater . (Photo copyright Matt Gemmell)

The last eighteen months has seen an impressive array of Hammer-related film events here in the UK, most organised by filmmaker and cult-film champion Don Fearney. Saturday, 29 March saw perhaps the most intriguing and popular event so far occur at the Cine Lumiere in London.

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is a long forgotten film which was virtually ignored at the time of its release, even by Hammer themselves. However it has developed a strong following since becoming available on home video and DVD, and many see it as one of the strongest entries in the latter end of the Hammer canon, falling between weaker efforts such as Twins of Evil and The Satanic Rites of Dracula.

 

Former James Bond girls and Hammer stars Caroline Munro and Martine Beswicke reunited at Bray Studios

 

 

If you couldn't be at Bray Studios' historic Hammer Horror reunion last weekend, Cinema Retro's man on the scene Adrian Smith gives you the low-down:

On August 4, over 150 fans and many Hammer stars and personnel gathered at Bray Studios on the banks of the River Thames to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Curse of Frankenstein. Amongst the guests were writer-director Jimmy Sangster, director John Hough, Margaret Robinson, the widow of art director Bernard Robinson, and actors Virginia Wetherell, Madeline Smith, Ingrid Pitt, Janina Faye, Vera Day, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke, Carol Marsh, Yvonne Monlaur, Valerie Leon, Douglas Wilmer, Damien Thomas, John Cater and Edward de Souza. It was the first time for many of the fans in attendance that they had been able to visit Bray, the spiritual home of Hammer films.