The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula

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Action, Adventure, Horror

In this strange but fun genre hodgepodge, Prof. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is up against seven rotting vampires clad in gold masks. They were revived by Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson) at the behest of a Chinese priest in 1804 and a century later are terrorizing the village of Ping Kuei.

One of the locals attends Van Helsing's lecture in Chungking and enlists the vampire-hunter, his son, and a pretty heiress (Julie Ege) in ridding the village of its curse. There's a lot of skillfully handled martial arts swordplay, hopping vampires, and more blood than usual before Cushing gets to run Dracula through with a spear.

It's an interesting mix of Shaw Bros. martial-arts and Hammer gothic that doesn't always work, particularly with Forbes-Robertson's tarted-up Dracula apparently lingering way too long at the makeup table, but it's enjoyable enough for a rental.

This was, sadly, Hammer's last Dracula film, despite plans to pit the vampire and Van Helsing in India the following year. Anchor Bay's widescreen video release contains both the original film and the hopped-up 75-minute 7 Brothers Meet Dracula, which played in American grindhouses.