Kronos, Stakes of Fate

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (1972)
Directed by Brian Clemens
Screenplay by Brian Clemens

Captain Kronos was ahead of its time.  Nowadays if you do a pilot for a television series about a vampire hunter and his assistant traveling around hunting different kinds of demons you'd be told that it's been done before.  (Or you'd be told that television is dead and that so is every other form of media.)   But what if he's really good with a sword, you know sort of like the Highlander, or Blade?
Yeah, and make everybody younger and less experienced with the killing of vampires and you have Buffy.  But Captain Kronos was never given the chance that Buffy, Highlander and Blade had.  Is it too late for a story about a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars traipsing through Europe (and, by the looks of that katana, beyond) and killing vampires with his brilliant hunchback sidekick/watcher?
I really hope not.  And if the period setting is a dealbreaker imagine the whole thing Sherlocked into a contemporary setting.  Kronos is still a veteran, the hunchback is still a hunchback and the vampires are still vampires.

Speaking of Sherlock, here's another reason to look at this film again.  Take a closer look at Wanda Ventham as Lady Durward.  That's Benedict Cumberbatch's mother.

There are so many things to enjoy about this film.  For instance, the fact that Kronos saves Carla from the stupid punishment of being placed in stocks for dancing on a Sunday.  It's a good reminder of the kind of illiberal history of European and Western culture and religion that in most contemporary discourse is completely shunted onto swarthier folk. 

The class issues are great too.  Have you ever noticed that the big bad vampire is never a working class mook with a taste for blood but instead is by definition a member of an aristocracy that exploits the labor and life force of others even without supernatural bloodsucking?  Yep, those Durwards are a bunch of useless vampires no matter what.  And like all aristocrats they manage to mesmerize even sensible folks like Dr. Marcus into being extra nice to them. 

I had forgotten the old buddy from the war factor in the relationship between Kronos and Marcus.  Kronos owes Marcus.  It also makes the relationship much more personal.  Killing off Marcus is a seriously Whedonesque move in a pre-Whedon era.  If Kronos had become a series you can imagine there would have been a lot of that.  Of course, if the premise of the show had been that Kronos and Grost are completely itinerant (Have Stakes, Will Travel) there would have been a Bonanza effect when it came to anybody they met along the way. 

Different kinds of vampires is a very nice touch, especially since the ending ties things to the Hammer Karnstein films based on Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.  Daywalkers are harder to track.
The family dynamic of the Durwards is enduringly ambiguous.  What is going on with the brother and sister there?  They're either having a relationship with each other or trying to be each other.
And for that matter the mother and father don't make things any more easy to understand.

At least a closer examination reveals why there's so much awesome swordplay since Hagen is played by William Hobbs who is now renowned for his work as a sword fight choreographer.

The existential angst of the hunchback sidekick is a really nice touch.  And the fact that he is a necessary part of the team as the researcher and armorer makes him much more than a sidekick and closer to being a real Giles.

I suppose leaving Carla behind was as much a contractual safety bet as it was a matter of leaving Kronos unencumbered by a relationship.  (It's clear that Kronos is not ready for a real commitment anyway.)

All in all, Captain Kronos survives closer scrutiny.  I already want to watch it again.    

Cast
Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter -- Horst Janson
Kronos (Voice) -- Julian Holloway
Grost -- John Cater
Dr. Marcus -- John Carson
Carla -- Caroline Munro
Lady Durward --  Wanda Ventham
Paul Durward -- Shane Briant
Sara Durward -- Lois Daine
Hagen -- William Hobbs
George Sorell --Brian Tully
Vanda Sorell -- Lisa Collings
Isabella Sorell -- Susanna East
Barton Sorell -- Stafford Gordon
Ann Sorell -- Elizabeth Dear
Kerro -- Ian Hendry
Pointer -- Robert James
Barlow -- Perry Soblosky
Giles -- Paul Greenwood
Barman --  John Hollis
Myra -- Joanna Ross
Priest -- Neil Seiler
Lilian -- Olga Anthony
Blind Girl -- Gigi Gurpinar
Big Man --Peter Davidson
Tom -- Terence Sewards
Deke -- Trevor Lawrence
Barmaid -- Jacqui Cook
Whore --Penny Price
Petra -- Caroline Villiers
Jane -- Linda Cunningham

Music by Laurie Johnson
Cinematography by Ian Wilson