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.

Was Horst Janson really forty years old when he made this? Damn, the man looked good!

Horst plays Captain Kronos, a man who wears a snappy uniform and hunts youth-draining vampires in the company of an affable hunchback. He also wears a bag on his head as part of some bizarre meditative ritual. Aside from the bag-wearing part, he's a solid action hero, and it's a shame that Hammer never turned this good little movie into one of its long-running franchises.

The acting is a highlight: John "don't call me Johnny" Carson gives one of his typically likable and neurotic performances as Doctor Marcus, Wanda Ventham makes a lovely villainess, and Ian Hendry has an amusing cameo as an obnoxious thug (how the mighty had fallen, though -wasn't he a star at one point?). There's also great lines aplenty and some nice choreography for the sword-fights.

This is the kind of movie that Full Moon - or for that matter, Dimension films - wishes it could make. Alas, modern horror is usually too gross and uninventive to match the charm and creativity of a Hammer "classic" such as "Captain Kronos."