One of the last Hammer horrors isn't a complete success but at least tries to do something new, and some of it is very good. Horst Janson is handsome but a little bland in the title role, an aristocratic, rapier-wielding vampire hunter who investigates a spate of attacks in a European village that is leaving young people drained of all their youth - and dead.
Shane Briant and Lois Daine offer effective support as decadent aristocrats, John Cater is fun as Kronos' hunchbacked assistant, Caroline Munro sexy as a village girl they rescue from the stocks who Kronos beds then uses as bait (they have some funny dumb flirt dialogue). There are neat touches, such as trying to find a method that will kill their friend who has been infected, crosses changing shape, flows wilting in the presence of vampires, use of ancient medicines, and the sword play. In a rarity for Hammer, a male (Janson) is exploited as much as the females - he's always got his shirt off.
Often the handing feels like a crappy 70s TV show, though, complete with scenes that are dragged on too long and mugging character actors - this probably would have been better as a pilot for TV. The head vampire here claims descent from the Karnsteins, so you could link this to other Hammer Karnstein films such as The Vampire Lovers, Twins of Evil and Lust for a Vampire.
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