Frankenstein Created Woman/The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

Frankenstein Created Woman/The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires | Peter Cushing, David Chiang | Crouching Vampires, Hidden Monsters

DVDs:

Frankenstein Creat...

	Frankenstein Created Woman/The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires Peter Cushing, David Chiang Starz / Anchor Bay, 2004 average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great Package! Anchor Bay does it right. Sountrack review

There are several reviews for these 2 quite enjoyable Hammer films. So I won't add to that. If you're a Hammer fan you already know the stories. If not, the other reviews give a good idea of the plot. Suffice to say i've been watching these 2 films-first edited (naturally) on TV, then unedited on viedotape and now on DVD since the first airings of "Created Woman" on TV here in the states in the early 70's, and "Legend" since about the late 70's. These are the best versions so far of these 2 Hammer films.
My curiosity was peaked with the 46 minute-long narrative version of the story that's included on the DVD of "Legend". My guess was that-especially considering the vinyl-lp length version of the story, that this was probably released in a limited version sometime during the original run of the film.
A quick look on EBAY sure enough revealed that an LP was released in 1974-it seems only in England. If you want a copy the only one I saw listed for about $200. So it's really nice to have that reproduced here digitally. Being around myself at the time-and a Hammer fan also at that point (yeah, i'm old)I would have certainly known (and owned it) had the LP been available here in the U.S.
I'll be copying this soundtrack onto tape to listen to in my car-for sure. It's very well done, and a bit sad since Mr Cushing (who narrates most of it) is no longer with us. And i'm one of his biggest fans.
Anyway, the only way Anchor Bay could have done better is to give some credits for this old LP. There's some other narration on here before Cushings introduction which sounds like it could be John Forbes Robinson himself, possibly (who plays Dracula in the movie) and there's some fine soundtrack work-which may actually be the music from the film-not sure of that, i'll have to do a comparison real soon.
I'm a sucker for audio CD's of horror tales-probably from my youth when there was no videotape or DVDs so one could not purchase, rent, or view your favorite movies antime, anywhere, like today. I still collect these things and love to listen to horror tales-especially around Halloween and driving in the car (especially on long evening drives). So the price for the DVD alone is worth it just to have this wonderful artifact from the past reproduced. i don't know how many folks this will matter to, but for those like me who enjoy this stuff, there's just a TON of entertainment on these 2 very reasonably priced discs. long live Anchor Bay!!

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Crouching Vampires, Hidden Monsters

Perhaps the biggest star that came out of the Hammer Studios horror movies was Christopher Lee, but if I had to guess, it would be Peter Cushing who appeared in more movies (and was a pretty big name in his own right). In the two disc set Frankenstein Created Woman and Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, we get to see Cushing reprising his two biggest roles, that of Frankenstein and Van Helsing.

As one of the title characters in Frankenstein Created Woman, he is up to his usual tricks attempting to create life. This time, his method involves catching the soul of a recently deceased person; this soul can then be used to reanimate the body after it has been repaired. When his assistant is executed for a murder he didn't commit, Frankenstein gets his soul, but not the body he needs. This is supplied by his assistant's lover, who drowned herself upon his death. The assistant's soul reanimates her, but also possesses her, making her seek vengeance on those who framed him. After becoming the agent of her resurrection, Frankenstein almost becomes more of an observer as the havoc ensues.

More interesting is Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, the last in the Hammer series of Dracula movies. In this one, Dracula goes east to empower and control the Seven Golden Vampires, a septet of half-decayed beings who have terrorizing a remote Chinese village. They're vicious, they can raise zombies to fight for them and they know martial arts! Opposing them is Cushing's Van Helsing and a set of seven brothers and one sister who are skilled warriors themselves. What results is an interesting blend of eerie horror movie and old style "kung fu" movie, with plenty of fight scenes. Once again, Cushing's character is often more on the sidelines than in the midst of the action; while hardly feeble, he doesn't have the physical presence to be a believable action hero.

While neither movie is a classic, both are entertaining, with Legend the better of the two. Individually, the Frankenstein movie rates a high three stars, Legend a low four. Add in a couple bonus features and this is a fun four-star set, a pleasant diversion for fans of older horror movies.

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FrankenFu

Frankenstein Created Woman(Hammer were great with film titles, weren't they?) has Frankenstein graduating to soul transplants. Sounds like a great idea and a real breakthrough in medical science, but since this is a Frankensetin film, you know it's all gonna go to hell pretty quickly. The "monster" this time around is the reanimated body of a crippled woman who's possessed by the soul of her lover who was falsely executed. Naturally, being executed for a crime he didn't commit kinda pissed him off, so he uses his girlfriend's body to pull a Charles Bronson on the real culprits(a trio of snootyass British rich boys). Another great Hammer Frankenstein entry, but aren't they all?
Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires was Hammer's last grasp at keeping their Dracula series alive(or dead if you will). The gimmick is setting the film in China and making it into a martial arts film. Sound goofy? Well, it is. Hammer kung fu is kinda hard to fathom till you've seen it. In this one, Van Helsing has travelled to China in search of a lost city that is under the rule of the seven vampires of the title. Everyone in China thinks Van Helsing is a superstitious schmuck except seven brothers who have sworn to bring the vampires down and restore peace to the village. They enlist Van Helsing's help, and along with his son and a rich blonde chick, they all go out in search of the seven golden vampires. Turns out Dracula himself has taken over as leader of the cult. Far fetched? Of course, but it's fun. Cushing does a wonderful job of seamlessley and credibly transplanting his Van Helsing character into a different world. He even gets in on a little of the physical action as well!! Unfortunately Christopher Lee couldn't be lured back and the guy playing Dracula just doesn't feel right. That's no big deal I guess coz Dracula's part is pretty minimal. This isn't the best of Hammer films, but you really got to give it marks for originality. Anchor Bay's got another winner.

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peter cushing and hammer strike again

peter cushing was one of the great unsung actors of his day and he and christoer lee made some of the finest horror movies ever made. this great two disc transfer(that looks fantastic by the way) has two of mr. cushing's hammer outings.
"frankenstien created woman" is another entry in the on going frankenstien series for cushing and a good little movie. while not the best in the series it shows so spark and some fun in the plot of putting the brain of a girls dead lover in her body. super silly but made great by cushing and the people of hammer.
"the legend of the 7 golden vampires" is a real oddity as it brings kung-fu to the dracula story. mr.cushing is van helsing again as he travels to china to stop dracula from raising the title vampires. to help van helsing are seven butt kicking brothers who chop-socky the vampires. not really a great movie but different to say the least and very fun to watch.
sit back and enjoy these fun horror movies of yesteryear.

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Frankenstein Created Woman/The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

A Must have as part of the Hammor Horror Collection

reviews: page 1, 2

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