Plot:
A young woman sits in the woods brushing her blond pigtails that looked to me like a wig. She wears a cross and an ankle-length blue dress and white blouse, telling the viewer she’s a late 18th-century peasant. Her friend Ann (Elizabeth Dear) teases her, then departs to find flowers for her hair. While Ms. Blond looks in her mirror and brushes her hair, she sees a cloaked figure appear over her shoulder.
She turns around. At first, she’s frightened, but then she smiles.
The viewer next sees Dr. Marcus (John Carson) riding through the woods. He sees Ann standing still among the trees and calls out to her. Ann doesn’t respond. He dismounts and realizes she’s staring at Ms. Blond, seated beneath a tree. He rushes to her, only to find her face aged horribly and a trickle of blood running down her lip.
Sadly, this is not the first case of premature aging of a young person the good doctor has seen.
He calls in an old army buddy, Captain Kronos (Horst Janson), who comes riding into town while the opening credits roll. The captain’s saddle blanket is emblazoned with a stylized “K.” Behind him in a horse-drawn cart is Professor Hieronymus Grost (John Cater), a scholar and a hunchback.
On the way, Kronos comes across a pretty woman (Caroline Munro) in the stocks decorated with tomato goo. This is her punishment for dancing on a Sunday. He frees her, breaking the metal locks off with his sword. Uh-huh. Her name is Carla, and she climbs into the cart behind Grost.
Upon reaching town, Grost tells Dr. Marcus he’s dealing with a vampire. Not all vampires drain blood. This vampire drains youth. So, they should be looking for a very young-looking person.
They then discuss methods of dispatching this youth-draining vampire. The traditional stake through the heart might not do. So—hanging? Fire?
Chekhov’s gun?
Thoughts:
Two very good-looking young people show up, the brother and sister duo, Paul (Shane Briant) and Sara (Lois Daine) Durward, the children of the late Lord Hagen Durward (William Hobbs), one of the greatest swordsmen of all time. Dr. Marcus’s treatment for plague failed to save him. Lady Durward (Wanda Ventham) is bedridden, ill, and grieving.
Plus, Sara has a habit of leaving home at odd times on completely legitimate errands. Hmm…
Someone pays the local roughs to attack Kronos. The viewer knows the head bad’un is rotten when he cheats the local working girl. He’s a bad, bad boy. I’ll bet he cheats at golf, too.
Many of the online reviewers like the scene where the bad guys insult Grost and pounce on Kronos, but I found it weird. For one, in the drinking establishment where they rumble, a woman sits at a table blindfolded, sipping a drink. No explanation is offered for her, nor does she appear again. Was she a captive of the bad’uns? Is she taste-testing local wines? Is she recovering from eye surgery? Your guess is as good as mine.
When violence breaks out, the proprietors duck behind the bar, peek out, and duck progressively lower, lending a bit of humor to the scene. It was cute, but not quite believable—as if the rest of the movie were.
There is also a perfectly gratuitous tumble in the hay between Kronos and Carla—quite literally. They’re in a barn. But at least they don’t frighten the horses.
The ending surprised me, and it was full of glorious melodrama. I enjoyed it. The vampire used their ability to hypnotize people to freeze them in place. One unfortunate actress had to stand with her arms outstretched for who knows how long. It was lovely, sublime, and silly, and capped off with a sword fight.
According to Wikipedia and IMDB (one probably got it from the other), this movie was supposed to start a franchise, but didn’t do well. Captain Kronos is given an origin story and a visible physical wound that, to my untrained eye, looks unsurvivable before twentieth-century surgery.
I’ve been poking fun. There is a lot to poke fun at about this movie, but I enjoyed it. I won’t be in a hurry to watch it again, but I liked it.
This movie can be watched here:
Title: Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
Director
Brian Clemens…directed by
Writer
Brian Clemens…written by
ProducersBrian Clemens…producer
Albert Fennell…producer
Cast (in credits order)
Horst Janson…Kronos
John Carson…Dr. Marcus
Shane Briant…Paul Durward
Caroline Munro…Carla
John Cater…Grost
Released: 1974
Length: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Rated: R
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
Vampires that drains victims of youth instead of blood is an interesting alternative. Even though the movie may not be believable, the draining of youth I think makes it more realistic than the traditional vampire story. The trailer was different and fun to watch. It is an old movie and it seems to be a bit quirky but it seems like you still enjoyed it and you wrote a great review.