Before Buffy donned her cheerleader uniform, before the life essence sucking space vampires of Lifeforce were found in the tail of Haley's Comet, before dapper Van Helsing ever set out to do battle with CGI monsters, there was Hammer Studio's \"Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter\". Kronos, late of the Imperial Guard, is not your typical monster hunting hero. Then again this isn't your typical Hammer Horror, it's even better!
Post originally by Mark at 2004-10-20 11:02:36
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<< If the vampires don't show up until the end, what's Kronos swashbuckling his way through until then? >>
IIRC, Dan, not much. I distinctly remember two fight scenes (other than the one at the end of the film), which pits Kronos against several sword-wielding thugs in a pub and then a fight with villagers. Oh, I also recall both Kronos and Grost battling someone who was infected.
In any case, I wouldn't really classify this film as a swashbuckling epic (but that doesn't mean a game based on the film couldn't be one). Rather, I would say it's more along the lines of a Sherlock Holms-esque suspense drama set in 16th century Europe.
Post originally by Kester Pelagius at 2004-10-20 15:17:39
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>>Nice review, CDM. One question, though: If the vampires don't show up until the end, what's Kronos swashbuckling his way through until then?<<
To expand on Mark's statement above, hopefully without giving too much away, Kronos spends most of the movie doing pretty much the same sort of thing Hercules (Kevin Sorbo's version) did in the series. IOW: Wandering around, meeting people, having a romantic daliance, discovering the bodies, interrogating . .no that would give too much away . . and getting pointed in the general direction of the vampire menace.
Grost, on the other hand, spends most of the first half of the movie wandering around the country side and burying frogs in small boxes under trees by well traveled areas. Grost, to borrow a bit of slang, is a trip!
Why does Grost bury frogs and such?
It has something to do with detecting vampires, if memory serves. Very esoteric stuff. ;-)
Post originally by Grym at 2004-10-20 17:40:13
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Nice review. I randomly caught this movie on AMC a couple months ago at like 3am. It was truly an experience. Especially at 3am.
I am surprised you mentioned Buffy and Angel, and didn't include Unisystem as a possible system to run this in. You could use the basic Angel game, change the setting, and build a demon hunter with enhanced, but non-supernatural abilities. Also, you could probably build the vampires as depicted in the movie, as opposed to using a "stock" vamp.
Also, I noticed you didn't mention the fact it had a "but it's a katana". First time I've seen a swashbuckler with both a rapier, and a katana.
Post originally by Kester Pelagius at 2004-10-20 22:34:07
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>>Also, I noticed you didn't mention the fact it had a "but it's a katana". First time I've seen a swashbuckler with both a rapier, and a katana.<<
Great catch! (And awesome memory.)
I was planning to include a section specifically discussing Kronos' gear, complete with screen grabs of his embroidered saddle, his backback, ring, etc. Sadly I cut it from the final version as I felt it was a bit long and superfluous to the review.
One of the screengrabs showing his sword and katana did make it into the PDF. For those interested.
Post originally by His Divine Shadow at 2004-10-20 23:02:13
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Grost had a theory that vampires bleed life energy, so if you buried a dead frog and a vampire passed by, the life energy would bleed into the frog, resurrecting it.
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