The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (Chinese: 七金屍) is a 1974 martial arts horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker.

A century later, Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), known in the world for his exploits with Dracula, is recruited by a man and his seven siblings after giving a lecture at a Chinese university to take on the vampires.

[1] The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was shot between 22 October and 11 December 1973, at Shaw Brothers Studios in Hong Kong, where Chang Cheh was hired to direct further martial arts scenes for the film's release in the East.

"[3] In 1804 Transylvania, Taoist monk Kah, the high priest of the Temple of the Seven Golden Vampires in rural China, travels through the countryside to Castle Dracula.

The farmer was unsuccessful, and his wife died in the fight, but he managed to grab a medallion from a vampire's neck, which he saw as the creatures' life source.

In the ensuing struggle, Van Helsing stabs Dracula through the heart with a silver spear, causing the Count to turn to dust.

[4] The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was filmed between 22 October and 11 December 1973, at Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong, with mountain scenes shot on Kowloon Peak.

[2] The Shaw Brothers were not happy with how Roy Ward Baker was directing the film and had martial arts sequences choreographed by one of their studios directors, leading to a second unit set up that was handled by Chang Cheh.

[5] Renee Glynee who was the continuity supervisor for the film stated that working with the Shaw Brothers Studios was "a big experience" due to language differences and that director Roy Ward Baker was screaming at the Chinese actors to stop spitting on set.

[6] The film received its premiere in London on 29 August 1974, at the Warner Rendezvous Theatre and had general release in the United Kingdom on 6 October 1974, by Columbia/Warner Distributors.

[2] The American version cuts out 20 minutes of the film's footage and soundtrack and loops several remaining scenes to fill the running time.

[7] For the film's release in the United States, it received a sneak peek screening in November 1975 at the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention in New York City which included attendance by Michael Carreras and Peter Cushing.

[2] It received wider distribution in the United States in June 1979 by Dynamite Entertainment with a 75-minute running time and re-titled to The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula.

[14] In contemporary reviews, the London Times found that the film "would be tedious if it were not for the distinguished presence of Peter Cushing as a Dracula-hunter and for some advanced exercises in the practice of vampire disintegration".

Club called the film "flawed" but "enjoyable", adding, "It's pretty much as ridiculous as it sounds, but there's something inherently entertaining about make-up-splattered vampires, distinguished British actors, and martial artists squaring off in periodic eruptions of kung-fu fighting.

"[7] Graeme Clark of The Spinning Image said, "Cushing, in his last Hammer Dracula film, is as commanding as ever, but he and his Western companions are pretty disposable to the plot until the end, where the professor is left alone with the Count, who is hardly needed.

"[19] The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was adapted into a 15-page comics story by Steve Moore and Brian Lewis, and published in The House of Hammer #4 (February 1977) by General Books Distribution.