Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Seth Holt

Writers:

Bram Stoker (novel)
Christopher Wicking (writer)

Release Date:

17 May 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A severed hand beckons from an open grave!

Plot:

An archaelogical expedition brings back the coffin of an Egyptian queen known for her magic powers to London...

Plot Keywords:

Ring | Severed Hand | Mummy | Tomb | Nightmare

Cast

Andrew Keir	...	Prof. Julian Fuchs
Valerie Leon	...	Margaret Fuchs / Queen Tera
James Villiers	...	Corbeck
Hugh Burden	...	Geoffrey Dandridge
George Coulouris	...	Prof. Berrigan
Mark Edwards	...	Tod Browning
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Helen Dickerson
Aubrey Morris	...	Dr. Putnam
David Markham	...	Dr. Burgess
Joan Young	...	Mrs. Caporal
James Cossins	...	Older male nurse
David Jackson	...	Young male nurse
Jonathan Burn	...	Dickerson's Male Companion
Graham James	...	Arthur, museum Romeo
Tamara Ustinov	...	Veronica

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Norway:(Banned) (1972-2003) (cinema release) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Elstree Film and TV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

The UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to remove a shot of George Coulouris being struck across the face by male nurse James Cossins as there was public concern about the treatment of mental patients at the time.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Todd drives off to 'get help.' You see his car racing down the road. Margaret uses her ancient powers to raise a wind that flips the roof of Todd's convertible to vertical. As Todd reaches up to try to lower the roof, you can see grass around the car, and the car is clearly not moving! Next moment the car hits a tree.

Quotes:

Corbeck: The meek shall NOT inherit the earth. They can't be trusted with it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Perfect Scary Movie (2005) (TV)

Intellectual retelling of the mummy story

As almost always was the case with Hammer, this is a rather studiobound, but still lavish-looking movie (shot by the always reliable Arthur Grant who had almost a midas-touch when it came to cinematography), despite it's low budget. You also get a long list of old pros like Andrew Keir and Rosalie Crutchley in important parts plus the sultry charms of Valerie Leon, former model and star of british sex-comedys. She is not the greatest actress in the world but does a very competent job with her part, managing the sudden moodswings convincingly. The story is based on a lesser-known Bram 'Dracula' Stoker novel, filmed two more times ('The Awakening' is big-budget but does nothing with all those bucks, just manages to be mostly boring even in the murder-scenes). It does not feature the usual, gauze-wrapped, mummy but it is instead a tale of possession. It is maybe a bit talky in places, but the atmosphere is always right and menacing. Main director Seth Holt died during the last days of shooting so producer Michael Carreras had to do the scenes in the asylum and they are among the most impressive. Horrormovie-fans today will probably find this movie incredibly old-fashioned, but if you are tired of the hundreth film about Jason, Freddy or your average neighborhood slasher, give this a second glance.