El espanto surge de la tumba (1973)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Carlos Aured

Writer:

Paul Naschy (story)

Release Date:

February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

In Medieval France a warlock is be-headed and his wife tortured and executed. Hundreds of years later...

Plot Keywords:

Witchcraft | Warlock | Gore | Ghost | Castle

Cast

Paul Naschy	...	Alaric de Marnac / Hugo de Marnac / Armand de Marnac
Emma Cohen	...	Elvira
Víctor Alcázar	...	Maurice Roland / Andre Roland (as Vic Winner)
Helga Liné	...	Mabille De Lancré
Betsabé Ruiz	...	Sylvia
Luis Ciges	...	Alain "Le Raté", a thief
Julio Peña	...	Jean
María José Cantudo	...	Chantal
Juan Cazalilla	...	Gastone
Francisco Llinás
Ramón Centenero	...	André Govar
Montserrat Julió	...	Dale
Francisco Nieto
Elsa Zabala	...	Madame Irina
Esther Santana	...	Victim in bed

Also Known As:

Horror Rises from the Tomb (USA)
Horror from the Tomb (USA)
Mark of the Devil 4 (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

Spain:95 min | USA:88 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (cut video version) | Germany:Not Rated | Spain:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Lozoya, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Profilmes

Movie Connections:

Followed by Latidos de pánico (1983)

Dead Head's Chest

Jacinto Molina, more commonly known as Paul Nasty (err… I mean, Naschy) strikes again with this ultra-bizarre and ultra-deranged Spanish exploitation effort. The script of "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is incoherent as hell, there isn't a single interesting or well-written dialog to be heard, acting & directing are both extremely shabby and the supposedly malevolent witches, zombies and other unidentifiable types of monsters evoke more laughs than scares. And yet, despite all these abnormalities (and more…), "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is a vintage and purely entertaining gem of 70's horror cinema! Naschy wrote the oddball script himself and stars as no less than THREE different descendants of the noble French de Marnac family. During the fairly atmospheric opening set in the 15th Century, we witness how a malicious Alaric (Naschy) and his mistress are brutally executed for practicing witchcraft. Several years later, Hugo (Naschy again) invites three of his friends to join him for a vacation at his ancient family estate somewhere in rural France. Quite a lot of awkward and totally irrelevant things occur, but the bottom line is: Alaric de Marnac's decapitated head is still alive in a chest, buried in the large cemeteries surrounding the estate, and its hypnotizing powers turns people into docile yet bloodthirsty zombies. The film is quite bad and pointless, but at least there's always something going on to entertain you. Whether it's the poor make-up effects on the zombies, the implausible sub plots, the sleaze footage brought on by a couple of fine looking Euro-babes or the ingenious little gimmicks, "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is never boring and never makes you regret the purchase. And who can possibly resist the sequences featuring Naschy's separated head commanding his slaves to bring him human sacrifices and to obey his every word? Take my word on it: the head-in-the-chest scenes are priceless! Some of the interior & exterior filming locations are even very enchanting and beautifully captured on camera. Most neutral viewers will probably claim this is the worst film they've ever encountered in their lives, but it's an absolute must for fans of Paul Naschy and essential 70's Euro-horror.