Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1972)

"Blood From The Mummy's Tomb" is one of Hammers greatest films from the latter period. This film has a better than average screenplay and with some outstanding direction from Seth Holt in his final film. Andrew Keir and James Villiers share the acting honours but Valerie Leon does well in her dual characters.This movie deserved better advertising when it went out on general release. It was released on the lower half of another Hammer horror film. Given the slightly troubled production, it is a wonder "Blood From The Mummy's Tomb" was made at all.Peter Cushing leaving the production after only a days filming and Seth Holt suddenly dying about 10 days before the end of shooting,led everyone involved to believe their movie was cursed.Michael Carraras finished the film himself after assuming directorial duties.The end result is brilliant - a low key approach with only the necessary cast required, some fine photography and music all contribute to the film's success.The Mummy films were never Hammers best but this one is able to infuse the familiar Mummy story with something a bit more original.

I have just watched "Blood From The Mummy's Tomb" on the UK TV Horror Channel. It isn't one Hammer Film's very best movies but it is worth watching just to ogle one of the greatest beauties that ever graced British cinema, Valerie Leon. This tall, statuesque lady was just about as gorgeous as a woman can possibly be, with a full heaving cleavage & such a lovely face topped by a lustrous head of dark brown hair. Valerie was just a 100% knockout of a hot babe. The story itself is more than a bit confusing. She plays former Egyptian Queen Tera who is possessed by magical powers whose spirit is somehow passed down to a young woman named Margaret (also played by Valerie Leon) centuries later. The movie is based on a novel by Bram Stoker & my advice is don't bother to try to comprehend the story too much. Just feast your eyes on former "Hai Karate" perfume model, the ravishingly beautiful Valerie Leon.

Hammer's fourth and final outing into Egyptian territory is a hit-and miss-affair which is still worthwhile for the wonderful atmosphere it casts in places. The reason for the film's disjointed feel is that the production was beset by tragedy - almost as if a real life curse was at work. First off, star Peter Cushing's wife died and the actor had to be replaced by Andrew Keir. Secondly, the director of the film, Seth Holt, who had made the wonderful TASTE OF FEAR some ten years before this, suffered a heart attack, leaving Hammer regular Michael Carreras to take over the directorial duties. Thus the film seems to jump from scene to scene sometimes without any warning and there are definite issues with the pacing and general cohesion despite what should be a relatively simple plot. On the plus side, it's a lot different to the typical mummy film which involves a bandage-wrapped corpse seeking revenge, and it deserves kudos for trying something different. The film is based on Bram Stoker's novel THE JEWEL OF THE SEVEN STARS, as was 1980s horror 'epic' THE AWAKENING and the low budget '90s feature BRAM STOKER'S LEGEND OF THE MUMMY.The actors certainly aren't at fault. Andrew Keir makes the most of his bed-ridden role although he doesn't have a great deal to work with here, while James Villiers is a memorable villain. Valerie Leon, a stunning actress familiar from her roles in numerous CARRY ON films is easy on the eye and equips herself well with the dual personae. Really, I think she's one of the most beautiful of all British actresses alongside Hazel Court and the film is almost a love letter to her sheer physical perfection. It helps that she's often dressed in little more than jewels or a negligee (depending on whether she's playing the mummy or her reincarnate victim) that ably show off her quite stunning figure.The special effects budget is obviously low, with set-bound locales, but the gore is quite plentiful with lots of torn throats dripping blood. The budget, or lack thereof, is a sore remainder of the constrained budgets that Hammer faced at this time. There is a memorable scene involving a patient in an asylum who is attacked by mysterious forces (the best scene of the film actually) but the film suffers from an abrupt downbeat ending; it feels like this could have been expanded upon while some of the early scenes could have been excised. BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB isn't one of Hammer's best, but if you are looking for an Egyptian curse story that's a little different then I would recommend it as it's quite unusual compared to the rest of the company's work.

It appears I am in the minority as I thought this film was just plain boring and pretty awful. It is easily the worst of Hammer's four Mummy entries and has all the bad trademarks of Hammer's seventies film cycles: a greater reliance on sex and violence then on story, mid-range acting talents as leads and virtual unknowns as leads, lesser directorial talents, a dubious urge to try the most ridiculous story plots conceived. In point of fact - to move away from what worked for the previous two decades. I understand that the studio was losing money and trying to compete with lots of competition, but it didn't need to churn this kind of stuff or most of its seventies films did it? (I don't expect YOU to answer.) What is wrong with Blood from the Mummy's Tomb? Well, for starters the story makes very little sense and even is executed in a more intangible way. I know that some out there will say that they understand it perfectly and that it takes a higher level of thinking, etc... to fully understand this mishmash of a script. These are the same folks that think James Joyce's Ulysses IS the greatest book ever written too! A female mummy looks exactly as she did at death and all we get for explanation is astral plane bunk - I can't hurdle that leap of faith and still have two legs left. Or how about missing relics(that look brand new)which mysteriously are needed in order for this malevolent mummy to return to life just pop up on shelves in Andrew Keir's cellar? How about the deaths of the Mummy's wrath - what wrath? All we see is her laying in a tomb with her hand cut off and blood recirculating somehow in the severed arm. All the while the Mummy is practically naked and her breast bottoms conspicuously framed. I am sure the crew had a tough time concentrating on having her keep still and not breathe to avoid having her ample bosom heave. The rest of the film is riddled with such inconsistencies of logic. Director Seth Holt died while filming and was replaced by Michael Carreras. This DOES explain some of the inherent problems of the fluidity of the film and coherence of the story and actor motivations. The acting is pretty poor as well. Sure, character actors like Aubrey Morris, James Villiers(as the "real" villain I suppose), and George Coulouris are serviceable and workmanlike, but Andrew Keir is very weak by his standards and the two young leads are horrible actors. Mark Edwards as Tod Browning(I liked that touch!) has no range and Valerie Leon is void of any acting talent whatsoever. She is; however, a treat to see for her voyeuristic charms. Her breasts are so big and bouncy that they are hardly contained in the sexy black negligee she wears throughout much of the film. They are the focal points of virtually all of her screen time, and though I appreciate the aesthetic qualities of such pulchritude - large, heaving bosoms do not a good horror film make. Not even close. It is as if this film were made by a couple of boobs! Did I like anything about the film? The flashbacks used were effectively shot and the scenes with Coulouris in an asylum were quite chilling. Beyond that nothing really juts out other than Valerie's bosom buddies.