Review: Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb

Egyptologist Andrew Keir gives his staggeringly beautiful daughter Valerie Leon a new ring for her birthday. This isn’t any ordinary ring, though, as Leon eventually discovers that her father found it in (and swiped it from) the tomb of Queen Tera, an ancient Egyptian ruler who was executed for supposedly engaging in sorcery. And get this- Leon was born on the same day that the tomb was discovered by Keir and looks exactly like Queen Tera! (Just ignore the fact that Keir has lustful thoughts for his daughter’s doppelganger, mind you). Meanwhile, for some bizarro reason, Keir has Queen Tera’s amazingly perfectly preserved body lying in his cellar. That’s awfully convenient, since Queen Tera now seems to be having some kind of evil influence on Leon. One by one the people on Keir’s excavation of Queen Tera’s tomb start to be bumped off. James Villiers plays an unscrupulous colleague of Keir’s who is always skulking about, whilst Mark Edwards plays Leon’s boyfriend. The members of Keir’s excavation crew include George Coulouris and Rosemary Crutchley, whilst Aubrey Morris plays the family doctor (not named Dr. Deltoid, however), and James Cossins is a vile insane asylum attendant.

 

One of Hammer’s best early 70s efforts, this 1971 version of Bram Stoker’s Jewel of the Seven Stars is vastly superior to the mediocre Charlton Heston movie from the same source, “The Awakening”. The film’s original director Seth Holt (Hammer’s “The Nanny”) died during filming, with Hammer producer Michael Carreras (son of Hammer founder James, no less) taking over but you can’t see the seams at all. Scripted by Christopher Wicking (“Demons of the Mind”, “To the Devil- A Daughter”), sometimes a gradually revealing plot can be annoying, but here the opening twenty minutes or so are genuinely intriguing. Valerie Leon’s world class cleavage is only a couple of the major assets here. Seriously, her and fellow Hammer babe Stephanie Beacham (“Dracula AD 1972”) had the best cleavage in the biz outside of a Russ Meyer film.

 

The atmospheric opener is good stuff, and the film rarely disappoints from there, with a particularly fine Tristram Cary (“The Ladykillers”, “The Fourth Wish”) score, one of Hammer’s best scores. The premise is as irresistible as Ms. Leon’s ample charms, and the set designer must’ve had a particularly good time on this flick. It surely must’ve been the second best job next to whoever got to gaze upon Ms. Leon’s beauty every day. The cast, although lacking a Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee is pretty much as good as you can get otherwise. Leon isn’t just a gorgeous set of eyes…or tits. She’s genuinely underrated and does a jolly good job at playing the two very different incarnations of her character. She certainly ain’t one of the Collinson twins (“Twins of Evil”), that’s for sure. I also think her cleavage deserved at least a couple of Golden Globes. But enough of the sexism for terrible comedy’s sake. Given how terrific he is at playing a snotty, untrustworthy prick here, it’s a shame that James Villiers didn’t go on to better things. Like the late Ralph Bates, one feels like his career should’ve panned out much better. He’s no Christopher Lee, but he’s probably the next best thing for imperious, disdainful villainy. Stalwart character actor Andrew Keir is a very solid hand and a reliable, respectable presence on screen. He was a replacement for Peter Cushing when the latter’s wife dying saw him pull out. Keir certainly gives the impression of being more than just a last minute replacement. Richard Chamberlain-lookalike Mark Edmonds is no Olivier, but so far as Hammer romantic leads go, you could do a lot worse. The in-joke with his character being named Tod Browning is cute too. The supporting cast is full of familiar faces, though one of the best, Rosalie Crutchley is much better than the tiny role she has affords her to be. The always eccentric Aubrey Morris has a rather extraneous role here, but as always he is so eccentric he seems to come from a different planet and you can’t help but want to see more of him. George Coulouris, like Crutchley, has certainly seen better days. I mean, the guy was in “Citizen Kane” for crying out loud. However, at least he gets to be a part of the film’s best scene, as he totally flips out in an insane asylum and gets attacked. The camera goes similarly nuts, too. It’s a wild moment, and apparently Carreras was responsible for these scenes. James Cossins also turns up as an orderly, and is his usual odious self. I’m sure he was a helluva guy, but he’s a spectacularly loathsome screen presence.

 

The film’s view of sexual content is typically British, but marginally more risqué than the usual Hammer film. Leon is seen eating a banana at one point and both she and the director knew exactly what they were doing. However, Leon’s a bit coy in showing her breasts beyond ample cleavage, but she (or possibly her body double) shows us what a lovely bum she has. Also typical of a Hammer film, there’s more violence on display than sex. If you like your throat-slashing, this movie’s got you covered. Lovely stuff.

 

I’m not about to call this an A-grade horror movie or anything, but for a film made during Hammer’s last gasp, it’s pretty solid entertainment, especially if you like your mummy movies. Villiers, Leon, and Keir definitely deliver, as does the film on a technical level for the most part. 

 

Rating: B-