Blood from the Mummy's Tomb

'Blood From The Mummy's Tomb' isn't one of Hammer's very best, but it's still a ripping yarn about an expedition to Egypt which inadvertently awakens the powers of an evil Egyptian Queen with disastrous results. The movie is based on a Bram Stoker novel I'm not familiar with so I can't vouch for how faithful the adaptation is, but I found it to be extremely entertaining viewing. Andrew Keir, who had previously played Professor Quatermass in Hammer's excellent 'Quatermass And The Pit', is the leader of the expedition, and the stunning Valerie Leon, best known as a regular in the 'Carry On' series, plays the duel role of his daughter and the evil Queen Tera. The movie is full of thrills and chills, a strong supporting cast (including James Villers and the wonderful Aubrey Morris), and good production values, but I must admit I was as much mesmerized by Ms. Leon's killer cleavage as anything else on the screen! Hubba hubba! 'Blood From The Mummy's Tomb' is more remembered for the so-called curse during its production, but it deserves more than that. It's yet another enjoyable movie from the underrated Hammer studios, and is definitely worth a look. And not just to perv on Valerie Leon!

This difficult-to-find gem (my copy is a bootleg--sorry about that) sorts oddly with the kind of trash Hammer studios was churning out in the early 70s--Lust for a Vampire and that sort of thing. The production seemed to be under a curse of its own--Peter Cushing was involved for the first two days of shooting but then had to leave due to his wife's death; director Seth Holt had nearly finished the film and then died of a heart attack. The final film, finished by Hammer producer Michael Carreras, was described as barely coherent in magazine reviews of the time, but makes perfect sense to this viewer. It's in the style of Don't Look Now, Rosemary's Baby, or Night of Dark Shadows--a story of the supernatural slowly seeping into a modern day setting, with fine character performances, especially from Andrew Keir, James Villiers and Rosalie Crutchley. Leading lady Valerie Leon was dubbed--not sure by whom, but the voice is effective.

This is an unusual tale for those who like subtly constructed stories with a focus upon character and atmosphere. The occasional schlock element doesn't really detract at all from the sinister thrall of the film's design.

The grim reaper cast a long shadow over this Hammer production with Peter Cushing withdrawing after just one day's shooting due to the death of his wife (to be replaced by Andrew Keir); while director Seth Holt then came to a premature and ignominious end at the age of just 48 as the result of an attack of hiccups on the set of the last and easily the least of the three films he made for Hammer (the scenes in the asylum were shot after Holt's death by an uncredited Michael Carreras).

Despite the lurid title 'Blood from the Mummy's Tomb' was a good cut above the generally coarser films Hammer were then making, with Tristan Cary's music providing a veneer of quality aided by the photography and production design of Arthur Grant and Scott McGregor (both of whom also soon died) and contains the one leading role played by the magnificent Valerie Leon.

This is by a long way the best of the three adaptations so far of Bram Stoker's complex and disturbing novel of an Egyptologist's obsessive desire to revive an evil ancient Egyptian queen. (The novel was so worrying in 1903 that the ending was changed for the second edition: this movie keeps mainly to the original ending.) The cast ranges from competent to quite good, with the Queen/daughter suitably seductive but unreadable. The appearance is handsomely and oppressively Edwardian - the ancient Egyptian is rather silly - and the direction firm. Try this as a better taste of Stoker's obsessive psychological horror than any of the versions of "Dracula" except the long British TV adaptation.

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.