Horror Rises from the Tomb

I was so excited to come across this little gem (well, to me at least). I bought a $9.99 4 movie DVD set offered by Brentwood Home Video. Since then I have

seen this DVD sold for $14.99 just for the single movie, so I got a good deal. If you are reading a review about such an obscure film then most likely you are a fan of 1970s "Euro-trash". In that case, you will have fun with this movie. If your idea of an obscure horror movie is Freddie Vs. Jason, then you are looking at the wrong reviews. This has everything you would want in a 1970s Euro trash

flick- cheap gore, boobies, and badly dubbed in english; I love this stuff!

So if you are a collector of such fine cinema, then check this one out, I think you will enjoy...

Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973)

*** (out of 4)

Warlock Alaric de Marnac (Paul Naschy) and his partner (Helga Line ) are executed for practicing witchcraft but before they're killed they put a curse on those who witness their death. Flash-forward five-hundred years later and a group of people travel to the country looking for a treasure and sure enough the spirit of the warlock returns for vengeance.

Director Carlos Aured and Naschy would make four films together with this one here being the first. The film is out there in at least three different versions including a clothed version, which was originally done for Spain and there's a short American version. The best version to watch is the uncut, international version, which contains all the gore and nudity. HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB isn't a masterpiece but there's no question that it's a very entertaining Spanish horror film that has a lot going for it.

What I enjoy most about this film is the fact that it's quite a dirty little picture. If you're looking for violence and gore then there's quite a bit here including several decapitations as well as scenes where hearts are ripped out. In one of the highlights, there's a great sequence where we see a man's chest ripped apart. If you like nudity then you'll be happy to know that there are several beautiful women who take their clothes off throughout the picture. These two elements are common in Spanish horror and there's no doubt that the film delivers.

The film also benefits from the country setting as the director manages to build up a rather nice atmosphere and especially during the final twenty-minutes when things really start to happen at rapid fire. The cast is also quite good with Naschy playing three different roles and doing a great job with each of them. His warlock is certainly the highlight of the three and I really loved the little touches like the neck. Line is good and seductive in her role and we get some nice support from Victor Alcazar and Emma Cohen.

HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMBS has a few pacing issues and it takes a while to get going but if you stick with the picture it's certainly becomes quite rewarding.

I really want to drum a up a little more enthusiasm for this film than is evident here. Sometimes it seems like non-genre fans see things like this and miss out on the subtleties (so to speak.) I saw this with zero expectations, having purchased it as part of a very inexpensive collection of old horror 'gems' on DVD. It was my first experience with the work of cult auteur Paul Naschy, whom I'd read about in the book IMMORAL TALES, and I was more than pleasantly surprised. Fans of Jean Rollin, Coffin Joe, the Blind Dead series and Fulci's Gates of Hell will be glad they took the 90mins. to soak this one in.

One concept I've always loved is the premise that all the horrible events in a story are the work of black magic, or evil spirits-as this pretty much opens the door to anything, with a minimum of necessary exposition. Horror Rises From The Tomb has great location shots on misty swampland, majestic castles and beautiful long-haired women sleepwalking in see-through nightwear. These are a few of my favorite things. Yours too? I also love the way a red light precedes the every arrival of the evil du Margnac. There is even a brief, but eerily effective zombie sequence.

It's these little touches that a true horror fan will appreciate.

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.

The living head of a minion of Satan put to death centuries ago is unearthed. A nightmare ensues for a group of people as the head sets forth to reunite with it's body.

Sadly, most people in this world will never know the immense joy that this film can bring...but for the luckier few of us, this zany little Gothic horror picture delivers the goods with the very best of them. How can one go wrong with cackling disembodied heads, graphic scythe murders, zombie mayhem, and luscious babes roaming the night in their sheerest Frederick's of Hollywood naughties? Grand entertainment, as only the Europeans of the 1970s could create, and an absolute must-see for fans of crazed drive-in culture...there's not a single frame of the film which doesn't look like it was ripped straight from the pages of a Golden-Age horror comic book, and hooray for that.

Rates a solid 7 out of 10 as I see it.