Horror Rises from the Tomb

France, the middle of the 15th century: wicked sorcerer Alaric de Marnac (Paul Naschy) and his mistress Mabille de Lancré (Helga Liné) are sentenced to death, having been denounced by Alaric's brother Armand (Paul Naschy) and friend Andre Roland (Vic Winner). Before the evil couple are executed, they place a curse on those who damned them, and all of their descendants. Centuries later, Hugo de Marnac (Naschy), his friend Maurice Roland (Winner), and their girlfriends Sylvia (Betsabé Ruiz) and Paula (Cristina Suriani) attend a séance where they successfully raise the spirit of Alaric and learn the whereabouts of his body and severed head. Stupidly, the foursome travel to the location to see if they can find Alaric's remains, but underestimate the dead sorcerer's power.

Based on the review in my trusty Aurum Encyclopedia of Horror, I fully expected Horror Rises from the Tomb to be an entertaining, gore-drenched helping of classic 70s Euro-horror, with a smattering of sex on the side; imagine my disappointment when I discovered the film, part of my Mill Creek 50 film 'Pure Terror' box set, to be a splatter-free snooze-fest of epic proportions, worth a rating of no more than 2/10 (for the gorgeous women, none of whom bared any flesh).

Surmising that something was amiss, I rummaged through my vast collection of movies and unearthed another copy of the film which soon confirmed my suspicions: the Mill Creek version was severely mutilated, shorn of all nudity or gore. My other copy—uncensored, with all of the blood and sex intact—proved a much more enjoyable affair, as I originally expected it to be. This time there was no shortage of gore—including cheesy be-headings and hearts being torn out—and all of the beautiful babes shed their clothes, meaning that I now rate the film a very reasonable 6/10—a whole 4 points more than the cut version. It's amazing what a difference blood and boobs can make.

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.

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.

Dark Ages , two witches are condemned for murdering and witchery ; they are executed by the authorities , as Alaric De Marnac (Paul Naschy) is beheaded and Mabille De Lancre (Helga Line) is hung , while Alaric pronounces a curse against their future heirs . Modern time , the descendants ( Vic Winnner , Jacinto Molina Cristina Suriani )decide , subsequently a spiritualism season , go to the castle and lands their ancestors . Several centuries later , both of whom are relived by treasure diggers (Luis Ciges) . Then , Alaric and Mabille continue a murderous rampage .

This terrifying exploitation picture displays creepy horror ,witchcraft, grisly killing, satanism and lots of blood . B-entertainment with a fairly suspenseful and horrifying story in which sorceresses are brought to life undergoing a cruel slaughter . Lots of blood and gore in several images that impacted the viewers for that time . This tale about a group who is attacked by some malevolent living dead begins well and grows more and more until the frightening and ghastly finale . Revolting, horrible scenes and nasty images take place on cannibal scenes , decapitation , a heart pulled up , and bloody murders with ax and scythe .The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato and is occasionally an engaging horror movie full of nasty sequences , witchery , beheading , and several other things . Sensationalistic and exaggerated performance of Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina , here he plays three characters. This is the first time that appears Zombies in Spanish cinema, exception to Amando De Ossorio's Templar living dead . Good make-up that lasted nine hours each Zombie-session by Julian Ruiz and well filmed in the mansion of Lozoya whose owners were the Naschy's fathers. It packs a colorful cinematography by Manuel Merino and atmospheric score by Carmelo Bernaola .The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre. ¨Exorcismo¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among them . He directed 13 films as ¨The Cantabros¨, ¨Return of Wolfman¨, ¨The Beast and the magic sword¨ and several others.

This is the first production realized by Profilmes - the Spanish Hammer- whose chairmen , Ricardo Muñoz and Jose Antonio Perez Giner assigned to Jacinto Molina the writing a rapid screenplay , Nashcy wrote it in two days and as was born the ¨Horror rises from the tomb ¨. Ten years later , Naschy goes back with the Alaric De Marnac role in the film titled ¨Latidos De Panico¨ that acted , produced , wrote and directed in thriller style . The picture is regularly directed by Carlos Aured who was a director assistant to Leon Klimovsky ; this is his first movie and he would on filming for Jacinto Molina as the ¨Revenge of the mummy , House of the Doom , and Return of Walpugis ¨ . Rating: 5,5 . The flick will appeal to Jacinto Molina fans and Euroterror buffs .

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...