''Blood from the Mummy's Tomb'' is a 1971 British
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
starring
Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career t ...
,
Valerie Leon
Valerie may refer to:
People
*Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie
*Valerie (given name), a feminine given name
Songs
*"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash''
*"Valerie", a 1982 son ...
, and
James Villiers
James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 – 18 January 1998) was an English character actor. He was particularly known for his plummy voice and ripe articulation.
He was a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Clarendon.
Early life
Villie ...
. It was director
Seth Holt
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...
's final film, and was loosely adapted from
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
's 1903 novel ''
The Jewel of Seven Stars
''The Jewel of Seven Stars'' is a horror novel by Irish writer Bram Stoker, first published by Heinemann in 1903. The story is a first-person narrative of a young man pulled into an archaeologist's plot to revive Queen Tera, an ancient Egypt ...
''.
[Gary A. Smith, ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland 2009 p 28] The film was released as the
support feature to ''
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
''Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde'' is a 1971 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions ...
''.
Besides providing a rare leading role for
Valerie Leon
Valerie may refer to:
People
*Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie
*Valerie (given name), a feminine given name
Songs
*"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash''
*"Valerie", a 1982 son ...
, the film is notable for its troubled production.
Plot
An expedition led by Professor Fuchs (Keir) locates the unmarked tomb of Tera (Leon) an evil Egyptian queen. A cabal of priests drugged her into a state of suspended animation and buried all of her evil relics with her. Fuchs is obsessed with Tera and takes her mummy and sarcophagus back to England, where he secretly recreates her tomb under his house. Four days "before her birthday", his daughter Margaret (also Leon) - who bears an uncanny resemblance to Tera and was born at the instant they recited her name - has recurring nightmares. Fuchs gives her the old queen's ring and tells her to "wear it always". Of course, this only makes matters worse. Queen Tera's evil power begins to tempt Margaret, as she learns how she's feared by her father's former colleagues.
Margaret notices a man lurking in the vacant building across the street. He is Corbeck (Villiers), an expedition member who's now her father's rival. Corbeck wants to restore Tera to life and he persuades Margaret to help him gather the missing relics. The problem is, each time one is given up the person who'd held it dies. When they have all the relics, Corbeck, Margaret and Fuchs begin the ancient ritual to reawaken Tera. At the last moment Fuchs learns that the queen's revival will mean Margaret's death. Together Fuchs and Margaret overpower and kill Corbeck, as the house quakes above them. Queen Tera
awakens and kills Fuchs, but not before Margaret stabs her. Margaret and Tera are grappling over an ancient dagger when the house finally collapses on them.
Later in the hospital, a woman's face is wrapped in bandages. She's the sole survivor, and that all the others in the Professor's basement were "crushed beyond recognition". The bandaged woman slowly opens her eyes and struggles to speak, leaving the film scene ambiguous as to whether she is Margaret Fuchs or Queen Tera.
Cast
Production
Development
Writer Chris Wicking said the film was one of the last projects that
James Carreras
Sir James Enrique Carreras (30 January 1909 – 9 June 1990) was a British film producer and executive who, together with William Hinds, founded the British company Hammer Film Productions. His career spanned nearly 45 years, in multiple face ...
brought to
Hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
. Wicking wanted to use the title of the book but Carreras did not. They brainstormed titles and came up with ''Blood from the Mummy's Tomb'' which Wicking thought they would never use but they did.
[All's Well That Ends: an interview with Chris Wicking
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 55, Iss. 658, 1 November 1988: 322.]
The job of directing went to Seth Holt, whose films were admired by producer Howard Brandy. Holt had a strong critical reputation for making such films as ''The Nanny'' but had not made a movie in two years. As Holt said in 1971: "I haven't been directing because I haven't been offered anything to direct".
[Daddy of the mummyscene
The Guardian (1959-2003); London (UK), 18 Jan 1971: 8.]
Wicking worked with Seth Holt on the script. The film had to go into production early because there was a gap in the production schedule. Wicking said he had a falling out with producer Howard Brandy and was barred from the set but he continued to work with Holt in the evenings.
Shooting
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...
was cast in the film and completed one day's filming before leaving the production after his wife was diagnosed with
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...
. Cushing was replaced by
Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career t ...
.
The
R1 DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
of the film released in the United States by
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television ser ...
contains still photographs of Cushing's day on the production.
Director
Seth Holt
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...
died of a heart attack five weeks into the six-week shoot, collapsing into cast member Aubrey Morris's arms and dying on set.
Michael Carreras
Michael Henry Carreras (21 December 1927 – 19 April 1994) was a British film producer and director. He was known for his association with Hammer Films, being the son of founder James Carreras, and taking an executive role in the compan ...
directed the final week's filming. He said Holt's footage did not cut together.
According to the book ''Hammer, House of Horror: Behind the Screams'' by Howard Maxford, the budget for the film was £200,000. The film was shot at
Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...
in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
.
Release
In January 1972 AIP bought the US distribution rights.
Critical reception
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
's review of the film was favourable, commending its "glamorous style" and "creepy atmosphere".
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
magazine gave it 3 out of 5.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it "tremendous fun, skilful and wonderfully energetic".
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called it "polished and well-acted but rather tame".
See also
* ''
The Awakening'' (1980) - another film based on ''
The Jewel of Seven Stars
''The Jewel of Seven Stars'' is a horror novel by Irish writer Bram Stoker, first published by Heinemann in 1903. The story is a first-person narrative of a young man pulled into an archaeologist's plot to revive Queen Tera, an ancient Egypt ...
''
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blood From The Mummy's Tomb
1971 films
1971 horror films
1970s fantasy films
1970s supernatural horror films
Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios
Films based on horror novels
Films based on works by Bram Stoker
Films directed by Michael Carreras
Films directed by Seth Holt
Films set in London
Mummy films
Hammer Film Productions horror films
American International Pictures films
Films based on Irish novels
Films set in Egypt
Films about spirit possession
British supernatural horror films
EMI Films films
1970s English-language films
1970s British films