Das Erwachen der Sphinx

In Egypt, the archaeologist Matthew Corbeck (Charlton Heston) is obsessed to find the tomb of the ancient Queen Kara with his assistant Jane Turner (Susannah York) and his expedition. When he finds and opens Kara's tomb, his pregnant wife Anne Corbeck (Jill Townsend) simultaneously delivers their daughter Margaret. Eighteen years later, Margaret (Stephanie Zimbalist) has a strange behavior and Matthew believes the evil spirit of Kara is trying to possess his daughter. Now Matthew intends to perform an ancient ritual to save Margaret. Will he succeed?

"The Awakening" is not a totally bad film, having a great cast and good cinematography. Unfortunately the predictable story and the screenplay are ripoff of many films and the viewer has the sensation that has already seen before. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Reencarnação" ("Reincarnation")

This movie isn't as terrible as some reviewers have made it out to be. Let's say, overall, about average for its type. The photography is more than adequate, the locations unmistakably including Egypt. The score does its job well. And the acting is on par with Charlton Heston's usual. He can do better when he wants to, as in "Khartoum." Stephanie Zimbalist is fresh, attractive, and seductive -- both before and after she is possessed by the spirit of Kara. She's pretty sexy too, decked out in tight bell-bottomed slacks and wearing her long auburn hair held back by a barette -- is that the word? One of her more exciting moments comes when she steps down in the tomb and kisses her father warmly on the lips. She seems to have not much more than a few expressions to work with, which is okay; Gary Cooper only had one and a half. She relies mainly on an intense stare and half smile, which can signal either happiness or evil intent. The editing is confusing and the ending leaves the story open for a sequel which will probably never come. The story itself is dated, although spiced up with some Omen-like executions.

Heston would never get away with removing those artifacts from Egypt today. Not unless there was a huge under-the-table payoff made. No more Elgin-marble controversies. The archaeological techniques are dated as well. The archaeologists we seem to think of as heroes would be considered criminally sloppy by today's standards. If you excavate a site now, you don't just dig into it to see what you can find. You dig a trench into the site, from the outside inward, so you leave most of the site intact for future research. We don't know what analytic techniques will be available a hundred years from now, anymore than Carnaveron and the rest could foresee Carbon dating. Brouilloin, the information theorist, called this "the principle of fundamental surprise." If we knew now what we will have discovered a hundred years from now, we would already have discovered it. What Schliemann did at Troy was simply dig it up until all the information was gone, the archaeological equivalent of strip mining. King Tut's tomb was handled just as badly. When they first cracked the wall of the as-yet unsullied part of the tomb, a breath of air whooshed out from the opening. That air was three thousand years old. It was the same air breathed by the Egyptians who built the tomb. We will never know its chemical composition or what kind of particulate matter might still have been floating around. And the soil of the tomb, which surely contained biological materials like pollen and the residue of three-thousand-year-old microorganisms, was treated like -- well, like ordinary dirt.

The movie has few zingers. It moves slowly and deliberately, a pace that many modern moviegoers are no longer used to, after so much exposure to MTV techniques. And the director -- all directors -- need to have it pounded into their skulls that when a character looks into a mirror on screen, the audience is not supposed to see her staring obliquely into the camera lens. Not only does the use of this stupid trick contribute absolutely nothing, but it is distracting and jarring, and an insult to at least some of the viewers.

A veteran archaeologist (Charlton Heston) in Valley of Kings , Egypt , discovers the coffin of a nasty queen (Hatsetsupt ?) but open the tomb , the mummy's spirit is transferred to his baby daughter (one time grown-up is played by Stephanie Zimbalist) , born from his wife (Jill Townsend) at that moment . His spouse flees and Heston falls in love with his archaeology's partner (Susanna York).

This supernatural picture based on Bram Stoker's novel is packed with thrills , chills , suspense and wonderful outdoors from Egypt . The chief excitement lies in watching that new and innocent victim can be executed (Omen-alike) by the Egyptian mummy . The movie is full of grisly killings , terror , shocks and several eerie scenes . It displays a mysterious and sinister atmosphere , while the look is suitable spooky and frightening , the plot spreads to breaking point and the final turns out to be a bit frustrating . It appears as secondary Ian McDiarmid , today famous for his role as Chanciller Palpatine in Star Wars and Myrian Margolies who shows up in Harry Potter films . Colorful cinematography by the classic Jack Cardiff , the shooting unit filmed to capture the grandeur in Valley of Kings , Karnak , Luxor , which is considered as being one of the great wonders of the world and other splendorous locations in Egypt . Good and evocative musical score composed by Claude Bolling . The motion picture was professionally directed by Mike Newell . He's a nice director film-making for BBC television , dramas as ¨Enchanted April¨, ¨Mona Lisa smile¨, who achieved successes as ¨Donnie Brasco¨ and ¨Four wedding and a funeral¨; furthermore , ¨Adventures of young Indiana Jones¨ series and ¨Harry Potter and goblet fire¨, among others . The film will appeal to Charlton Heston fans and Egyptian theme aficionados.

The Awakening is directed by Mike Newell and collectively adapted to screenplay by Clive Exton, Chris Bryant and Allan Scott from the Bram Stoker novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. It stars Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend and Stephanie Zimbalist. Music is by Claude Bolling and cinematography by Jack Cardiff.

Heston plays archaeologist Matthew Corbeck, who after discovering the tomb of disgraced Egyptian Queen Kara discovers his daughter is possessed by Kara's spirit and to save mankind he may have to destroy her.

It's honourably serious, a willing attempt to make an intelligent end of the world type picture with flecks of troubling family dynamics. The production value is top draw, every effort has been made to make it look great, with lavish photography (nice to see a film of this type actually be filmed in Egypt), skillfully crafted set designs and an evocative score that drifts across the sands with distinction. Hell, even the casting of Heston at a time when his star had considerably faded, still gave the production some weight. If only it wasn't so immeasurably dull and distant!

The makers, obviously tugging on the coat tails of The Omen and Mummy movies previously, never develop the edgy themes bubbling away just below the narrative's surface. It's often feels like a big compromise was put forward by an executive, a request that they must ensure deaths are the draw card and to hell with the possibility of making a substantial brain tickler. Or it could just be that there were too many writers in the mix?! So what we essentially get is a laboriously paced movie going through the motions until the next death scene arrives, and then it's back to some slow brooding again.

The cast are solid, the ending suitably downbeat, and if you like Omen type deaths then there are a couple here worth your time, but you may need plenty of energizer drinks to keep you awake first. 4/10

Charlton Heston plays archeologist Matthew Corbeck, who is obsessed with finding the tomb of Princess Kara. When Heston does find the tomb, he attacks the tomb with a sledgehammer; the blows coincide with the labor pains of his wife Anne (Jill Townsend). Her baby is stillborn, but starts breathing when Matthew takes the lid off the sarcophagus in Kara's tomb. The film follows a well-worn path from here.

Heston is as good a choice as anyone to play a man obsessed. Zimbalist plays dual roles as well as possible.

The unsolvable problem is the script the film's stuck with. It makes the fatal mistake of assuming audience members have never seen a horror movie before, and treats each cliche like a brand new idea. The characters' lines announce their impending deaths, one of which is stolen from 1976's "The Omen". You don't need to have seen more than one or two horror movies to guess what's going to happen. There is a subplot involving father and daughter being inordinately fond of each other (Otto disapproves of the word) that, according to the storyline, mirrors the relationship Kara and her father had back in ancient Egypt.

The unusually good score is by Claude Bolling. The cinematography is by Jack Cardiff. The script is blamed on four screenwriters. There are some horselaughs to be found, but they are outnumbered by the cliches the film enshrines. The music, photography, and tension built up over the last 20 minutes make this a tolerable time passer. Not as bad as I'd thought/hoped.