La maldición

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.

Matthew Corbeck (Charlton Heston) is a veteran Egyptologist who discovers the tomb of Queen Kara. As fate would have it, her spirit leaves the tomb at the moment he enters it, and possesses his newborn daughter. 18 years later, the headstrong daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist) determines to reunite with her father in Egypt. She becomes concerned over her blackouts, and fears the worst. And the somber Matthew believes that in order to stop the evil queen, he will have to kill his girl in a ritual sacrifice.

It does sound like a good plot, doesn't it? It's based on the novel "The Jewel of the Seven Stars" by Bram Stoker of "Dracula" fame, which was previously filmed by Hammer as "Blood from the Mummy's Tomb". The Hammer version is more entertaining than this plodding effort, however. Director Mike Newell treats the material as straight drama for the most part, with thrilling and creepy moments few and far between. In his hands, the story just isn't as interesting or compelling as one might like it to be. Still, some genre fans may appreciate it for taking a more adult, restrained approach than a traditional one. Major assets include an excellent score by Claude Bolling and cinematography by the great Jack Cardiff.

Heston does a good job, as could be expected. He's actually rather low key in the leading role. Susannah York, as his associate Jane, and Jill Townsend, as his wife Anne, are fine. Zimbalist, unfortunately, just doesn't come off that well. There are some strong actors in the cast, though: Nadim Sawalha, Ian McDiarmid, Miriam Margolyes.

On location shooting in Egypt, and the resulting atmosphere of the settings, help to make this passable if never really exciting. It only picks up a little during its last third.

Five out of 10.

The Awakening is a film about an archaeologist that finds the tomb of a nameless Egyptian queen named Kara. Charlton Heston plays Dr. Corbeck, a man consumed with finding evidence to support this legendary status of Kara. A man who puts work ahead of family, even during the birth of his own daughter. Heston finds the tomb in the very long introductory flashback of 18 years ago beginning the film. He finds it under somewhat strange circumstances. A man is killed attempting to stop his dig mysteriously. Whilst all this is going on, Heston's estranged wife is bearing his daughter after waking from a coma. Now, I am not really sure what the significance of all these events are, but I found the first part of this film in particular very engrossing. The next three fourths is what really lost me and some logical credibility as Heston meets his sultry 18 year-old daughter, they discuss how Queen Kara had killed her father and everyone that touched his hand because he killed her lover and made her partake of his own bed, and then takes her(Heston's daughter) to Egypt. While in Egypt, Stephanie Zimbalist goes under some strange transformation as if she is becoming Kara and we go from there. This film has some beautiful location shots in Egypt, and I found the information, whether real or imaginary, about the queen, mummification, canopic jars(jars used for organs), etc... quite fascinating. The acting is pretty good. I thought Heston did a fine job. Zimbalist is good as well. The biggest problem is the writing. After you watch the film, you really are not sure what happened. I still don't know. The film is also a bit slow in the first half, but there are(for those who really enjoy it) some very gruesome deaths too. I cannot wholeheartedly recommend the film, but if you enjoy the mysteries of Egypt or mummy movies in particular...I would give it a look see. What could it hurt?

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.

I stumbled upon the 1980 movie "The Awakening" here in 2021. Oddly enough, then I don't think I've actually ever seen the movie before. So of course I found the time to sit down to watch it.

And I must say that writers Allan Scott, Chris Bryant and Clive Exton definitely were on to something there, and "The Awakening" is actually one of the more suspenseful and interesting of mummy curses movie that I have seen. Sure, there weren't actually walking mummies in the movie, but the atmosphere that permeated the movie was just brilliant, and it really worked well in favor of the movie.

"The Awakening" does have a good ensemble of actors and actresses on the cast list, with the likes of Charlton Heston and Susannah York. And it was a treat to see a young Ian McDiarmid in the movie as well.

While "The Awakening" is labeled as a horror movie, you shouldn't sit down to watch it with the hopes of watching an ordinary horror movie, because then you'll be sorely disappointed. No, "The Awakening" was more of a supernatural thriller than it was a horror movie, I think.

I thoroughly enjoyed this 1980 movie from director Mike Newell, and it turned out to be far more entertaining than I had initially anticipated for a mummy movie from 1980.

If you haven't already seen "The Awakening", and if you enjoy movies that have a mummy and Egyptian theme, then "The Awakening" is definitely well worth the time.

My rating of "The Awakening" lands on a six out of ten stars.