Il terrore sorge dalla tomba

OK, I love Paul Naschy, and I love Eurotrash from the 70s. So, if I appear biased in my review, it is unintentional and my exuberance over the genre may be affecting me.

We see de Marnac, Naschy plays all three de Marnac characters, beheaded in the beginning (the 15th century), along with his female companion (Helga Liné). They vow to return for vengeance. We then jump to the modern day.

The current de Marnac decides to travel to the family estate to explore some superstitious nonsense. Now, I imagine that the family estate is not well heated, but that didn't matter as all the young women in the film either wore very flimsy nightgowns or slept nude. You can imagine the treat.

The Gothic music throughout added to the terror.

When the evil de Marnac and his mistress awaken, we see lots of full frontal and lots of blood and gore, too. Then, we get zombies! Only one person walks away in the end.

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.

Paul Naschy exchanges his Waldemar Daninsky werewolf persona for that of medieval occultist Alaric De Marnac (which he would play again, years later, in PANIC BEATS [1983]) and that of his modern-day descendant Hugo, resulting in one of his most eclectic scripts taking in witchcraft, spiritualism, a powerful amulet, a scythe-wielding killer and a horde of zombies, among others - all of which are rather jumbled together without much consideration for logic, but it does make for a colorful and thrill-packed show. However, as is often the case with this type of film, the languid pace coupled with variable acting and the awkward dubbing also entails that HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB comes off as an uneven - but, ultimately, not disagreeable - viewing experience.

The film positively drips with atmosphere right from the opening sequence - set in 15th century France and showing Alaric's execution along with his mistress/associate, played by Helga Line - down to the couple's modern-day come-uppance during the busy climax which takes place in de Marnac's remote estate. Other notable moments include: the seance during which Alaric is invoked by Hugo; the individual scenes in which the evil duo are revived, made possible by discreet use of (rather unsophisticated) special effects but which still manage to get the job done nicely; their stylized seduction of one of the girls who tags along with the latest member of the de Marnac family (who ostensibly travels to the castle in order to prove that his ancestor's evil influence is no more); and, of course, the various gory murders and zombie attacks which pepper the film's running time.

Featured in the cast, a staple of "Euro-Cult" cinema, is a bevy of beautiful ladies who are often seen lounging in various states of undress: Helga Line makes quite an impression as the villainous Mabille, but my favorite remains Emma Cohen (later star of one of Jess Franco's best films, the psychological thriller THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR [1973]) who exhibits sweetness and vulnerability in equal measures throughout - while also serving as Hugo's requisite love interest - and, by the film's end, is actually the sole survivor (albeit emotionally scarred, as can be witnessed from the final shot) of the mayhem.

This and THE CRAVING (1980; see below) have certainly made me game to check out some more Paul Naschy flicks. What would you experts recommend that I try next?

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.

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 .