La venganza de la momia

... but unlike The Mummy (1959) or The Curse from the Mummy's Tomb, La Venganza de la Momia looks like all Naschy movies - flatly shot, cheaply made and clumsily staged, especially the Egyptian prologue. In Victorian London, some of the costumes and sets look better, though, and the story has nice feel of pulp Gothic. The cult favourite Helga Line as the villainess has screen presence sadly missed these days.

This film begins with an evil Pharaoh named "Amenhotep" (Paul Naschy) who tortures and kills innocent people for his wicked amusement. In addition to that his favorite concubine "Amarna" (Rina Ottolina) takes equal pleasure in his wanton acts of cruelty as well. Eventually, however, this catches up to them as Amarna is stabbed to death while Amenhotep is given a rare poison which doesn't kill him but leaves him in a paralyzed state which--combined with a certain mummification ritual--entombs him for life in his sarcophagus. And then one day a British archaeological expedition led by man named "Professor Nathan Stern" (Jack Taylor) finds his tomb and excavates the sarcophagus to the British Museum of Natural History in London where Amenhotep is revived by a greedy sycophant named "Assad Bey" (also played by Paul Naschy) and his beautiful assistant "Zanufer" (Helga Line). Unfortunately, this isn't enough for Amenhotep as he then offers power and wealth to the two if they agree to do whatever he orders. To that end they are sent out to capture and kill young women so that Amenhotep can drink their blood in order to attain eternal life. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film didn't follow the standard plot for a "Mummy film" in that the mummy was a pharaoh rather than the high priest. Likewise, the mummy didn't follow the orders of whoever revived him but gave them instead. Be that as it may, although it wasn't quite as good as some of the Hammer films it was okay for the most part with Helga Line and Maria Silva (as "Abigail") certainly adding to the scenery with their beauty and charm. Average.

Vengeance of the Mummy, The (1973)

** (out of 4)

Spanish horror film has Paul Naschy playing three roles including a mummy who returns to life after 1000 years to seek vengeance and regain his long lost love. Sadly I had to view this in a poor quality, P&S, English dubbed bootleg so hopefully someone will release a legit, good copy. The film was simply decent but it's hard to judge without seeing it in its true form. Jack Taylor co-stars and steals the show but Naschy is okay in his duel human parts. His turn as the mummy isn't a total success but it's an interesting performance. The American dub has the mummy constantly moaning, sounding like he's in a porno so this gave off some unintentional laughs. The violence level is quite high with several throat slashings and head crushings.

Somewhat atypical Mummy movie which, however, does not escape the deadly dullness that characterizes this subgenre – even if the monster himself is able to speak and his attacks are particularly vicious (a man's head is crushed, another's is thrown into a fire, and a succession of women have their faces slashed)!

Paul Naschy plays a dual role as a mummified sadistic Pharaoh revived – to exact the usual curse (on just a handful of archeologists, a sure sign of the film's low-budget: another is its borrowing for the underscoring of one scene of the main theme from Mario Bava's THE WHIP AND THE BODY [1963], while the rest emerges as reasonably rousing) – by his present-day (and just as mean-spirited) ancestor. Aiding him is "Euro-Cult" favorite Helga Line' (this is already the third film of hers in my current marathon) – but, apparently, the Mummy has other plans for her, no matter that she is obviously not a virgin! – and, again par for the course, is the fact that a young woman involved with the archeologists is a dead-ringer for the Mummy's long-lost love!! Perhaps the film's most effective moment is the suspense built during a scene in which she is drawn to the Mummy's hiding-place while visiting Naschy's house, with her instinctive passage eventually obstructed in the nick of time by Line''s appearance at the top of the stairs.

Jess Franco regular Jack Taylor is the hero (as already mentioned, hilariously, he turns up for a showdown with the villains flanked solely by his female companion, which ultimately sees the two Naschys shrieking in pain after being set on fire!) – his previous collaboration with the nominal star in DR. JEKYLL VS. THE WEREWOLF (1971) was an altogether more satisfying venture. Though this is the Spanish (and, thus, chaste) version of the film, it features the atrocious (and noise-riddled) English-dubbing – which did not help my involvement any!; at least, though, the correct aspect ratio (i.e. widescreen) was maintained.

Paul Naschy has a duel role as Amenhotep/Assad Bey, an ancient Egyptian mummified Pharaoh, and the high priest who brought him back to life. In order For Amenhotep to achieve immortality, Assad Bey has to kidnap nubile young virgins in Victorian London for blood sacrifices.

This film was supposedly released in both a cut version (for Spain and Mexico) and an uncut international version, but the uncut version apparently no longer exists. What it would have included is a mystery, as it is hard to imagine anything more gruesome than the "face-smashing" scene. Was there really more gore? Or was it nudity?

Regardless, this is a pretty good film overall with some decent makeup effects and the gore already mentioned. Tracking down a copy seems to be a challenge, and it has never had a proper DVD release so far as I am aware. Jack Taylor also appears, and it would be great to get an audio commentary from him before it is too late.