La Momie sanglante

As almost always was the case with Hammer, this is a rather studiobound, but still lavish-looking movie (shot by the always reliable Arthur Grant who had almost a midas-touch when it came to cinematography), despite it's low budget. You also get a long list of old pros like Andrew Keir and Rosalie Crutchley in important parts plus the sultry charms of Valerie Leon, former model and star of british sex-comedys. She is not the greatest actress in the world but does a very competent job with her part, managing the sudden moodswings convincingly. The story is based on a lesser-known Bram 'Dracula' Stoker novel, filmed two more times ('The Awakening' is big-budget but does nothing with all those bucks, just manages to be mostly boring even in the murder-scenes). It does not feature the usual, gauze-wrapped, mummy but it is instead a tale of possession. It is maybe a bit talky in places, but the atmosphere is always right and menacing. Main director Seth Holt died during the last days of shooting so producer Michael Carreras had to do the scenes in the asylum and they are among the most impressive. Horrormovie-fans today will probably find this movie incredibly old-fashioned, but if you are tired of the hundreth film about Jason, Freddy or your average neighborhood slasher, give this a second glance.

'Blood From The Mummy's Tomb' isn't one of Hammer's very best, but it's still a ripping yarn about an expedition to Egypt which inadvertently awakens the powers of an evil Egyptian Queen with disastrous results. The movie is based on a Bram Stoker novel I'm not familiar with so I can't vouch for how faithful the adaptation is, but I found it to be extremely entertaining viewing. Andrew Keir, who had previously played Professor Quatermass in Hammer's excellent 'Quatermass And The Pit', is the leader of the expedition, and the stunning Valerie Leon, best known as a regular in the 'Carry On' series, plays the duel role of his daughter and the evil Queen Tera. The movie is full of thrills and chills, a strong supporting cast (including James Villers and the wonderful Aubrey Morris), and good production values, but I must admit I was as much mesmerized by Ms. Leon's killer cleavage as anything else on the screen! Hubba hubba! 'Blood From The Mummy's Tomb' is more remembered for the so-called curse during its production, but it deserves more than that. It's yet another enjoyable movie from the underrated Hammer studios, and is definitely worth a look. And not just to perv on Valerie Leon!

This is by a long way the best of the three adaptations so far of Bram Stoker's complex and disturbing novel of an Egyptologist's obsessive desire to revive an evil ancient Egyptian queen. (The novel was so worrying in 1903 that the ending was changed for the second edition: this movie keeps mainly to the original ending.) The cast ranges from competent to quite good, with the Queen/daughter suitably seductive but unreadable. The appearance is handsomely and oppressively Edwardian - the ancient Egyptian is rather silly - and the direction firm. Try this as a better taste of Stoker's obsessive psychological horror than any of the versions of "Dracula" except the long British TV adaptation.

Blood from the Mummy's Tomb is the 4th and final movie from Hammer Horrors "The Mummy" franchise and stands out from the rest due to the distinct lack of erm....a mummy!

The plot is a bit of a mess but the creators do a competent enough job of making the best of it and to their credit it comes off passable.

Starring the alarmingly beautiful Valerie Leon it barely feels like a mummy movie at all.

With the questionable storyline, the baffling ending and some seriously hokey performances it's sad to see a franchise end on such a note.

It however is not bad, it's just unusual, unexpected and an odd choice.

Passable Hammer Horror effort, but more of a standalone film than the rest of The Mummy franchise.

The Good:

Valerie Leon

The Bad:

Muddled story

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I get the impression Valerie Leon would be a big big star right now if she were this age

The first thing I noticed when watching this movie is the gaping distance between this and the horror movies of today. There are two glaringly obvious differences.

Firstly: Scope. This film takes you to Egypt and the tombs of the Pharaohs where we see the Queen being interred in her tomb and the rights the priest's carry out, along with the beginnings of her curse. We then move to England where the action continues between three different locations. In modern horror films, the story usually takes place in one location in one time period.

Secondly: Story. There's more going off in this film than most of today's horror. I know this is based on an actual novel where most of the modern films are based on the director's ideas. The end product can also suffer from budgetary issues which may restrict them to one location and hence hinder the story.

The other differences are acting talent and direction. I have to admit that Hammer used to get some pretty top notch actors in their films. Even the bit-parts are covered by a better-than-average cast and this is the case in this film. Due to that fact, this is a highly enjoyable and believable story that I found myself fully immersed in. It also didn't hurt that Valerie Leon is one of the most beautiful actresses on the planet and does a great job in the lead role as Margaret Fuchs and the Egyptian Queen Tera. Along with Andre Keir, who people from Dr Who: Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150AD and Quatermass and the Pit, and James Villiers this is a strong cast.

As for the directing, it was an absolute blessing not to see shaky cam. I do wish that more directors would invest in fixed and smooth-moving camera mounts. I remember there being some negative input for the Evil- Deads shaky cam through the woods - now that is some of the smoothest camera work when compared to today's efforts. Also, all the scenes are watchable in daylight. Dark scenes are lit and visible, with the director using lighting to build mood and atmosphere; the viewer doesn't have to turn off any lighting even ambient just to make out what's happening - just because a scene is shot in total darkness doesn't make it scary. There's also no grey filters, which are so overused today, everything is shot in glorious colour. This actually helps the film as it doesn't make the audience depressed and sad.

Though the special effects are outdated by today's standards they are few, as the director uses the story and the atmosphere to build up the tension, suspense, and horror. Though the effects that are used are passable. I did love the severed hand - you can't beat a good severed hand - and the constantly bleeding stub its decapitation left behind.

This is one truly lush and lavish, well shot and acted horror film which still has strength in today's horror market. I would recommend everybody to watch this film as it's one of the best Hammer released. I would even watch this one again... and probably sooner rather than later.