Crypt of the living dead

"The Crypt of the Living Dead" is an odd, but run of the mill horror movie that will hold your interest but not leave anything memorable in it's wake. The acting is OK but the dialogue is pretty bad. There is an interesting assortment of strange characters but they are not shown in depth. A lot of the script just isn't realistic. What the characters do, how the act and react to circumstances just don't have the right feel to it. They had a chance of having some mystery in this film but two of the villains are revealed right at the start of the movie. The third, the vampire herself, is a given. For those looking for the horror aspect, there are some scary scenes and the locations have a Gothic feel. This movie was shot in Turkey and whatever spot they found, I have to give them credit. They found a good location. When all is said and done though, it's an OK movie but nothing special.

Creepy as well as colorful terror movie with chills , thrills , scary events and being decently filmed . When Professor Bolton , an archaeologist doing research on Vampire Island , is murdered , his son Chris (Andrew Prine) comes to the island to bury his dad , something not easily done since the professor's body is pinned under several tons of tomb . There Chris is received by Peter (Mark Damon) a student doing research on the Crusades , and his sister Mary (Patty Sheppard) who is a teacher of the Island kiddies . As Chris , Peter and villagers dig come across a vampire burial ground and discover that a strange creature (Teresa Gimpera) are about to awaken and attack a nearby village with its inhabitants (Frank Braña , among others) . As the undead dies .. again .. again . .

This frightening movie deliberately told contains chills , suspense , colorful images and lots of blood , including obnoxious killings . Director Julio Salvador brings this ghastly and stylish story plagued with eerie intrigue , and depraved gore murders executed by a vampire who becomes a wolf . It is a straight horror film that features a supernatural intrigue , a Vampirism story plenty of mythology and historical events about Crusades . In fact , the tomb of the title belongs to Hannah, fiancé of King Louis VII , legend tells that , 700 years ago , Luis VII King of France goes out to conquest orient lands for Christendom but along the way happens a shipwrecked , they wash up at a weird island where his sweetheart Hannah became a vampire and that Louis sealed her alive in the tomb such that, should the tomb ever be opened before the return of Christ, Hannah would rise again . Evocative as well as colorful Cinematography by Juan Gelpí , being filmed on location in Turkey . Strange and atmospheric original musical score by Phillip Lambro .

This eerie picture was professional and stylistically directed by Julio Salvador though in the American version there are some new frames filmed by Ray Danton . Julio Salvador was a good professional who directed some nice films such as ¨Contraband in Spain¨ with Richard Greene and Anouk Aimee and in 1968 directed Ray Danton , co-filmmaker in this film , at the movie titled ¨Hello Glen Ward¨ . Julio Salvador made various pictures with his fetish actor Conrado San Martin such as ¨Sin Sonrisa De Dios¨, ¨Duda¨ , ¨Lo Que Nunca Muere¨ and his best film ¨Apartado Correos 1001¨. He also was writer , as he wrote "Love Brides of the Blood Mummy¨dealing with a Mummy rebirth and ¨The Mercenary¨ again with Ray Danton . Furthermore , he wrote this ¨Crypt of the Living Dead" also titled "Hannah, Queen of the Vampires" or "Young Hannah, Queen of the Vampires . Rating : Acceptable and passable , 6,5/10 . An alright movie that will appeal to horror buffs .

Quite ridiculous yet somewhat engaging story about a young archaeologist, played with one dimension by Andrew Prine, coming to Vampire Island to see/investigate the death of his father. Somehow a huge crypt carrying the remains of a 700 year-old vampire woman has fallen on him and his son must convince the locals that vampires are absurd superstitions. Of course what might have been a mystery is destroyed in the opening sequence as we see who has killed the father, just leaving the not-too-hard-to-figure why out. The film doesn't have much of a budget but the bleak desolation of the island is convincing, the vampire queen is impressive(and beautiful), and some of the shots are very atmospheric. Prine is bland and Spanish horror queen Patty Shepard displays some histrionics. She looks subtle when compared to some of the so-called "quiet" locals who fear the return of the killing palindrome. Frank Brana, playing the crusty, old, sagacious blind sailor steals his scenes with no shame being not just a slice of ham but a whole butt roast! Listen to his dialog, it is so bad that it is so fun and easily for me at least the best part of this film. "She is smart...700 years smart" and other quotes about Hannah sticking her fangs into necks and the power of superstitions cascade from his lips in an almost monosyllabic manner which only accentuates his strange looks as he might be a cross between Bela Lugosi's Ygor in Son of Frankenstein and Carmen Ghia from The Producers(okay, I know it's an obscure reference). Nobody else in the film comes too close to being just plain eye-catching. Teresa Gimpera as Hannah comes close; however, for different reasons. She looks great after so long and can still turn into fog and a wolf with the best of them. Her death scene is something to behold unintentionally. While Crypt of the Living Dead is indeed a bad film, it is a very watchable one once things get going.

"Crypt of the Living Dead" is an extremely low-budgeted Spanish production that centers on the resurrection of a malicious vampire queen after being asleep on an island for nearly 7 whole centuries. Directors Julio Salvador and Ray Danton sure as hell did their best to make Hannah (quite a modern name for an ancient vampire) look like a 700-year-old! This supposedly "evil" lady walks around her territory even slower than my grandmother would walk down a flight of stairs, and she suffers from a severe hernia! On the other hand, Hannah sure has a prettier face than my grandma and I wouldn't mind her sinking her teeth into my neck... Hannah's resurrection is the fault of a young archaeologist who opened the tomb after his own father (accidentally?) got crushed in the tomb. Initially she's still too weak to kill by herself and so she sends out her pet werewolf to do the nasty and bring back the blood of superstitious villagers. Once she has a little more strength, she endangers the island-population herself, and the sexy school teacher in particular. Hannah's walking pace sort of illustrates the entire film: slow, boring and truly annoying. "Crypt of the Living Dead" isn't at all scary or atmospheric, and this despite all the potentially great decors and locations. The events take place on an island, yet you never experience that inescapable feeling. There's no sleaze or gore (or what did you think?), the acting performances are weak and the ending is lame. Most definitely one to skip.

Atmospheric, eerie little Spanish thriller starring Andrew Prine as a man who travels to a remote island off Turkey after his archaeologist father dies in an apparent accident after discovering an ancient tomb. Writer (Damon) and his sister (Shepard) who have also recently inhabited the island try to facilitate Prine's attempts to raise the heavy sarcophagus that covers his father's remains to affect a proper burial. But the locals are reluctant to assist, fearing that the crypt's occupant - Hannah (Gimpera) - will be resurrected to raise hell on the island.

Surprisingly effective, though it appears to be un-liked judging from other reviews, I found the English translation conversion by Ray Danton to be a genuinely scary and compelling tale beautifully shot in black & white, with a talented cast. Prine has the right pitch as the polite outsider who can't be convinced that his actions will awaken a dormant vampire, his attentions straying to the plight of Shepard, concerned for the welfare of her brother. Both the exotic Shepard and durable Damon are assured in their roles, enhancing the production and its overall quality. For her part, Gimpera as Hannah is a beguiling beauty, even if only appearing prominently toward the end of the picture and without any intelligible dialogue. Film buffs should also applaud Danton's assembly of B-movie talent - Edward Walsh and John Alderman in minor roles (Walsh has a great scene after an encounter with Hannah), while prolific Spanish actor Frank Brana has a key supporting role as the blind foreteller of doom.

The lighting and sound is exceptionally refined and the film overall is stylish; the beach and cliff-top scenery bathed in black & white is visually stunning, though admittedly some of the night scenes are obscure in the darkness. I read that Danton shot additional English-language footage which was conjoined with Julio Salvador's Spanish version; with no visible seams, it's a rare example of where footage grafts actually enhance the overall result. Builds the suspense gradually (potentially irksome for viewers with a need for constant gratification), the rousing finale is a tense encounter that elevates the pulse, while a curtain-dropping post script is a satisfying epitaph. Worth the effort.