HORROR
RISES FROM THE TOMB (1972)Director: Carlos Aured
Crash Cinema
HORROR
RISES FROM THE TOMB (1972)By 1972, Spain's king of horror
Paul Naschy (aka Jacinto Molina) was starring in and scripting vehicles that
were becoming more and more offbeat, and I mean that as a compliment. HORROR
RISES FROM THE TOMB was the first of four films that Naschy did with first-time
director Carlos Aured (one-time assistant to Leon Klimovsky) for the newly formed
Profilmes, a company Naschy would be associated for years. Naschy's outrageous
script allowed him to toss in a number of elements that seemed to be culled
from other movies, but they still help this outing succeed in over-the-top fashion!
Starting off with a pre-credit sequence in Medieval France, Warlock Alaric de Marnac (Naschy) and his wickedly seductive cohort Mabille de Lancre (Helga Line) are accused of a number of nasty things, including drinking blood an feasting on human flesh. He is beheaded and she is hung naked upside down while shouting and promising revenge (Naschy also plays the brother/accuser as a knight with a disfigured eye). Centuries later (early 1970s) a descendant of Alaric named Hugo (Naschy) and pal Maurice (Vic Winner), also a descendant of a man who sent the evil duo to their death, are experiencing very strange occurrences having to do with the curse put upon their bloodline. After a wild séance, they decide to put their minds at ease by taking their gals and driving to the old family château to search for the buried bodies of Alaric and Mabille.
On
their way there, a run-in with some highway robbers causes their car to crash,
but Hugo is cool enough to buy a new one with the wad of cash stuffed in his
jacket. Once at the chateau, Hugo and Maurice are able to dig up a chest containing
the immortal head of Alaric, but the damn thing has the power to force the locals
and the houseguests into doing his bidding, eventually reattaching himself with
his body and reviving his beloved Mabille. The two go on a satanic spree much
to the dismay of the remaining cast.
HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB is an entertaining late-night mishmash made up of the kind of thrills that make Paul Naschy's films what they are. In its strongest version, it's packed pretty well with gore, sexuality and nudity--chiefly from the lovely Helga Line, one of the most underrating celluloid scream sirens, and sexy Emma Cohen (as Naschy's romantic interest) who was never too shy to shed her threads in front of the cameras. Nothing groundbreaking genre-wise (a sacred religious emblem is used to fight off the evil doers, a visit from the walking dead is strictly inspired by George Romero, etc.), but this has Naschy (in multiple roles, no less!) at his best, bloody gut-extracting effects that pre-date Tom Savini's by years, and more beautiful woman on display (in various states of undress) than you could possibly ask for.
Crash
Cinema has inaugurated its "Euro Thriller Collection" with this release,
and it's a two-DVD set containing three versions of the film of varying quality
and running times. The first disc contains the "clothed version" and
the "uncut international release." The clothed version (1:21:36) is
the best looking of the three, presenting the film in its original 1.85:1 hard-matted
aspect ratio, with opening credits in Spanish. The colors are particularly vivid,
and level of detail is excellent for the most part, and the print source (apparently
a German source, as German subtitles show up on the screen several times) is
quite pristine. A few seconds of footage (including two nude scenes) seemed
to be inserted from an inferior source .The uncut international release (1:28:38)
is the preferred cut of the film, as it presents it at full strength. The print
source here looks to be the same as the Charter VHS version and the budget DVD
recently released by Brentwood. The longer length is all due to extended skin
sequences, but it's cropped on all four sides, with rather soft, passable quality;
the colors are sometimes faded and there is some grain in darker scenes. The
last disc contains the "U.S. version" (1:19:56) which is actually
the cut of the film released directly to television by Avco Embassy in the mid
70s. Also cropped to full screen, the transfer obviously originates from a 16mm
TV syndicated print, as it's marked up and grainy, with the censor's great number
of trims being highly noticeable. All three versions contain the English dubbed
mono track, and there is no noticeable difference between the three.
The second disc also contains
the supplements, which are mostly in written form. All are penned by Naschy
expert Mirek Lipinski and are naturally well-executed. There's a Naschy bio,
filmographies on Naschy and Aured, a "making of" essay, and a great
text interview with Aured that concentrates solely on this title. A brief photo
gallery even includes a drawing written by Naschy of his villainous character
at the time of filming, but the trailers section just consists of promos for
BEAT GIRL and INVADERS OF THE LOST GOLD. There's also a card of the Spanish
poster included as an insert. (George
R. Reis)