Horror Rises from the Tomb (1975)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

hyped garbage

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB is another superior slice of Spanish Gothic horror from director Paul Naschy, here teaming up with director Carlos Aured, his second-best director behind Leon Klimovsky. It's another lurid tale, one about a 15th century warlock and his wife who are captured by the authorities and executed on the spot. The narrative then shifts to the modern day, where the warlock's head is dug up and a string of grisly murders unfold.Everything to be known and loved about Spanish horror is present in this film. It's chock full of practical gore effects which have hardly aged since the release, and also packed with nudity from the various starlets, not least Helga Line, one of Spain's finest scream queens (for more of her work check out the excellent HORROR EXPRESS). Best of all it has a great and spooky atmosphere to see it through. Naschy once again shines in a dual role, and his villain in this one really stands out as a horrific fellow. It's simplistic stuff for sure, but when the elements of film-making are this effective it doesn't matter at all.

As if to prove the old adage "you can't keep a good man down," the 1973 Spanish film "Horror Rises From the Tomb" gives us the story of 15th century Satanist Alaric du Marnac. When we first encounter this demonic figure, he and his consort, Mabille de Lancre (Helga Line), are about to be executed by torture and decapitation in the France of 1454. (This opening scene, it must be noted, almost seems an homage to the similar opening in Mario Bava's classic "Black Sunday," except here, we have a male Satanist and a female helper, instead of the other way around.) Flash forward 520 years or so, and Alaric's blood descendant (also played by the film's screenwriter, Paul Naschy...aka his given name, Jacinto Molina) is heading toward his ancestral estate, the Villas de Sade, with his gal pal (the gorgeous Betsabe Ruiz) and another couple (Victor Alcazar and the beautiful Cristina Suriani). Too bad that their innocent and curious desire to find and exhume the legendary Alaric's missing noggin leads to a resurrection of the demon himself, as well as his unholy partner.... Never pausing for breath once during its entire 95-minute running time, "Horror Rises" is most interesting in that there is just no way to ever know who our central character is; indeed, no one character in the film has a greater likelihood of surviving than any other, and, similar to the film's companion piece, 1983's "Panic Beats" (which I deem a superior picture, but that's just me), the body count is extremely high, if not total. The film, with its claustrophobic atmosphere and--as directed by Carlos Aured--style to spare, looks and feels just great, is well acted by the entire cast, and sports some impressive production values. There are any number of gross-out moments for all the gorehounds out there, including beheadings (by ax, scythe and magic amulet), throat slittings, shambling and bloody zombies, a hanging, an immolation, a shooting, several eviscerations, and the eating of still-quivering human hearts! These FX, though realized on the cheap, still manage to impress, although the sight of Alaric's talking, glaring head sitting in a box is pretty laughable. The musical score by Carmelo A. Bernaola has also been realized at little expense, consisting solely of organ swipes, but manages to achieve a cumulatively creepy effect. The picture also features a bleeding portrait, an eerie seance, liberal doses of nudity and a smashing windup, in which actress Emma Cohen really gets to shine. "It's only a horror movie," Naschy tells the audience in his introduction on this great-looking Deimos DVD (loaded with extras), but at least it's a very fine one....

In 1454, in France, the sorcerer Alaric de Marnac (Paul Naschy) is decapitated and his mistress Mabille De Lancré (Helga Liné) is tortured to death accused of witchcraft, vampirism and lycanthropy. Before they die, they curse the next generations of their executioners. In the present days (in the 70's), Hugo de Marnac (Paul Naschy) and Sylvia (Betsabé Ruiz) and their friends Maurice Roland (Vic Winner) and his beloved Paula (Cristina Suriani) go to a séance session, where they evoke the spirit of Alaric de Marnac. They decide to travel to the Villas de Sade, a real estate of Hugo's family in the countryside, to seek a monastery with a hidden treasure. They find Alaric's head and the fiend possesses them, bringing Mabille back to life and executing the locals in gore sacrifices. After the death of her father, Elvira (Emma Cohen) recalls that he has the Thor's Hammer amulet hidden in a well; together with Maurice, they try to defeat the demoniac Alaric de Marnac and Mabille.Last weekend I bought a box of horror genre with five DVDs of Paul Naschy per US$ 9.98; despite of having no references, I decided to take the chance. The first DVD with the uncut and restored version "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is a trash B (or C) movie that immediately made me recall Ed Wood. The ridiculous story is disclosed through awful screenplay, direction, performances, cinematography, decoration, special effects and edition and with lots of naked women. The result is simply hilarious and I can guarantee that Ed Wood's style is back. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): Not Available

Jacinto Molina, more commonly known as Paul Nasty (err… I mean, Naschy) strikes again with this ultra-bizarre and ultra-deranged Spanish exploitation effort. The script of "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is incoherent as hell, there isn't a single interesting or well-written dialog to be heard, acting & directing are both extremely shabby and the supposedly malevolent witches, zombies and other unidentifiable types of monsters evoke more laughs than scares. And yet, despite all these abnormalities (and more…), "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is a vintage and purely entertaining gem of 70's horror cinema! Naschy wrote the oddball script himself and stars as no less than THREE different descendants of the noble French de Marnac family. During the fairly atmospheric opening set in the 15th Century, we witness how a malicious Alaric (Naschy) and his mistress are brutally executed for practicing witchcraft. Several years later, Hugo (Naschy again) invites three of his friends to join him for a vacation at his ancient family estate somewhere in rural France. Quite a lot of awkward and totally irrelevant things occur, but the bottom line is: Alaric de Marnac's decapitated head is still alive in a chest, buried in the large cemeteries surrounding the estate, and its hypnotizing powers turns people into docile yet bloodthirsty zombies. The film is quite bad and pointless, but at least there's always something going on to entertain you. Whether it's the poor make-up effects on the zombies, the implausible sub plots, the sleaze footage brought on by a couple of fine looking Euro-babes or the ingenious little gimmicks, "Horror Rises from the Tomb" is never boring and never makes you regret the purchase. And who can possibly resist the sequences featuring Naschy's separated head commanding his slaves to bring him human sacrifices and to obey his every word? Take my word on it: the head-in-the-chest scenes are priceless! Some of the interior & exterior filming locations are even very enchanting and beautifully captured on camera. Most neutral viewers will probably claim this is the worst film they've ever encountered in their lives, but it's an absolute must for fans of Paul Naschy and essential 70's Euro-horror.