The Mummy’s Revenge – aka La venganza de la momia – is a 1973 supernatural Spanish horror film directed by Carlos Aured (The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll; Horror Rises from the Tomb; Curse of the Devil) from a screenplay by Jacinto Molina [aka Paul Naschy]. It stars the latter, plus Jack Taylor (Wax; Pieces; Female Vampire), María Silva and Helga Liné (The Loreley’s Grasp; Horror Express; Horror).
Plot:
Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep (Paul Naschy) tortures and kills innocent virgins as part of a blood sacrifice so he and his beloved concubine, Amarna (Rina Ottolina) can attain immortality. His tyrannical rule comes to an end when he is poisoned by righteous sorcerer Amen-Ra who entraps his soul forever as a mummified corpse.
Centuries later, American husband and wife archaeologists Nathan (Jack Taylor) and Abigail Stern (Maria Silva) unearth Amenhotep’s tomb. The pair take the mummy to London where their British financier, Sir Douglas Carter (Eduardo Calvo) enlists the aid of Egyptologist Assad Bey (also Paul Naschy) to decipher its secrets.
However, Assad and his assistant, Zanufer (Helga Liné), are devotees of Amenhotep. Soon, the resurrected mummy is prowling the streets of London abducting local virgins. Then Amenhotep discovers Sir Douglas’ half-Egyptian daughter, Helen (Rina Ottolina again) is the reincarnation of his lost love, Amarna…
Reviews:
” …this manages to be entertaining almost in spite of itself. It’s nicely photographed, the art direction is surprisingly handsome, the mummy makeup is very decent and the film is fast-paced; zipping along from one scene to the next. Best of all, there’s an extremely high body count (20+) and plenty of blood, gore and action.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror
“Director Carlos Aured – who did four films with Naschy – offers up bloody stabbings and throat slashing. There is even a guard who gets his head crushed. Best of all, there is a sequence where the mummy smashes the heads of the virgins and the gore effect is something that could easily work today, nearly 40 years later.” William Wilson, Video Junkie
“Monster fans will have great fun watching the shambling mummy crunch heads that squirt cherry syrup or smash faces into a waxy pulp. For all its kitsch comic book qualities the mummy remains an intimidating presence and racks up an impressive body-count before the film reaches a haunting, quite unexpected conclusion.” Andrew Pragasam, The Spinning Image
“The one area where Molina’s mummy opus falters is in the pacing. The film just plods along when there’s no blood and violence onscreen, which, thankfully, isn’t very often. There’s a plethora of whippings, throat slashings, head crushings and blood drinking to appease the followers of the Spanish horror icon.” Brian Bankston, Cool Ass Cinema
“Paul Naschy’s character delivers an inspirational line: “It’s paradoxical that we, the native Egyptians, have to travel around the world to study our own civilization”. The mummy’s revenge, here, not only has to do with the pharaoh being betrayed, dethroned, and entombed alive thousands of years ago by his own people, but the curse itself is also a kind of vengeance on the archeological “violation” of sacred tombs.” Giovanni Susina, At the Mansion of Madness
“… Aured works up some foggy atmosphere in waterfront scenes seemingly modelled on Hammer’s The Curse of the Mummy. But the period detail is betrayed by a view of Tower Bridge flanked by modern buildings, and the ending – in which Helen, having been kissed by the mummy, becomes a mummy herself – is a nice idea poorly executed.” Jonathan Rigby, Euro Gothic
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca
“The capable art direction of Gumersindo Andres maximises the movie’s obviously shoestring budget, but whereas Fisher’s creature, played by the imposing and ascetic figure of Lee, had been motivated by and victimized for his passionate love for a beautiful woman, Molina’s stout weightlifter’s physique, combined with a rapidly misogynist script, transforms the mummy into a moronic butcher.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
Main cast:
Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, María Silva, Helga Liné, Luis Dávila, Rina Ottolina, Eduardo Calvo, Fernando Sánchez Polack, Luis Gaspar, José Yepes, Juan Antonio Soler,Celia Cruz, Pilar Bardem, Ana María Pol and Jose Monne.
Filming locations (some exteriors):
London, England, UK
IMDb | Image credits: The Bloody Pit of Horror | Synopsis credit: The Spinning Image
