BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB

Based upon the Bram Stoker’s story JEWEL OF THE 7 STARS, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB ($25) is certainly one of the more interesting genre offerings in which the muslin wrapped title creature does not actually appear. Instead of a withered, bandaged corpse, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB features a voluptuous protagonist/antagonist in this story of reincarnation and an ancient evil waiting to be reborn. As the story unfolds, we learn that Professor Julian Fuchs (Andrew Keir) opened the tomb of the evil Egyptian Queen Tera (Valerie Leon) at the exact moment that his daughter Margaret was born. As Margaret grows into womanhood, she is an exact double of Queen Tera, whose perfectly preserved body Professor Fuchs keeps hidden in the basement of the family home. For her birthday, Professor Fuchs gives Margaret the ring, which was the source of Queen Tera’s power. The ring brings Tera’s spirit one step closer to completely possessing Margaret and sets in motion a chain of deadly events involving the archeology team that originally opened Queen Tera’s tomb. While the film does have its moments, diehard mummy movie fans probably won’t be completely satisfied with BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB, since there is no mummy. However, Hammer fans should be titillated by the movie’s scantily clad leading lady and the overall atmosphere of this early seventies entry. The cast of BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB also includes James Villiers, Hugh Burden, George Coulouris and Mark Edwards.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has made BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB available on DVD in a 1.85:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9 displays. The transfer is quite nice, but since the film’s cinematography employed diffusion lenses throughout, the image has a soft, smoky quality. Detail is relatively good, although there is appreciable grain in much of the presentation. The film’s color palette tends to be subdued, with occasional brightly colored accents. Color stability is good, but the style of the cinematography sometimes allows the stronger hues to appear slightly smeared. Blacks are suitably inky and shadow detail is decent. There are no apparent problems with digital compression artifacts.

The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is in good shape, sounding clean and undistorted. While there are the expected age related frequency limitations, the track doesn’t sound shrill or tinny. Dialogue is crisp and fully understandable, which is all that is required for this particular soundtrack. There are no subtitles or alternate language tracks on the DVD.

Sound and music underscore the mildly animated interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. Curse Of The Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb is a nine-minute program that features interviews with actress Valerie Leon, and writer Christopher Wicking, who talk about the film’s "jinxed production." Also included on the DVD are TV spots, a trailer, radio spots and a still gallery. BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB also includes a second DVD of 20 Hammer movie trailers. This disc is a must have for any Hammer fan, which increases the collectable nature of BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB.

Although a lesser title in the Hammer catalog, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB is something that fans of the studio’s product are going to want to own. Anchor Bay’s DVD looks and sound fine, and with the trailer disc, owning it is a "no brainer."

This DVD review
 is brought to you by
 THE CINEMA LASER

 

Blood from the Mummy's Tomb

DVD reviews are Copyright © 2002 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher.
THE CINEMA LASER is written, edited and published by Derek M. Germano.