Horror Rises from the Tomb

Director - Carlos Aured (Curse of the Devil, The Mummy's Revenge)
Starring - Paul Naschy (Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, Count Dracula's Great Love), Emma Cohen (Night of the Walking Dead, Alone in the Dark), and Victor Alcazar (Green Inferno, Hunchback of the Morgue)
Release Date - 1973
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The cursed comes back to haunt you"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Spanish horror isn't something I've had a lot of experience in.  I have seen some amazing horror films over the years and two that just happen to stand out were Spanish horror.  The first is the 1974 zombie flick The Living Dead in Manchester Morgue but is more commonly known as Let Sleeping Corpses Lie.  I purchased a walking dead box set from Anchor Bay years ago and this is one of the films included.  The other just happens to be a Paul Naschy film and the first of his that I had laid eyes on.  When I was in high school a friend of mine purchased the box set titled Horror Rises from the Tomb.  I believe this was a Brentwood Home Video release and this film stood out to me.  I really enjoyed it and how it combined several horror elements into one solid film.  Recently Scream Factory released the Paul Naschy Collection on blu with this film included.  I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send a review copy my way!
     The film begins in Medieval France where a warlock (Naschy) and his wife are murdered for practicing witchcraft.  We fast forward several hundred years and a group of unsuspecting people unearth the severed head of the warlock who then possesses the living and forces them to do his bidding which means recovering his body and killing anyone that gets in his way.  Once his body is whole he is able to raise his wife from the dead and exact revenge on the descendants that had him killed. 



     I love all the elements Horror Rises from the Tomb throws at the viewer.  Most horror films, especially from the 60s and 70s, find an angle and sticks with it.  Horror Rises from the Tomb starts out with one and then quickly switches it up to something completely different.  Before it's all said and done we have went through 4 of 5 different horror elements.  It does a great job at keeping the viewer focused.  The acting in this one is great.  We once again see Paul Naschy take on multiple roles.  I hate that I am coming into the Paul Naschy bandwagon so late because he is a tremendous actor.  So much so that I would easily lump him in there with Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee.  He takes on multiple roles in several of his films and is able to give the viewer different types of characters.  He really brings his role to life.  The supporting cast is great.  The men are all domineering which breaks a bleak atmosphere to the film while the women are beautiful and sexy.  The story for this one is forever changing and mixing it up.  The beginning follows a warlock that is beheaded but not before he places a curse on them.  We then follow a group of people in a old house who are then harassed by locals while people in their group are dying gruesome deaths almost like a giallo.  We then move back to the warlock angle and the supernatural element before we end with the undead attacking the living.  The first time I saw this film all them years ago I was dumbfounded by everything that was tossed into the story.  The film does suffer from poor pacing but the end result is still an outstanding film.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills ranging from cut throats to gunshot wounds.  The blood is bright red which does throw me off some and the effects is minimal.  The film is able to deliver on the atmosphere and the over the top story to hold the viewer's attention.  Overall, Horror Rises from the Tomb is a fun ride.  The story doesn't know when to end and just when you think you have a grasp on it the film throws something else at you.  I can't recommend this one enough.