Horror Rises from the Tomb [1973]

One might guess, upon seeing the title "Horror Rises from the Tomb," that one is in for a fiesta of supernatural mayhem, and one would be correct in that assumption. However, the film speaks to a soft spot in my heart--the Girly part of my heart that is warmed by stories of beyond-the-grave love. Truly, is there nothing more beautiful than two black magic vampire creatures finding one another, their love transcending the centuries and yet still fresh enough to enjoy the simple delight of drinking blood from the still-beating hearts of their victims together? I posit that the answer to this question is a resounding "no."

Paul "You Better BELIEVE I'm The Coolest Guy In The Room" Naschy stars in this dual-role monster mash, which opens with the execution of Alaric de Marnac (played by His Naschy-ness) and his mistress Mabille de Lancre, who are accused of sampling from the entire buffet table of potential Satanic misdeeds. Oh, and they are werewolves *and* vampires *and* sorcerers. How's THAT for multitasking? My day job surrenders. Alaric is beheaded (mannequin decapitation!) and Mabille is strung up and cut in half (presumably--we don't get to see this, although we do get upside-down boobage, which is a not-unappealing substitute), but not before they lay some bad juju, hexing the future offspring of their accusers Armand de Marnac and Andre Roland.

Jump to The Present Day, where Hugo de Marnac (also-Naschy) and Maurice Roland (I SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE) are playboying it up in Paris. Painter Maurice has been haunted by visions of evil, black eyes that are interfering with his portraiture efforts, but skeptic Hugo downplays his friend's concerns. The two gents' flighty gal pals (I know, we're always getting you fellows into trouble, aren't we?) convince them to participate in a seance to contact--who else?--the fabulously evil Alaric de Marnac. Maurice refuses, but Hugo goes along with the plan. Naturally, things go all sorts of weird from here. Alaric's spirit makes contact with the spiritualists, assaults the medium, and suggests he can guide the group to where his body is buried along with treasure. Before you can say "of COURSE we're going to take the word of a long-dead black magician," the fearless group of Hugo, Maurice, and their flighty girlfriends is off to Hugo's ancestral chateau for a little hott graverobbing action.

I was always hoping that I would paint a creepy, supernatural trance-painting during art school. NO DICE, though.

Before our intrepid treasure-hunters can arrive at the chateau, they are waylaid by bandits and have a rather alarming encounter with the locals during which the would-be thieves are summarily executed. Undeterred, Hugo et. al. make their way to their destination and set to digging. Maurice is struck by repeated visions of a ghastly, leering visage (you get no points for correctly guessing this is Alaric's spirit) and is guided to dig in a specific spot on the grounds, leading to the unearthing of a mysterious box. Later that night, two of the locals who'd assisted in the dig decide to sneak a peek into the box, only to discover an ancient scroll. Applying the tried and true "I'm not sure what this is but I know I should read it aloud" technique of getting one's ass into deep trouble, the locals set Alaric's reincarnation into motion. Carnage ensues and one of the villagers, now possessed by the evil spirit of the undead warlock, carries the box (which handily also contains Alaric's head) down to the ancestral crypt...

"In the lake?"

"In the lake."

Hugo and Maurice happen upon the bodies of the chateau's groundskeeper and the unluckier of the two thieves. As One Does when confronted by such a situation, they bypass law and order and dump the bodies in a lake. Naturally, this doesn't help matters, and the body count continues to rise. Along the way, Maurice manages to fall under Alaric's enchantment and plays a vital role in the ceremony that resurrects Alaric and Mabille.

Just in case the photo above is not enough to clue you into the sheer bad-assedness of this resurrection ceremony, allow me to elaborate:

• Delightfully hokey head-reattachey
• Naked chick
• Bloodletting
• Implied in-coffin sexing

After Alaric and Mabille emerge, refreshed after a few hundred years of not-dead-but-dreaming, they get right to the important bad-guy business of eating the pulsing hearts of their victims.

Now, allow me to take a moment, if you will. A lot of ink has been spilled on the topic of romance in films, and frankly, I'm sick of the same swooning embraces played out over and over again. Give me the anti-sentimentality of villain love any damn day. Alaric and Mabille get shit done, but they still dig the hell out of each other. Sure, there's the present-day romance between Hugo and Elvira, who have apparently known each other since childhood, but that lacks the same panache as undead, centuries-old black magic love. I want the kind of man who, after I am strung up by my feet and hacked in twain, will make his FIRST POST-RESURRECTION ACT the restoration of ME to my post-bisecting glory.

Just sayin'.

There are some very wild sequences in "Horror Rises from the Tomb" and Naschy's love of throwing every trope in the book into a single story is in delightful form here. There are zombies and gore and boobs and swamps and decaying ancestral homes. You know, the good stuff. While I found some segments of the film a little draggy (it takes 50 minutes of screen time to get to the bitchin' crypt ceremony), the sheer weird-out factor of the latter half of the movie makes it worthwhile watching. Also, the use of soundtrack is interesting throughout--there are some great organ riffs (use of the organ is APPROVED in the Tenebrous Empire), while some key scenes have no incidental music at all. It's a disorienting yet effective technique.

I'm really looking forward to the day when I get my own invite to the Naschy Party and don't have to tag along as a +1 with Arbogast (though he is charming company in spite of his rather disarming habit of going everywhere in a black hood)...

Enjoy this lovely gallery of "Horror Rises from the Tomb" film stills on Flickr.