Stephen Abell The first thing I noticed when watching this movie is the gaping distance between this and the horror movies of today. There are two glaringly obvious differences.Firstly: Scope. This film takes you to Egypt and the tombs of the Pharaohs where we see the Queen being interred in her tomb and the rights the priest's carry out, along with the beginnings of her curse. We then move to England where the action continues between three different locations. In modern horror films, the story usually takes place in one location in one time period.Secondly: Story. There's more going off in this film than most of today's horror. I know this is based on an actual novel where most of the modern films are based on the director's ideas. The end product can also suffer from budgetary issues which may restrict them to one location and hence hinder the story.The other differences are acting talent and direction. I have to admit that Hammer used to get some pretty top notch actors in their films. Even the bit-parts are covered by a better-than-average cast and this is the case in this film. Due to that fact, this is a highly enjoyable and believable story that I found myself fully immersed in. It also didn't hurt that Valerie Leon is one of the most beautiful actresses on the planet and does a great job in the lead role as Margaret Fuchs and the Egyptian Queen Tera. Along with Andre Keir, who people from Dr Who: Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150AD and Quatermass and the Pit, and James Villiers this is a strong cast.As for the directing, it was an absolute blessing not to see shaky cam. I do wish that more directors would invest in fixed and smooth-moving camera mounts. I remember there being some negative input for the Evil- Deads shaky cam through the woods - now that is some of the smoothest camera work when compared to today's efforts. Also, all the scenes are watchable in daylight. Dark scenes are lit and visible, with the director using lighting to build mood and atmosphere; the viewer doesn't have to turn off any lighting even ambient just to make out what's happening - just because a scene is shot in total darkness doesn't make it scary. There's also no grey filters, which are so overused today, everything is shot in glorious colour. This actually helps the film as it doesn't make the audience depressed and sad.Though the special effects are outdated by today's standards they are few, as the director uses the story and the atmosphere to build up the tension, suspense, and horror. Though the effects that are used are passable. I did love the severed hand - you can't beat a good severed hand - and the constantly bleeding stub its decapitation left behind.This is one truly lush and lavish, well shot and acted horror film which still has strength in today's horror market. I would recommend everybody to watch this film as it's one of the best Hammer released. I would even watch this one again... and probably sooner rather than later.

fwdixon This is an astoundingly bad film, even by mummy movie standards.Problem one is that there's no mummy, insofar as there is no bandage-wrapped gent shambling after the next hapless victim. There's a sort-of mummy, who just happens to be perfectly preserved young woman with big boobs. The plot is ludicrous and the script is laughably bad.The direction, such as it is, is trite and amateurish, with no real attempt to set the appropriate mood other than using an intrusive musical score of dubious merit.The acting ranges from sub-par to utter ham. Not worth the time it takes to see it.

lucyrfisher Valerie Leon embodies a forgotten fashion era - circa 1971. Oh, those A-line midi skirts, those cinch belts, those chokers! Ancient Egyptian eye makeup had been in since Liz Taylor's Cleopatra. I like her boyfriend, "Tod Browning", who tries to stop the supernatural mayhem while driving a vintage car - you know it's not going to end happily. James Villiers is wonderful, playing a character who combines a Sergeant portrait, Lord Henry Wotton from Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde himself, and Mephistopheles (from Faust). Wilde had a strange afterlife in fiction - he inspired the character of gentleman thief A J Raffles. Also good in this film is Rosalie Crutchley, with her crystal ball and strange companion - a faun-like boy with long red fingernails. Just a little Gothic touch.

alleycee ...This film should be essential viewing, for one reason only. It has the best cinematography I have Ever seen, and I am a big Bladrunner fan. the scene comes half way through the movie, when the Tera-force has killed the guy to reclaim the wolf sculpture, and her fiancé is walking through an alleyway, about to discover the body.The camera tracks him slowly moving forward, toward a high street with a phone booth, and then tracks back with him to a junk yard where he sees the shadow of a wolf scurry away. 1) everything is in Vivid, Precise focus - the foreground, the subject, the far background - picking out every greasy smear and rough texture in that alley, and 2) its all in Heightened Saturated colour - a Gloomy rainbow of muted blues and invading greens, all created from scratch, in broad daylight in a pokey little British studio - lovingly crafted and set-dressed over what must've taken hours to get that outside look. But consider that the camera is moving a large distance as well - there's none of this shaky steadicam or abrasive cutting that used to plague budget old films like this - the whole scene is smooth, fluid and graceful, like only an Enormous Budget and the Best Crew could produce these days. And finally, and most importantly, 3) throughout the entire shot there is an isolated, hanging Miasma of Mist, slowly morphing and twisting in space, just in front of the Character, almost as if they have caught the apparition of a ghost live on film - it provides a shifting, sinister focus and, even today, I'm not sure most filmmakers would know how to begin creating such an effect, more less actually film a prolonged, kinetic sequence of acting around it. truly remarkable.Hammer Studio's was always about Control like this - the loving care and attention to the sets and scenery and photography and staging of the scenes to be shot - and this film is the antithesis. Of course, it was also the studio's downfall, because tastes in the 70s then progressed to raw, rough and real-looking filmmaking, as in the Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw ... But for old school Mastery and Expertise, this film showcases some wondrous talent