The Mummy's Revenge (1973)

In Spanish horror, Paul Naschy is the equivalent of Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing, maybe even more popular. Not only does Naschy usually play one or two of the title characters in his films, including the monster, he also writes and sometimes even directs. Personally I've never found such an overabundance of duties on the shoulders of one person to equate to a very good film, which was an issue I thought also hindered Naschy's Horror Rises From The Tomb.

The Mummy's Revenge is a very similar duplication of The Mummy story having been remade throughout the years, so the plot of the film should not be new. Naschy first plays the role of Amenhotep who along with his lover Amarna are killed and sentenced to an eternity of torment, due to their blood thirsty nature, never be allowed to enter the afterlife. A curse is placed upon Amenhotep's body, and whoever awakes him will therefore release an evil greater than any other. Centuries later when his remains are discovered by a group of archeologists Amenhotep is awakened by an ancestor named Assad Bey (also Naschy) who begins the process of returning him to life. A process which requires the blood of ten sacrificed women and a new body for Amarna.

Not having watched a lot of The Mummy remakes I'm really only familiar with the more recent adaptation of The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser. Compared to even the mediocre sequel, The Mummy Returns, this Spanish version of The Mummy's Revenge has no legs to stand on. My main issue with the film frankly is its boring. Aside from a very few limited and sometimes gory scenes the film spends a lot of time talking and long transitions to the next scene, almost as if the film is played out in slow motion to stretch a 30 minute plot into a 90 minute film. Granted it seems the version I was able to obtain is actually a watered down edited version of the original film with multiple scenes of gore and probably nudity cut out, I don't think I would have given this film much of a higher score than I did Horror Rises From The Tomb, which was an uncut version. Even in it's watered down state the only positive aspects of the film was it's visual creation of the Mummy, the short gory scenes (like the head smashing) and the few scenes with Helga Line.

Helga Line has a little larger role in this Naschy film than she did in Horror Rises From The Tomb, she plays the assistant of Assad Bey, but unfortunately the film itself is no comparison, while I had issues with Horror Rises From The Tomb it excels this version of the film in every way. Overall, I think it's clear I'm just not a fan of Paul Naschy's style, I think if he stayed in front of the camera instead of trying to do everything else we might have some horror films that appeal to a greater audience, instead we have a bunch of very similar films based on different creatures with varying degrees of quality. Therefore it goes without saying this is probably my last Naschy horror, seeing I only watched two of his films for the presence of Helga Line I doubt I'll be missing much in regards to his other endeavors.

3/10