La Venganza de la Momia

The Vengeance of the Mummy
The Mummy's Revenge

Spain 1973
produced by
Julián Esteban, Luis Méndez (executive) for Lotus Films, Sara Films
directed by Carlos Aured
starring Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, Rina Ottolina, María Silva, Helga Liné, Luis Dávila, Eduardo Calvo, Fernando Sánchez Polack, Luis Gaspar, José Yepes, Juan Antonio Soler, Celia Cruz, Pilar Bardem, Ana María Pol, Jose Monne, M. Cruz Fernández
written by Jacinto Molina (= Paul Naschy), music by Alfonso G.Santisteban

review by
Mike Haberfelner

In Ancient Egypt, evil pharaoh Amenhotep (Paul Naschy) was mummified alive for loving priestess Amarna (Rina Ottolina).

In the early 20th century, Amenhotep's mummy is uncovered by professor Stern (Jack Taylor), who soon has it shipped to London. There, Egyptian historian Assad bey (Paul Naschy again) shows quite an interest in the mummy - but that's not all that surprising given that he's an Egyptian historian. Thing is, he is also a follower of the cult of Amenhotep, and soon he and his sidekick Zanufed (Helga Liné) break into the museum where the mummy is kept, sacrifice three virgins to it, and this way revive it.

Now the mummy is gone, and three perfectly good girls wind up dead, and the police is baffled. For the mummy to recover his former appearance though, it has to kill 7 more virgins and the reincarnation of Amarna has to be found. Killing the virgins is not too much of a problem if you're a hulking brute like mummy Amenhotep, and the reincarnation of Amarna turns out to be Helen (Rina Ottolina again, of course), none other than professor Stern's girlfriend.

Stern is slow to piece together the puzzle but succeeds eventually, but by that time, Helen has already been abducted by Assad Bey and made ready to be mummified (somehow that's part of the process), and when Stern and his assistant (María Silva) rush to her rescue, they are taken captive. However, Zanufed has since had a change of heart, and she frees Stern and his assistance, and in the fight that ensues, both Zanufed and Assad Bey are killed, Amenhotep's mummy is burned, but Helen is saved ... or is she, indeed? After the temple created for Amenhotep is burned to the ground, Helen turns into a (dead) mummy before Stern's very eyes.

By no means a great film, not even a great piece of early 1970's Eurohorror - but if you are an Eurohorror afficionado, you'll probably love it anyhow, simply because it has got everything you could ask for: Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, sexy woman in revealing costumes, a story full of pulp clichées, images drowned in oversaturated primary colours, some gruesome bits, some leaps of reason and plausibility, and so on and so forth.

So again, not a great film - but so much fun to watch if you're in the right mood.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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