Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)

35% of users liked it
(1,820 ratings)

The swan song for director Seth Holt (who died shortly before filming was completed), this stylish Hammer production transcends its low budget thanks to lush photography, a stylish look, and fine performances from the leads. The plot, adapted from Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars,… More The swan song for director Seth Holt (who died shortly before filming was completed), this stylish Hammer production transcends its low budget thanks to lush photography, a stylish look, and fine performances from the leads. The plot, adapted from Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars, involves an expedition led by Professor Fuchs (Andrew Keir) to find the cursed tomb of an evil Egyptian princess. Upon discovery of her sarcophagus, Fuchs finds her perfectly preserved, still-bleeding severed hand -- which also sports a dazzling ruby ring. Several years later, Fuchs gives the pilfered ring to his voluptuous young daughter Margaret (Valerie Leon), whereupon she slowly begins to take on the malevolent traits of its original wearer, seeking revenge for the defilement of her tomb. Though Christopher Wicking's adaptation of Stoker's obscure novel is a bit uneven, it still provides ample suspense and the production has an overall richness that captures the flavor of Hammer's other mummy projects. Remade eight years later (with less effective results) as The Awakening; traces of the same story can also be found in Universal's 1999 mega-budget version The Mummy. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Seth Holt, Michael Carreras
Written By: Christopher Wicking
Genres: Classics, Horror

In Theaters: May 17, 1972 Wide
On DVD: Aug 6, 2002

No Critic Reviews Found…

Featured Audience Ratings

William S

Certainly not Hammer's finest hour but neither is it the least. But with its utterly nonsensical plot and lack of any actual creepy bandaged mummies its surely a candidate for one of the most tedious. Add to this the cheap sets, flat cinematics and a distinctly rushed feeling,… More
Certainly not Hammer's finest hour but neither is it the least. But with its utterly nonsensical plot and lack of any actual creepy bandaged mummies its surely a candidate for one of the most tedious. Add to this the cheap sets, flat cinematics and a distinctly rushed feeling, all shows up its second feature status most obviously (maybe it played second fiddle to a bandaged Christopher Lee??) But to be fair, it's still occasionally camp fun - even the worst of Hammer will have that going for it! Namely, Valerie Leon (in an unnecessary wig) flouncing about in a series of revealing black or pink nighties, pouting excessively and rolling her heavily mascaraed eyes, killing off the rest of the (wasted) cast - seemingly armed with nothing more than a few Egyptian artifacts and her very ample, and admittedly quite impressive, cleavage. Her nervous co-stars are a mixed bag of (mostly quality) character actors (supplementing their theatre work no doubt) wasted in thankless rolls: James Burden sweating to death - probably from wearing a worse wig than Leon's; Poor George Coulouris doing what is required - hamming maniacally and hysterically to death; Rosalie Crutchley being typically granite-faced to the end (maybe this was the look she gave to her agent?); And (poor man's Peter Cushing) Andrew Keir being... well, boring, bearded and bed-ridden. Only marvelous James Villiers comes out with any shred of dignity. But that's maybe more to do with his playing it suave and aloof. Incidentally the ironic ending is, surprisingly, rather good and very nearly made the effort to get there bearable. Someone, with their tongue still wedged firmly in their cheek, is definitely teasing us for the disappointing sparsity of anything as thrilling as actual creepy bandaged mummies!
Bruce B

This Film is from the Hammer Collection, though I am in the early stages of collecting and reviewing Hammer Films, This one was not what I had hoped a Hammer Film would consist of. I love crawling hand movies, I remember growing up seeing a B&W Crawling Hand Movie on Chiller… More
This Film is from the Hammer Collection, though I am in the early stages of collecting and reviewing Hammer Films, This one was not what I had hoped a Hammer Film would consist of. I love crawling hand movies, I remember growing up seeing a B&W Crawling Hand Movie on Chiller Theater and it creeped me out. This started off with the hand being cut off a Queen, it crawled around a little and that was it, until the last part of the film when we see it in a box. Disappointing. Valerie Leon was beautiful, and strutted her stuff around and I do me ROUND. My DVD had excellent quality for a 1971 film I was surprised. Some neat early vintage British Cars. One must acquire a taste for British Horror its the driest of all foreign horror. But I will give this one 3 stars.
Dr Blood

One of the most instanttly forgettable Hammer horrors. The slow pace and lack of a traditional scary, bandaged and lurching mummy will put you off right away. If you stick with it you'll find that everything is based around three drab looking sets and there is no atmosphere or… More
One of the most instanttly forgettable Hammer horrors. The slow pace and lack of a traditional scary, bandaged and lurching mummy will put you off right away. If you stick with it you'll find that everything is based around three drab looking sets and there is no atmosphere or suspense whatsoever. Acting and characterisation is minimal. Valerie Leon just isn't interesting enough (even as eyecandy) to make you want to sit through it to the end.