El espanto surge de la tumba (1973)

Director:

Carlos Aured

Writer:

Paul Naschy (story)

Release Date:

February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

In Medieval France a warlock is be-headed and his wife tortured and executed. Hundreds of years later...

Plot Keywords:

Witchcraft | Warlock | Gore | Ghost | Castle

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Paul Naschy	...	Alaric de Marnac / Hugo de Marnac / Armand de Marnac
Emma Cohen	...	Elvira
Víctor Alcázar	...	Maurice Roland / Andre Roland (as Vic Winner)
Helga Liné	...	Mabille De Lancré
Betsabé Ruiz	...	Sylvia
Luis Ciges	...	Alain "Le Raté", a thief
Julio Peña	...	Jean
María José Cantudo	...	Chantal
Juan Cazalilla	...	Gastone
Francisco Llinás
Ramón Centenero	...	André Govar
Montserrat Julió	...	Dale
Francisco Nieto
Elsa Zabala	...	Madame Irina
Esther Santana	...	Victim in bed

Also Known As:

Horror Rises from the Tomb (USA)
Horror from the Tomb (USA)
Mark of the Devil 4 (USA) (video title)
Blutmesse der Zombies (West Germany) [de]
Blutmesse für den Teufel (West Germany) [de]
Il terrore sorge dalla tomba (Italy) [it]
Zombien verikosto (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

Spain:95 min | USA:88 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (cut video version) | Germany:Not Rated | Spain:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Lozoya, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Profilmes

Movie Connections:

Followed by Latidos de pánico (1983)

Paul Naschy, We Worship Thee!

As far as I am concerned, Spanish Horror/Exploitation icon Paul Naschy truly deserves his cult-status, and I am sure I am not standing alone with this opinion. I've personally been a great Naschy-fan ever since I first saw some of his films years ago, and my admiration for this deity of bizarre Euro-cult becomes greater with each film I see. Sure, his films are far away from being masterpieces or milestones, but they have their very own, inimitable style, and for a fan of low-budget Horror and Exploitation, it does not get a lot more entertaining than it is the case with Naschy's films. Naschy, who has sometimes also served as writer and director of the bizarre gems he has starred in (he was writer and star of this one), is doubtlessly best known for the role of Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, whom he has played in thirteen films (so far). While Waldemar Daninsky was basically a good, kind-hearted guy, who had the misfortune of being transformed in a Werewolf by a curse whenever the moon was full, the role of Alaric De Marnac is an entirely evil one. This "Espanto surge de la tumba" aka. "Horror Rises From The Tomb" of 1973 is the first film revolving around the satanic undead knight/warlock Alaric De Marnac, a role Naschy would reprise in "Latidos De Panico" (aka. "Panic Beats" of 1983). I had seen the latter before I first saw this original film on the ghoulish knight, and I must say that while this one is often even more confused and illogical than its successor, it is also an unspeakably entertaining film with an incredible cult-value.

In medieval France, the evil warlock Alaric De Marnac (Paul Naschy) is executed along with his beautiful (and equally evil) mistress Mabille de Lancré (Helga Liné). The execution is carried out on commands of his own brother (also Naschy), and before having his head chopped off Alaric vows to come back and take revenge on his brother's descendants. Centuries later, Hugo Marnac (also played by Naschy) decides to travel to his family's old estate with some friends in order to have some fun and do some research on Alaric and Mabille, which - Surprise! - turns out not to be a great idea... The story is often absurd and has several holes, and yet "Horror Rises From The Tomb" is not only interesting as a delightfully bizarre Exploitation gem, but also as a Horror film with an often creepy atmosphere. Paul Naschy shines once again in his roles - I've pointed out my admiration for the man above, but I cannot help and repeat myself - Naschy makes every film more worthwhile and highly entertaining, and he more than deserves to be called an icon of Eurohorror for his accomplishments. The female cast members are entirely beautiful and tend to get naked, sexy Helga Liné and Emma Cohen deserve being mentioned particularly. The film is filled with delightful perversions, bizarre rites and loads of violence and gore (some of the gore effects are very well-made for the obviously low budget). The film also has a very cool organ score, which even increased the fun. All said, "Horror Rises From The Tomb" might not be your type of film if you only like cinema of the "Citizen Kane" kind. To lovers of Eurohorror and Exploitation, however, this is a gem that must not be missed. I've seen it twice so far, and I sure will watch it again occasionally. Highly recommended to all Cult-cinema fans!