THE MUMMY’S REVENGE (1973)
aka La venganza de la momia
Article 4338 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-16-2013
Directed by Carlos Aured
Featuring Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, Maria Silva
Country: Spain
What it is: Mummy movie

When the mummy of a sadistic ancient Egyptian is discovered, a high priest steals it and sets out to revive it. For that, he is going to need the blood of virgins…

I’m going to point out immediately that I saw a dubbed, pan-and-scanned copy of this movie. I feel the need to point this out because I couldn’t help but notice that on IMDB, this is one of Naschy’s more highly rated horror movies, and given the fact I thought it was one of his weaker films, I find myself wondering if there is a superior subtitled version out there that might change my mind. The print that I saw was atrociously dubbed, to be sure; some of the acting in this regard is quite awful. The pace is also very lethargic at times. I also found the score to be pretty maddening; occasionally it was effective, but often it’s missing in scenes that really need some music, and it seems to come and go randomly in other scenes. However, I did find the plot to be relatively focused for a Paul Naschy film, and I do like a few touches here and there; in particular, I appreciate that it was perceptive enough to realize that not every woman in the street that you find for use in your arcane rituals is going to prove a virgin. Some of the attack scenes are also well done. One interesting touch this time is that Naschy does not play the hero here; he usually sets it up that he plays both the monster and the hero, but here, he’s the monster and a secondary villain. All in all, it makes for a very mixed bag.