Horror Rises From the Tomb (1973)

Mark of the Devil IV
El Espanto Surge de la Tumba

Cast:

Paul "I get paid by the different number of roles I play... " Naschy is Alaric de Marnac / Hugo de Marnac / Armand de Marnac
Emma "No matter, what the Oak Ridge Boys sing 'my heart is not on fire'..." Cohen is Elvira
Víctor Alcázar is Maurice Roland / Andre Roland
Helga Liné is Mabille De Lancré
Cristina Suriani is Paula

What the IMDB says bout the plot:

In Medieval France, a warlock is be-headed and his wife tortured and executed. Hundreds of years later an isolated group of people discover his head buried on their property...

Plot:

In 15^th Century France, the narrator extols how men and women were executed for the use of sorcery.

Red masked wrestlers had to find second jobs in rough economies.. A number of prisoners are being taken out for execution which includes a warlock: Alaric de Marnac, and his wife. He vows revenge against the executioners before he's decapitated.

1970s, Maurice, the descendant of one of the executioners, is an artist who's told by his friend, Hugo, about a psychic who is going to hold a séance to summon the spirit of Alaric, whose head was buried separately from his body the same way his wife was. Maurice doesn't go to the summoning like Hugo and his girlfriend Sylvia or Maurice's ex-girlfriend, Paula.

Holding hands without using hand sanitizer first... However, the old psychic faints before revealing the location.

Elsewhere, Maurice is painting inspired about a man with a severed head, Alaric...

Does that severed head look like John Belushi to anyone else?

Later, the group decide to search for Alaric's head on the grounds of Maurice's family's old chateau. Gaston, the family's butler, tries to warn them. They start digging around and find a treasure chest and decide to open in in the morning.

That night, a couple of workers open the chest and kill Gaston and one of the workers.

Severed heads like me usually do become nasty over the centuries... The Frank Zappa resembling guy carries the chest to burial ground of Alaric.

Hugo is noticieably wanting to leave this area to get to a city. The vilalgers don't trust them.

That night, the Zappa guy kills Chantal, one of Gaston's daughters. Later, Maurice becomes possessed, knocks out his girlfriend, and carries her to Alaric's head who wants revenge for the past few hundred centuries.

Hugo and Elvira, Gaston's other daughter, are left.

Maurice and the Zappa guy attachhis body to the head. He wants his wife to rejoin him. Maurice places Paula on the altar and sacrifices her. Alaric's wife's spirit enters Paula's body. The evil couple decide to start hunting down some of the villagers.

Elsewhere, Hugo and Elvira look for the weapon that is supposed to defeat Alaric and find the talisman: Thor's Hammer. Alaric cannot touch Elvira who's carrying the talisman.

Hugo is able to rescue Elvira who's being chased by zombies of the villagers including her father.

Back, back, you undead creatures!!! Sorry I'm not carrying my whip...

The next morning, Maurice walks back to the chalet. Hugo listens to the story that the villagers grabbed Paula. The 2 men load for bear to rescue her. However, in the woods on the way to the village, Maurice shoots Hugo. He goes back to the chalet after Elvira. However, in the struggle, he touches the talisman which frees him from Alaric's control.

Maurice and Elvira decide to continue with the plan to stop Alaric. Alaric chases after Elvira. However, Maurice is killed in the struggle. Wife goes after Elvira who stabs her with a silver needle. Alaric and her collapse for the death throws. Elvira drives the talisman on Alaric whose head and body separate and burst on fire... Elvira walks away and tosses the talisman into the lake.

What I say:

Horror Rises From the Tomb is Euro-Goth horror rather than the most of the early 1970s European horror is the English/Hammer movies. Italy was still mainly experimenting with the giallo before going full steam with the zombie movies of the late 1970s. However, Spain was starting to start to gain some fame with its big horror star: Paul Naschy. England has Christopher Lee may be known for vampires thanks to his number of roles as Dracula. Naschy is almost the Spanish equivalent to werewolves with his number of roles as Waldermar Daninsky including Fury of the Wolfman and Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women.

It's a little hard to realize that Naschy is playing the warlock, hero, and one of Hugo's ancestors. Well, none of the characters on the screen at the same time. No, warlock beside Hugo or any other combinations. With Naschy writing the story, he may have been the one to realize from having his different characters from interacting.

Quite a number of different versions are floating around. The Spanish version is 95 minutes and at least 2 different English versions: 88 and 80 minutes. Big surprise, the 50 movie pack has the 80 minute long version. Even with it being cut down to 80 minutes, it does tend to be an awful-dragging movie.

Can this be considered the horror equivalent of a kitchen sink horror movie? First, warlock and witch are executed who swear vengeance. Séance, Descendents of those that executed the sorcerers are drawn into the story. Said descendents head off to the country and run into vigilante villagers which are the best acquintances they find. A few suspicious murders don't get anyone to beat tracks away. However, after the warlock gets re-united with his severed head and possess half of the heroes. The remaining heroes find the lost talisman of Thor's Hammer which is the magical equivalent against warlocks like a crucifix is to vampires. Later in the movie, there come the zombies. It's a good thing that the humans find the plan to defeat warlock with the recently discovered talisman...

Severed heads aren't exactly happy and friendly body parts especially when they've been buried for hundreds of years craving revenge. A few years not even centuries in the case of the Madmen of Mandoras except the heroic Shrunken Heads. Heads and brains normally turn evil after being severed...After all, how many evil brains in jars wanted to rule the world?

Quotable Dialogue
"I've always wanted to go to a seeyance..."
"Now, we have someone to hang."
"Help me. Elvira..."
Morals of the Story
Decapitations work better if you'rehung upside down from a tree.
Villagers typically execute murderers in 1970s Europe.
Sea burials should be held on row-boats.
Talking severed heads are creepy.
Evil men need red-light backgrounds.
Living dead must walk slowly...