This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB is another superior slice of Spanish Gothic horror from director Paul Naschy, here teaming up with director Carlos Aured, his second-best director behind Leon Klimovsky. It's another lurid tale, one about a 15th century warlock and his wife who are captured by the authorities and executed on the spot. The narrative then shifts to the modern day, where the warlock's head is dug up and a string of grisly murders unfold.Everything to be known and loved about Spanish horror is present in this film. It's chock full of practical gore effects which have hardly aged since the release, and also packed with nudity from the various starlets, not least Helga Line, one of Spain's finest scream queens (for more of her work check out the excellent HORROR EXPRESS). Best of all it has a great and spooky atmosphere to see it through. Naschy once again shines in a dual role, and his villain in this one really stands out as a horrific fellow. It's simplistic stuff for sure, but when the elements of film-making are this effective it doesn't matter at all.

Horrible sound effects accompany this miserable and bloody gore-fest that starts off interesting enough but resorts to extremely disgusting visuals to move the story forward. Starting off in the 15th century, the back plot has a warlock and his wife being executed for their crimes against God, and five centuries later they are back thanks to the discovery of the warlock's head that forces modern day people into zombies and to turn to dismembering others for their hearts which ultimately brings back the original warlock to life. Bizarre modern subplots including the presence of a cult of demons hanging people in the middle of the road don't seem to be related and seem present more for shock value than of any use to the plot. Excessively bloody and deeply disturbing, this is almost unbearable to watch. I say that not as someone who is against anything satanic in nature in movies, but through the way that this is presented. I had a headache half an hour into the film because of the annoyingly awful sound, and after the 4th or 5th gory murder which follows with people literally having their hearts cut out with a machete then others set on fire, I just was plainly annoyed. This is just impossible to watch. I have seen many of these late 1960s and early 1970s Eurotrash horror films that combine sex and degradation with a satanic plot, and a few of them are mildly enjoyable. Of course, the gratuitous sex scene ends up being pointless, more sadomasochistic than arousing. This one other than some interesting art direction and of course the historical setting up left me wanting it to end long before it did.

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!

Paul Naschy made a great number of horror films. In terms of quality, they tend to range from fairly good to unwatchable trash; and unfortunately, Horror Rises from the Tomb is closer to the latter. The plot is just your average story of a witch, wizard or (as is the case here) warlock, who is put to death - but not before swearing vengeance on those who did it...etc etc. We then get a séance and one thing leads to another, and pretty soon the executed warlock is up to no good again. The plot is slow, painfully boring and the film constantly feels pointless. The characters string out reams of diatribe and it never serves the film in any way whatsoever. Paul Naschy wrote the script, and if you ask me he should stick to acting because the dialogue is trite in the extreme, and only serves to make the film even more boring than it already is. Carlos Aured, who also directed Naschy in Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll and Curse of the Devil provides dull direction here, which likes the dialogue does nothing to help the film. Sometimes crap films like this have a certain charm about them; but Horror Rises from the Tomb doesn't even have that. This is a painfully boring film that has little or nothing in the way of interest.