Original title: El secreto de la momia egipcia
The 19th Century, or thereabout. One member of that breed of noblemen who also tend to be mad scientists acquires the ancient remains of an Egyptian prince. Despite the promise of the title, it’s not actually a mummy, for the guy was purposefully preserved to be revived in the world of the living, not that of the dead. And wouldn’t you know it, our nobleman/scientist believes that modern science, particularly the works of Mesmer (science, I tell you, science!) and Galvani, combined with the papyrus how to guide on reanimation of the dead helpfully included with the dead man, will find a way to bring this particular dead body back to life.
He’s right, too. Alas, even revived, the Egyptian gentleman is in dire need of fresh blood, preferably coming from nubile young women. To help in the acquisition, not-Mummy Guy puts the mind-whammy on our scientist’s servant and imprisons his reanimator. From then on out, the film devolves into a long, long series of sequences in which either the servant or the not-Mummy chase young women around the castle or a bit of country-side with a very dramatic coast line, whip them, and do some blood-drinking.
And if I say “long”, I mean that at least eighty percent of Alejandro Martí’s film consist of these scenes, eschewing the goofy and potentially creepy promise of early proceedings for what amounts to nothing of any interest whatsoever. To make matters even more boring, the yellowed-out, wobbly, though fan-subbed, VHS version of the film that seems to be the only way to see it is obviously a Spanish censor-friendly cut, so that there’s not just a lack of entertainment value but also one of exploitational value. Indeed, this version – it simply can’t have been the only one - is so squeamish, people are even whipped while being fully clothed, something that could be an interesting quirk in a movie not this pointlessly, endlessly lacking in any points of interest.
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