Thursday, August 14, 2008

Crypt of the Living Dead (1973)




When Professor Bolton [Mariano Garcia], an archeologist doing research on Vampire Island (somewhere between Africa and India), is killed, his son Chris [Andrew Prine] comes to the island to bury his father, something not easily done since the professor's body is pinned under several tons of tomb. The tomb belongs to Hannah, fiance of King Louis VII. Legend has it that Hannah became a vampire and that Louis sealed her alive in the tomb such that, should the tomb ever be opened before the return of Christ, Hannah would rise again. Chris is met at the dock by Peter [Mark Damon], a grad student doing research on the Crusades, which is also what brought Louis and Hannah to Vampire Island in the first place. Peter, along with his sister Mary [Patty Sheppard], has been living on the island, and Peter seems to be the only inhabitant not fettered by the vampire superstition. However, Peter is actually the one responsible for the professor's death, arranged as a ploy to get Chris Bolton to the island so that the heavy tomb could be moved and Hannah released.

Together, Chris and Peter rig up a hoist to lift the tomb off the body of the professor. In doing so, the first thing they lift is the lid, which reveals Hannah's body, as fresh and beautiful as if she were alive. Probably a vaccuum, explains Peter, or a lost embalming technique. With the heavy lid moved, they halt lifting the rest of the tomb until the next morning. That night, Hannah [Teresa Gimpera] leaves the tomb in the form of a shewolf and preys on the dog of Abdul Hamid [Frank Branya], an old blind sailor. Abdul warns that Hannah's tomb must be resealed before she grows too powerful and begins to prey on humans. In the meantime, Abdul suggests surrounding the tomb with a wreath of garlic and dogbane to keep Hannah from leaving. The next day, Abdul and Adnan [Jack La Rue Jr], a young boy from the village, prepare a stake, which Abdul intends to drive through Hannah's heart. Before he can do the deed, however, Abdul and Adnan are both murdered by the Wild Man [Ihsan Gedik]. At the same time, Chris finds that the rope holding the lid off the tomb has been cut, resealing the tomb with only Hannah's head in view, effectively making it impossible to drive a stake through her heart.

With the deaths of Abdul and Adnan, the villagers refuse to help Chris anymore, so Chris goes back to the tomb alone. Hannah works on his mind until Chris ends up removing the garlic and dogbane. Hannah is now free to leave her tomb. When Chris regains his senses and sees that Hannah is gone, he rounds up the villagers to find her. While they search, Mary goes looking for Chris but instead finds her brother chanting Latin over Hannah's empty tomb. Chris, looking for Mary, also stumbles upon Peter's invocations for immortality. They fight, and Chris runs off with Mary just as Hannah arrives and drinks Peter's blood. The villagers catch up with Peter and Hannah just in time to drive a stake through Peter, but Hannah turns to mist and disappears. She shows up in the graveyard where Chris is taunting her to come and get him. She subdues Chris, and just as she is about to take his blood, Mary tosses the wreath of garlic and dogbane onto Hannah's back, causing her to turn into the shewolf and run away. Chris pursues, but Hannah finds him first. To protect himself, Chris tosses his lantern at her. Hannah catches fire, falls off the cliff, and Chris and the villagers finish her off. The next day they seal the tomb, and Chris and Mary leave the island together.

Epilogue: Young Arda calls on little Zora to come out and play, but Zora doesn't want to come out in the sun, so Arda goes inside.



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