While certainly one of Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy's more robust efforts, HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB is ultimately undone by a fatally under whelming plotline and a serious lack of forward momentum. Further crippled by its insistence to patch up the holes in the plot by employing virtually every Euro horror trapping (witchcraft, zombies, decapitations, heart ripping, ambient lighting, eroticism,), the result is a rather hollow, unmotivated and essentially frustrating film.

Not aided by its woefully clichéd plot, HORROR tries its best to overcome its humble roots. A medieval practitioner of witchcraft (Paul Naschy) and his wife (Helga Line) are condemned by the Spanish populace and are executed. Naschy swears that he will reap vengeance on his captors by returning from the grave. Naschy is then decapitated and his head separated from his body in an effort by the frightened populace to ensure his eternal death. But the townspeople's efforts prove fruitless as centuries later a group of modern civilians unwillingly awaken Naschy's vengeful spirit. Their curiosity piqued by the sudden apparition of Naschy's ghost at a séance, the group of friends and acquaintances decide to conquer their fears and curiosities by investigating the site where the warlocks were fabled to be buried.

After a rather plodding and flat first half-hour, HORROR begins to come into its own, but still not able to overcome its restrictive and utterly predictable premise. What essentially constructs the bulk of the film is a series of sloppily connected horror set pieces, some faring better than others. The scenes that work best are undoubtedly the ones in the cavernous, musty tomb where Naschy and Line's long-dead spirits are put in motion and their devious modus operandi are dispatched in graphic and occasionally startling fashion. Scenes of grisly gore are executed in gloriously garish ambient lighting and the effect is quite startling (not unlike the nighttime scenes of the Templars riding through the midnight air in their ancient castles in De Ossorio's TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD). In fact, many of the underground tomb scenes strongly recall similarly sensual scenes in Jean Rollin's SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES. And nobody can give a startling stare into the camera like Naschy can.

But other than Naschy looking suitably devilish for the lens, the film gives him little to do. Again, the film's unfortunately bare premise restricts Naschy's performance. This is a shame, as he has proved himself more than able to contribute some of the best leading roles in Spanish horror (see HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE and his recurring werewolf persona). Naschy ultimately is left to lurch around in a embarrassingly tacky cape and hunt down various members of the cast and then disappear in a shamelessly stagy plume of dry ice smoke. And the scenes portraying Naschy's severed head kept in an ancient chest are painfully unconvincing and seem more an embarrassing sight gag more appropriate for a horror parody.

Similarly Naschy's satanic beau is also unfortunately relegated to nearly somnambulistic romps with little impact or importance. While Line does thankfully contribute an eroticism that saves the film from being a one note satanic bloodbath, the abundant nudity often seems unnecessary and more of a "feature"

than a worthy component to the goings on in the film. And the frequent nudity from the rest of the female cast seems no more than a diversion from a shamefully borderline plot that does not bear well under close scrutiny.

Perhaps the ultimate failure of HORROR is that it simply tries too hard with too little material. The attitude adopted in the film of "more is better" simply appears gratingly incongruous, unnecessary, and ultimately numbing and ineffectual. And that's a shame because with a greater foundation HORROR's ample set pieces of horror and gore could have better reflected the intelligence and intensity of Naschy's best work.