In 1454, in France, a warlock named Alaric de Marnac (Paul Naschy) and his lover, a witch called Mabille de Lancre (Helga Line) are put to death. Before they are killed the couple curses the descendants of their accusers. Their bodies are entombed. Marnac’s head is put in a small chest and buried near an abbey. The men accusing the couple are Marnac’s brother Armand de Marnac (Paul Naschy) and Andre Roland (Vic Winner).
In Paris, in the 1970’s the last descendants of the witch killers are Hugo de Marnac (Paul Naschy) and Maurice Roland (Vic Winner). They are aware of the curse and the legend of Alaric. Hugo knows that the legend says that Alaric’s head is buried somewhere on his ancestor’s property. He is talked into going to a séance by his girlfriend Silvie (Betsabe Ruiz) and Maurice’s girlfriend, Paula (Cristina Suriani). At the séance the medium, Madame Irina Komarova (Elsa Zabala) relays from Alaric where his head is located on the Marnac estate, Villas de Sade.
The girls believe that the medium is real, but Hugo maintains that she is a fake. To prove his point, they all decide to go to the family estate and look for the head of Alaric. On the way, two crooks from the local village try to carjack them. The car gets damaged, and the crooks are caught and killed by other villagers. The Marnac estate is in the care of Gason (Juan Cazalilla) and his two daughters, Elvire (Emma Cohen) and Chantal (Maria Jose Cantudo). Gaston tells Hugo that there is a rumor that buried on the estate is a treasure. They hire a couple of the villagers to help dig. They find a chest but are unable to unlock it. Hugo decides to try to open it the next day.
During the night, two of the villagers break into the house and steal the chest, expecting to find treasure. When they open it, the head of Alaric begins to take over the minds of those he needs to help him put his head and body together. The ones he doesn’t need are slaughtered and eaten. Alaric then uses the body of Chantal to bring to life Mabille. With Mabille by his side Alaric seeks revenge on the last two living relatives of the men that condemned him centuries ago.
“Horror Rises from the Tomb” AKA “El espanto surge de la tumba” AKA “Horror From the Tomb” AKA “Mark of the Devil 4” was released in 1973 and was directed by Carlos Aured. It is a Spanish horror film and is affectionately referred to as part of the Euro-trash subgenre.
The original film is about nine or ten minutes longer. The missing footage is mostly nude scenes but there is some gore as well. The uncut version was most likely for the European market. The cut version is probably for the U.S. market and television syndication. It is a little choppy so, if you want to get the real feel for the movie your best bet is to seek out the uncut version. I’ve seen it on Internet Archives but in Spanish only. It’s exploitive yes, but otherwise the film looks a little campy and disjointed.
Paul Naschy plays three roles in the movie, Alaric de Marnac, Hugo de Marnac, and Armand de Marnac. Vic Winner AKA Victor Barrera AKA Victor Alcazar has a dual role as Maurice Roland and Andre Roland.
The basic plot of the film is reminiscent of the American low budget film “The Thing That Couldn’t Die” 1958.