Matthew Corbeck (Charlton Heston) is an archeologist in Egypt looking for the tomb of an ancient Egyptian Queen called Kara. According to legend, Kara was an evil Queen who was married to her father. It is said that she killed him, along with thousands of others, and believed she would be reincarnated. Since the existence of the Queen is more legend than fact, Matthew is having a hard time finding the tomb. Accompanying him is his wife, Anne (Jill Townsend). Anne is pregnant but not due for two months. She is feeling depressed and a bit jealous of Matthew’s assistant, Jane Turner (Susannah York).
Matthew and Jane find what they think may be the tomb they are looking for. Matthew begins to uncover it. At the same time, back at camp, Anne doubles over experiencing excruciating pain. When Matthew returns to camp, he finds Anne unresponsive. She is rushed to a hospital where she becomes comatose. The baby appears to be fine. Since there is still two months to go before the baby is due to be born, and he can’t do anything for Anne, Matthew returns to camp. With Jane’s help, Matthew pries open the tomb and enters.
At the same time, Anne screams and goes into labor. She gives birth but the baby doesn’t appear to respond to life saving measures. The doctors give up and pronounce the baby dead. At the moment, Matthew opens the lid of the sarcophagus to see the mummy, Kara. In the hospital, the baby begins to breathe. Not long after that Anne takes the baby, that they named Margaret, and leaves Egypt for America.
Eighteen years later Matthew and Jane are now married. Matthew is a professor at a university in Britain when he is contacted by one of his associates concerning the condition of the mummy. Matthew returns to Egypt to try to convince the authorities that the mummy needs to be sent to England to be thoroughly checked and preserved. Margaret (Stephanie Zimbalist), now eighteen, the age of Kara when she died, has a compulsion to go to England to see her father. She becomes obsessed with the stories of Kara and her belief that she will one day be reincarnated. As Margaret’s demeanor and personality begins to change, Matthew starts to realize that Kara is trying to possess Margaret’s body.
“The Awakening” was released in 1980 and was directed by Mike Newell. It is a British and American supernatural horror film. The film was based on the 1903 novel “The Jewel of Seven Stars” by Bram Stoker.
The movie has a really good cast and some wonderful authentic Egyptian locations. It also has great cinematography as well as a nice music score. On the other hand, it drags quite a bit which resulted in the film flopping at the box office. It’s a shame since, although it’s not great, it didn’t deserve to fade into obscurity. It’s worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of Egyptian mummy style films.
The movie feels like a combination between a Hammer Film and a made for television effort. That doesn’t sound all that great, but it actually kind of works. There’s no actual wrapped mummy shuffling around, but it still has all the accoutrements of the mummy genre, plus I kind of liked the ending.