Mummy Story

 

 (imdb)

THE AWAKENING-1980-In Egypt, obsessed archaeologist Matthew Corbeck (Charlton Heston) and his dedicated assistant Janey (Susannah York) find the tomb of a nameless Queen. When he opens the tomb, his pregnant wife (Jill Townsend) goes comatose. He takes her to the hospital and returns to the dig. While he and Janey explore the vast tomb, his wife gives birth but the baby dies. When he opens up the Queen's sarcophagus, the baby comes back to life. When he tries illegally to take the sarcophagus, the official who tries to stop him is killed. Later his wife takes their daughter and leaves.

In the present, he's now married to Janey and a professor at a college with his daughter Margaret (Stephanie Zimbalist) now 18 years old. He returns to Cairo to check out the mummy queen's decaying problem. Later, he's in England with the mummy and sends his daughter an ankh shaped mirror. She decides to visit him. They have a happy reunion but over dinner Dad tells Margaret all about the evil Queen Kara and her quest to be reincarnated in the real world. While his assistant Paul (Patrick Drury) dates Meg, Corbeck and Janey examine the mummy and discover a virus is causing decay. Paul wants to send the mummy back to Cairo but the professor says no but later relents. It's obvious something weird is going on. Margaret seems possessed by the evil queen and the professor wants to perform a ritual that will bring Kara back to life using urns containing the queen's organs! After Janey is killed trying to destroy the urns, Margaret freaks out a lot. When a doctor tries to help her, she beats him to death. The professor decides to perform the ritual (he thinks it will save Margaret's life) but realizes too late he was tricked by Kara who does possess Margaret and kills him. 

This is a crazy confusing US-British horror film with Heston chewing the scenery in several scenes. Director Mike Newell (HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (2005)) provides some eerie spots but Warner Brothers didn't like his director's cut and hired Monte Hellman to recut it. Based on “The Jewel of The Seven Stars” by Bram Stoker. Hammer's BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1971) is based on the same story.

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