Director: Seth Holt
Screenplay: Christopher Wicking
Based on the novel: The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker
Starring: Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, James Villiers, Hugh Burden, George Coulouris, Aubrey Morris, Rosalie Crutchley, Joan Young, David Markham, James Cossins, David Jackson, Jonathan Burn, Mark Edwards
Country: UK
Running Time: 94 min
Year: 1971
BBFC Certificate: 15
By the 1970s the famed Hammer Films studio was moving into a new era. The gothic horrors the studio had become famed for would still be made but they would be accompanied by movies with contemporary settings – the studio famously taking Count Dracula into Seventies London, for example. The blood and nudity quota would also be ramped up.
Dracula was, of course, taken from the pages of a novel of the same name by celebrated author Bram Stoker, with the character appearing in some of the most successful and enduring films that the studio released and Hammer icon Christopher Lee brilliantly portraying the character in seven of the nine films in the series.
Hammer would also turn to the author for Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, the fourth and final instalment in their series of mummy films that had begun in 1959 with The Mummy. The film was written by Christopher Wicking and loosely adapted from Bram Stoker’s novel The Jewel of Seven Stars, published in 1903.
The film opens with Margaret (Valerie Leon) having a vivid recurring nightmare about a woman in Ancient Egypt, also played by Leon, and whom we shall discover is the evil Queen Tera, being incarcerated in a sarcophagus. The priests who entomb her are all killed violently, a severed hand seen moving by itself in the vicinity.
Margaret’s father Professor Fuchs (Andrew Keir) gives his daughter the old Queen’s ring and tells her to always wear it. The ring has the seven stars of the source material’s title glowing in it. After Margaret wears the ring, people – whom we discover are ex-colleagues of the professor who accompanied him on an expedition to Egypt – become terrified of Margaret. They’re then mysteriously and bloodily killed, one by one, for having desecrated the tomb and plundering it of the Queen’s artefacts.
We learn that the professor is obsessed with Queen Tera and has recreated her tomb at his home, having been at the actual tomb during the aforementioned excavation in Egypt where he recited the Queen’s name at the exact moment his daughter was born. There’s a reason why Margaret and the Queen look alike.
Meanwhile, the professor’s ex-expedition colleague and now rival Corbeck (James Villiers) discovers Margaret’s uncanny resemblance to the Queen whom he wants to resurrect. He enlists Margaret to help him by finding missing relics of the Queen’s that will bring her back to life, with the Queen’s spirit gradually taking a hold of her modern-day doppelganger as the story progresses.
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb was one of the first Hammer films I ever saw and, as a result, holds a special place in my heart. It’s a richly atmospheric, well-acted and very different Hammer horror mystery to the studio’s other mummy films. There’s no bandage-covered people or lumbering mummies here, just an obsession with resurrecting an ancient Egyptian queen, and the death and destruction that comes with it.
The historic nightmare sequences in particular are suitably evocative; all windswept deserts and tombs where grisly deaths occur, and all beautifully realised by the production design of Roy Skeggs and his team. The modern-day setting is very late 1960s/ early 1970s in its production design and clothing, this being one of the first of the Hammer horrors (not counting the studio’s 1960s psychological thrillers) to have a contemporary setting.
There are some creepy sequences in the modern day including several in the mental hospital where patients are targeted; one in particular involving one of the relics, a snake, that comes to life to kill one of the patients in his padded room is pretty terrifying and ends in a very bloody way.
There are also two unsettling sequences involving Margaret’s boyfriend Tod (Mark Edwards); one where he investigates strange noises that get increasingly unsettling in the fog-swept backstreets of London, and the other a horrific car crash.
The sporadic deaths are very bloody and the tension ratchets up until an incredibly memorable finale, and a wonderfully ambiguous final shot that I shall not spoil for those who haven’t seen the film.
The movie is well acted throughout by those who bring the characters to life, but first a note on one Hammer stalwart who sadly didn’t appear. Peter Cushing was due to play the role of Professor Fuchs but left the production after a day’s filming as his wife became seriously ill. Andrew Keir would take on the role and gives a very good performance.
Valerie Leon’s dual role was, surprisingly, her only appearance in a Hammer film. She gives good gusto and portrays both warmer and darker characters well, becoming more sinister as the growing number of relics she gathers cause her to have a thirst for murder, the Queen taking over. She was dubbed, has a nudity double and a running double, yet despite this, it’s a very strong and commanding performance by Leon.
It’s surprising that she would never again work with Hammer. She would feature in two other classic British film series, though (and the trifecta of British classic series with the Hammer films), appearing in six of the Carry Ons and two James Bond movies (the official The Spy Who Loved Me with Roger Moore and unofficial Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery).
It’s always a pleasure to see James Villiers and he’s great as Corbeck throughout, driving the plot forward with his efforts to bring the Queen back to life. And that core trio – alongside Mark Edwards in his best-known role as Margaret’s boyfriend – are ably supported by some wonderful character actors including Hugh Burden, George Coulouris, Aubrey Morris, Rosalie Crutchley, David Markham, James Cossins and David Jackson.
The score by composer Tristram Cary is strong and the film is beautifully lensed by regular Hammer cinematographer Arthur Grant.
Director Seth Holt had directed for Hammer before – 1961’s Taste of Fear (AKA Scream of Fear) and 1965’s The Nanny. He sadly passed away of a heart attack during the filming for Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, towards the end of the shoot. Producer Michael Carreras completed the final days of filming, uncredited.
The film was released as a B-picture supporting the wonderful Hammer movie Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, which I hope we’ll get the 4K treatment from StudioCanal soon.
In closing, Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb is an atmospheric, evocative and well-acted contemporary horror that takes its time to reveal its mystery. It’s full of some genuinely creepy and grisly moments and an excellent final shot, and is among my personal favourites of the Hammer studio’s output.
Film: 
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb is released on limited edition dual-format 4K UHD and Blu-ray by StudioCanal on 6th April 2026. I watched the 4K disc and the new restoration is quite simply brilliant. The film looks astonishingly good with a beautiful yet natural colour scheme, and rich fine detail, allowing the excellent production design to look better than ever. The film sounds great too, the music and sound effects shining through, with very clear dialogue.
Special Features:
Brand new 4K restoration
New artwork by Johnny Dombrowski
64-page booklet with new essays and original press kit
Two posters, one of new artwork, one of original theatrical artwork
On-disc extras:
New Valerie Leon inside the Mummy’s Tomb
New That’s A Wrap: Kim Newman explores Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb
Audio commentary with author/ film historian Steve Haberman
The Pharaoh’s Curse: Inside Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb
Interview with Valerie Leon and Christopher Wicking
Interview with sound recordist Tony Dawe
Interview with camera operator Neil Binney
TV/ radio spots
B&W lobby cards gallery
Colour lobby cards gallery
Behind the scenes stills gallery
Trailer
The extras kick off with an archival audio commentary by author and film historian Steve Haberman. He looks at the title of the film and how it differed from the novel, how it was a cursed production – my review just scratches the surface of some of the tragedies or incidents that affected the production – and plenty more. There’s loads to glean from the commentary, which is well researched and entertainingly delivered.
Next are the two new extras for this release. First, there is a new interview with star Valerie Leon which runs for nine minutes, with the actress sharing plenty in the brief runtime. She talks about getting into film and her role on Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, the one day shoot with Peter Cushing, working with Andrew Keir, James Villiers and Seth Holt and much more beside.
Kim Newman gives a typically excellent interview over 19 minutes in the other new feature. He runs through Hammer’s mummy films that had led up to Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb. Newman also looks at Hammer’s efforts to make female led horror films – there were plenty of great examples – which led up to the Valerie Leon-led movie. He also shares background on Seth Holt and the making of the film as well how the source material novel, Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars, was the author’s novel which has been most frequently adapted for screen after Dracula. This is my favourite extra on the disc.
The Pharaoh’s Curse: Inside Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb is a great 18-minute archival featurette featuring experts Jonathan Rigby, John J Jones, Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons and Valerie Leon, who collectively give a good overview of the film from the novel to production to release. Great stuff.
The archival interview with star Valerie Leon and screenwriter Christopher Wicking is 10 minutes long and features some fun anecdotes from the pair, who were interviewed separately for the featurette. There’s inevitable crossover on some of the reflections by this point but this still provides some fresh insight.
Also included is a six-minute interview with sound recordist Tony Dawe who shares some brief memories of working with director Holt and the director’s death, carrying on the production with a different director, the change of male lead from Peter Cushing to Andrew Keir, and experimenting with sound design. A very good interview despite the short running time.
Camera operator Neil Binney is also interviewed for five minutes and clearly had a lot of fun making the movie. He shares thoughts on Valerie Leon, director Holt, uncredited director Michael Carreras and director of photography Arthur Grant.
Two TV spots totalling just over one minute, opening with a double bill trailer for Night of the Blood Monster and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb and concluding with a TV spot for the latter.
Two radio spots are featured, both for the double bill of Night of the Blood Monster and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb.
The black and white lobby cards gallery plays for a minute with around 10 images and opening with a poster, the colour lobby cards gallery also opens with a poster, runs for just under a minute and features a similar number of images, and the behind the scenes gallery features just over 10 images over just over a minute and is bookended by two different posters for the film.
A trailer running for around two-and-a-half minutes concludes the on-disc extras.
I wasn’t provided with the physical extras, so am unable to comment on these.
So, StudioCanal have provided an excellent package for the 4K UHD debut of Hammer’s Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, with a marvellous restoration, two strong new extras and a wealth of informative and fun archival material. Highly recommended for fans of the film and Hammer Horror.
Disc/ package: