Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb 4K (1971)

One of Hammer’s more ambitious films that, like its contemporaries DEMONS OF THE MIND and HANDS OF THE RIPPER (both 1971), tried to do something a little different with what were by then well-worn themes, is getting a dual format 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Studio Canal.

Valerie Leon is Margaret, daughter to Andrew Keir's Professor Fuchs, an egyptologist of distinctly dodgy inclination, who seems to have half a rebuilt tomb in the basement of his ordinary-looking suburban house, a whole load of Egyptian artefacts, and a number of colleagues who want nothing more to do with him after some escapade abroad many years ago, which culminated in their breaking into the tomb of Queen Tera (Leon again). Tera, by all accounts, was a pretty naughty piece of work (well, she was definitely pretty, and sadly we don't get to find out how naughty she was capable of being). What's far more worrying is that the professor seems to have some poorly researched and badly thought out plan that involves the life of his daughter and the supplanting of her existence by said evil queen on the occasion of her next birthday. 

Good old Hammer. Only at the height of their powers could they take a minor Bram Stoker novel, fill it with slashed throats, a crawling severed hand and a sexy leading lady, and just by accident produce an original and satisfying spin on the mummy theme that still works fifty five years on.

With a title that means nothing other than that James Carreras had learned to copy Tony Tenser's approach to titling films by reaching into a box of cards labelled with 'horror' words until the right combination came up, a director who died before filming finished, a star who left once filming had started, and a script by a writer who was both banned from the set and notorious for screenplays that were a bit difficult to make any sense of sometimes, it's a wonder that BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB is any good at all. What's more surprising than that is that it's actually well worth watching, and is easily the best (along with the 1959 THE MUMMY) of the films Hammer made that had a connection to ancient Egypt. It's rare that the fourth movie in any horror film cycle has anything to commend it, but following in the wake of CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB and THE MUMMY'S SHROUD this is surprisingly original, well directed, and being shot in what looks like the depths of winter only serves to heighten the creepy atmosphere that pervades the movie right up to that classic final shot.

The acting is fine throughout, with the usual collection of British character actors and eccentrics (Aubrey Morris take a bow you loveable weirdo, you) and Valerie Leon, having been used as decorative set dressing in a number of Carry Ons, getting the role that she was born to play. Hammer didn't always get their casting right but she is uncannily perfect for the roles of both Tera and Margaret. 

And uncanny is the work that best sums up BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB. This is Hammer unwittingly doing cosmic horror. Immense forces we cannot comprehend are being manoeuvred into position from an ordinary suburban house by people who have no real idea what they are setting in motion. It’s a setting and story worthy not just of Lovecraft but of more modern horror writers like Ramsey Campbell and, had Hammer lasted more than a few more years, represents a fascinating and potentially brilliant direction the company could have taken.

Studio Canal’s dual format set, like its other 4K Hammer releases, gives us some new material as well as consolidating archival extras from other releases. New to this disc is an interview with star Valerie Leon (9 minutes) and a talking head piece from Kim Newman (19 minutes). Archival extras consist of a Steve Haberman commentary, the making of featurette from Studio Canal’s previous Blu-ray release (18 minutes), and interviews with Leon & Wicking (10 minutes), sound recordist Tony Dawe (6 minutes) and camera operator Neil Binney (5 minutes). As well as behind the scenes and lobby card galleries and trailers you also get a 64 page book featuring new essays (including one by David Huckvale) and two posters.

BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB is out on 4K in a dual format UHD / Blu-ray release from Studio Canal on Monday 6th April 2026