La tumba de la isla maldita

Plot synopsis:
When Professor Bolton [Mariano Garcia], an archeologist doing research on Vampire Island (somewhere between Africa and India), is killed, his son Chris [Andrew Prine] comes to the island to bury his father, something not easily done since the professor's body is pinned under several tons of tomb. The tomb belongs to Hannah, fiance of King Louis VII. Legend has it that Hannah became a vampire and that Louis sealed her alive in the tomb such that, should the tomb ever be opened before the return of Christ, Hannah would rise again. Chris is met at the dock by Peter [Mark Damon], a grad student doing research on the Crusades, which is also what brought Louis and Hannah to Vampire Island in the first place. Peter, along with his sister Mary [Patty Sheppard], has been living on the island, and Peter seems to be the only inhabitant not fettered by the vampire superstition. However, Peter is actually the one responsible for the professor's death, arranged as a ploy to get Chris Bolton to the island so that the heavy tomb could be moved and Hannah released.Together, Chris and Peter rig up a hoist to lift the tomb off the body of the professor. In doing so, the first thing they lift is the lid, which reveals Hannah's body, as fresh and beautiful as if she were alive. Probably a vaccuum, explains Peter, or a lost embalming technique. With the heavy lid moved, they halt lifting the rest of the tomb until the next morning. That night, Hannah [Teresa Gimpera] leaves the tomb in the form of a shewolf and preys on the dog of Abdul Hamid [Frank Branya], an old blind sailor. Abdul warns that Hannah's tomb must be resealed before she grows too powerful and begins to prey on humans. In the meantime, Abdul suggests surrounding the tomb with a wreath of garlic and dogbane to keep Hannah from leaving. The next day, Abdul and Adnan [Jack La Rue Jr], a young boy from the village, prepare a stake, which Abdul intends to drive through Hannah's heart. Before he can do the deed, however, Abdul and Adnan are both murdered by the Wild Man [Ihsan Gedik]. At the same time, Chris finds that the rope holding the lid off the tomb has been cut, resealing the tomb with only Hannah's head in view, effectively making it impossible to drive a stake through her heart.With the deaths of Abdul and Adnan, the villagers refuse to help Chris anymore, so Chris goes back to the tomb alone. Hannah works on his mind until Chris ends up removing the garlic and dogbane. Hannah is now free to leave her tomb. When Chris regains his senses and sees that Hannah is gone, he rounds up the villagers to find her. While they search, Mary goes looking for Chris but instead finds her brother chanting Latin over Hannah's empty tomb. Chris, looking for Mary, also stumbles upon Peter's invocations for immortality. They fight, and Chris runs off with Mary just as Hannah arrives and drinks Peter's blood. The villagers catch up with Peter and Hannah just in time to drive a stake through Peter, but Hannah turns to mist and disappears. She shows up in the graveyard where Chris is taunting her to come and get him. She subdues Chris, and just as she is about to take his blood, Mary tosses the wreath of garlic and dogbane onto Hannah's back, causing her to turn into the shewolf and run away. Chris pursues, but Hannah finds him first. To protect himself, Chris tosses his lantern at her. Hannah catches fire, falls off the cliff, and Chris and the villagers finish her off. The next day they seal the tomb, and Chris and Mary leave the island together.Epilogue: Young Arda calls on little Zora to come out and play, but Zora doesn't want to come out in the sun, so Arda goes inside. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

Tags: violence

Review:
DVD title: Young Hannah, Queen of the Vampires.
An archaeologist (Andrew Prine) visits Vampire Island to bury his father, who has died under mysterious circumstances.
He ignores the warnings of a schoolteacher (Patty Shepard) and, prodded by an historical novelist (Mark Damon), he opens the tomb of the 13th-Century vampire Queen Hannah (Teresa Gimpera).
Despite a tedious midsection and poor dubbing of minor roles, the film has a mildly distinctive flavor, like a failed Euro-Trash Count Yorga, Vampire (1970).Of the cast, Gimpera played the Crying Mother opposite Christopher Lee in Jesus Franco's El Conde Dracula/Count Dracula (1970), and Shepard (Spanish cinema's answer to horror star Barbara Steele) was Paul Naschy's co-star in the cult classic La Noche de Walpurgis/The Werewolf vs.
(Today a Hollywood producer, Damon faces a different kind of vampire.)Originally titled La Tumba de la Isla Maldita, the completed film (directed by Julio Salvador) was reworked for American release with new scenes shot by former actor Ray Danton, whose horror films as director include Deathmaster (1972) and Psychic Killer (1975).It is more interesting to learn about such films than to dismiss them out of hand..
Spanish/US vampire movie about a gorgeous bloodsucker threatens to the island villagers.
Creepy as well as colorful terror movie with chills , thrills , scary events and being decently filmed .
When Professor Bolton , an archaeologist doing research on Vampire Island , is murdered , his son Chris (Andrew Prine) comes to the island to bury his dad , something not easily done since the professor's body is pinned under several tons of tomb .
There Chris is received by Peter (Mark Damon) a student doing research on the Crusades , and his sister Mary (Patty Sheppard) who is a teacher of the Island kiddies .
As Chris , Peter and villagers dig come across a vampire burial ground and discover that a strange creature (Teresa Gimpera) are about to awaken and attack a nearby village with its inhabitants (Frank Braña , among others) .
Director Julio Salvador brings this ghastly and stylish story plagued with eerie intrigue , and depraved gore murders executed by a vampire who becomes a wolf .
It is a straight horror film that features a supernatural intrigue , a Vampirism story plenty of mythology and historical events about Crusades .
In fact , the tomb of the title belongs to Hannah, fiancé of King Louis VII , legend tells that , 700 years ago , Luis VII King of France goes out to conquest orient lands for Christendom but along the way happens a shipwrecked , they wash up at a weird island where his sweetheart Hannah became a vampire and that Louis sealed her alive in the tomb such that, should the tomb ever be opened before the return of Christ, Hannah would rise again .
This eerie picture was professional and stylistically directed by Julio Salvador though in the American version there are some new frames filmed by Ray Danton .
Julio Salvador was a good professional who directed some nice films such as ¨Contraband in Spain¨ with Richard Greene and Anouk Aimee and in 1968 directed Ray Danton , co-filmmaker in this film , at the movie titled ¨Hello Glen Ward¨ .
Quite ridiculous yet somewhat engaging story about a young archaeologist, played with one dimension by Andrew Prine, coming to Vampire Island to see/investigate the death of his father.
The film doesn't have much of a budget but the bleak desolation of the island is convincing, the vampire queen is impressive(and beautiful), and some of the shots are very atmospheric.
Prine is bland and Spanish horror queen Patty Shepard displays some histrionics.
"She is smart...700 years smart" and other quotes about Hannah sticking her fangs into necks and the power of superstitions cascade from his lips in an almost monosyllabic manner which only accentuates his strange looks as he might be a cross between Bela Lugosi's Ygor in Son of Frankenstein and Carmen Ghia from The Producers(okay, I know it's an obscure reference).
While Crypt of the Living Dead is indeed a bad film, it is a very watchable one once things get going..
Crypt of the Living Dead was filmed in colour, but my copy—part of a dirt-cheap Mill Creek box-set of vampire movies—was presented in black and white (despite the packaging stating otherwise); amazingly, the lack of colour might actually work in the film's favour, lending a touch of much needed Gothic atmosphere to an otherwise rather tedious tale of vampirism in a remote island community.The film sees archaeologist Chris Bolton (Andrew Prine) visiting the island to claim the body of his father, who was crushed to death under a stone sarcophagus while investigating an ancient burial site; when Chris attempts to lift the marble tomb, he accidentally releases 700-year-old vampire Hannah (Barbara Steele lookalike Teresa Gimpera) who begins to feed on the locals, aided in her task by a wild-man in a furry waistcoat and a member of the village who seeks immortality.Slow moving and devoid of action for much of the time, the film will definitely prove hard going for many, but director Julio Salvador achieves just about enough effectively haunting moments to make it a worthwhile watch for vampire movie completists: the local fishermen's hostility towards Chris's arrival on the island immediately provokes an unsettling 'Wicker Man' vibe; Hannah's ability to turn into a cloud of mist or a wolf makes her all the more menacing; and the finalé manages to pick up the pace a tad (albeit a little late, perhaps) providing a few reasonable chills in the process.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb..
Atmospheric, eerie little Spanish thriller starring Andrew Prine as a man who travels to a remote island off Turkey after his archaeologist father dies in an apparent accident after discovering an ancient tomb.
Writer (Damon) and his sister (Shepard) who have also recently inhabited the island try to facilitate Prine's attempts to raise the heavy sarcophagus that covers his father's remains to affect a proper burial.
But the locals are reluctant to assist, fearing that the crypt's occupant - Hannah (Gimpera) - will be resurrected to raise hell on the island.Surprisingly effective, though it appears to be un-liked judging from other reviews, I found the English translation conversion by Ray Danton to be a genuinely scary and compelling tale beautifully shot in black & white, with a talented cast.
Film buffs should also applaud Danton's assembly of B-movie talent - Edward Walsh and John Alderman in minor roles (Walsh has a great scene after an encounter with Hannah), while prolific Spanish actor Frank Brana has a key supporting role as the blind foreteller of doom.The lighting and sound is exceptionally refined and the film overall is stylish; the beach and cliff-top scenery bathed in black & white is visually stunning, though admittedly some of the night scenes are obscure in the darkness.
"Crypt of the Living Dead" is an extremely low-budgeted Spanish production that centers on the resurrection of a malicious vampire queen after being asleep on an island for nearly 7 whole centuries.
Directors Julio Salvador and Ray Danton sure as hell did their best to make Hannah (quite a modern name for an ancient vampire) look like a 700-year-old!
Hannah's resurrection is the fault of a young archaeologist who opened the tomb after his own father (accidentally?) got crushed in the tomb.
Hannah's walking pace sort of illustrates the entire film: slow, boring and truly annoying.
"Crypt of the Living Dead" isn't at all scary or atmospheric, and this despite all the potentially great decors and locations.
Crypt of the living Dead seemed like a pretty decent vampire film to me.
As I was reading the other commentaries which were fairly negative, I suddenly realized that my version of this film (which came from a Mill Creek entertainment box set-Chilling Classics) is in black and white whereas the film was actually made in color (at least according to IMDb).
A Vampire Film with Little Bite.
"An archaeologist visits a remote island to bury his late father and, despite the warnings from the local people, opens the tomb of the vampire queen, buried over 700 years ago.
This foolish act by the archaeologist and his reporter friend places the entire island in danger, including the local schoolteacher With the schoolteacher in danger of being a sacrifice to the vampire queen, the duo sets out to stop the vampires, rescue the teacher, and destroy the vampire queen," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Just so you know, the "schoolteacher" Patty Sheppard (Mary) is bad guy Mark Damon (Peter)'s sister.
The film is atmospheric, and features an able cast - but, it takes an interminably long time for anything to happen.
*** Hannah, Queen of the Vampires (6/73) Ray Danton, Julio Salvador ~ Andrew Prine, Mark Damon, Patty Sheppard.
"The Crypt of the Living Dead" is an odd, but run of the mill horror movie that will hold your interest but not leave anything memorable in it's wake.
They had a chance of having some mystery in this film but two of the villains are revealed right at the start of the movie.
For those looking for the horror aspect, there are some scary scenes and the locations have a Gothic feel.
Andrew Prine's father is crushed by the marble tomb of a 700 year old vampire, and Prine goes to retrieve the body which is still under the 3 ton tomb.
this is just a set up so he will open the tomb and release the beautiful female vampire.
It is a very low budget movie filmed in Turkey of all places,is pretty slow, and some of the minor actors can't act.
The film does have a good low key performance by Andrew Prine (I don't think he every turned in a bad performance), some good sets, some creepy atmosphere and s somewhat better ending that i expected.
The film takes place on the tranquil sounding Vampire Island, where Mark Damon and a crazy mountain man are worshipping someone called Hannah.
That reason is so that the dead guy's son, Andrew Prine, will be lured from the US to wherever vampire island is on the Mediterranean, because he is an architect or an engineer or something and the only one with the know how to move the four ton tomb that contains Vampire Queen, Hannah!
Of course, this crazy plan also needs to be optimistic enough to have to foresight to know Prine would have to remove the lid of the tomb to free Hannah, but let's not think about it too much.The locals hate Prine on sight but Damon, who is pretending to be just a normal guy and not a crazy vampire worshipping loony, tells him that the locals hate everybody and are a bit riled up because Prine's going to start messing with that tomb.
Best of all is Frank Bana's blind sailor, who is dubbed by a guy from the Bronx doing an impression of a guy from the Med.Of course they get the lid off the bloody thing and Hannah's looking like she's just stepped out of a hair salon.
"Hannah is smart700 years smart." He advises they get some dogbane and garlic because "she won't get by dem, neither." That holds her at bay, but then there's still Mark Damon, the mountain man, and several bitten islanders to contend withNo one is going to run down the street screaming about how great this film is, and even though it is bad in a way, I still like it.
I've shot everything but aspirin and I blew my house down!" Andrew Prine's terrible clothes should have people choking on their seventies nostalgia, and then there's the weird patchiness of the film, which took two different directors to make, in two different aspect ratios.It looks like the film was incomplete and someone (probably Ray Danton) was brought in to fill up the gaps, which is mainly the sub plot regarding the islanders being turned into vampires.
Pretty terrible film about a vampire woman terrorizing a community.
Crypt of the Living Dead AKA Hannah, Queen of the Vampires (1973)The copy I have seen of this film was in black & white and honestly I could not imagine seeing this in color.
I found it enhanced the film.The editing is pretty sloppy at times but the story is kinda good.
Add more mystery to her moving slowly.It's not the world's greatest vampire film - but it's not all that bad either.
Know it all Andrew Prine (whatever happened to him?) shows up on an island to deal with the body of his father.
Ho Hum. As I am a big Paul Naschy fan, I have seen Patty Shepard in The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman.
Of course, you can't help but have seen star Andrew Prine, as he has appeared almost 200 times on TV and movies.
Teresa Gimpera, who plays Hannah, was in the excellent Spirit of the Beehive.Sound effects and music were definitely irritating at times, and certainly lessens whatever enjoyment you might find in the movie.There really wasn't a lot to recommend.
This was a Spanish film, shot in Hungary, and it's such a blotchy mess you have to wonder if the original version featured the American actors at all.
The good part of watching this movie is that you can start in as part of your own private Friday night horror fest, get up and make a sandwich and be sure you won't miss anything.
Don't go out of your way, but like most people, if you get it in a cheap horror set with 200 other movies, go ahead and watch it..
With a title like "Crypt Of The Living Dead" I guess I was expecting a little more in the way of zombie spectacle.
What the picture lacks in horror and gore is suitably replaced by creepy atmosphere, which is probably the highlight of the film.
I actually learned more about the story from some of the other reviewers on this board than from watching the flick, but then again, I was able to pick up all the information I needed from a handful of scenes that moved the story along.OK, so Hannah (Teresa Gimpera) 1269 is a vampire looking none the worse for wear and fresh as a daisy from a seven hundred year long dirt nap.
What really distracted me from the story was every single appearance of Andrew Prine on screen as Chris Bolton investigating his father's death.
He looked like he could be the spitting image of a guy I knew about twenty years ago who's since passed away.
How is it that Young Hannah is 700 years old?.
For the most part, Crypt of the Living Dead or Young Hannah: Queen of the Vampires or Vampire Women is a throughly retched movie.
All you really need to know about the story is that 700 year old Hannah is released from her tomb on an almost uninhabited island.
There are so many negative things to say about this film that I'll just mention a few that really bothered me.One, Hannah has got to be the slowest vampire in the history of movie vampires.
I'm not talking about logic as you and I know it, but these people don't even act according to "horror movie logic".
In one scene, it is used to get Hannah to release the movie's hero.
It's not till the slow moving Hannah is awakened to prey upon the illogical victims on the island that anything seems to happen..
Also known as Hannah, Queen of the Vampires this surprising "R" rated film is in black and white.
His son Chris (Andrew Prine) comes to the island and meets Peter (Mark Damon) and the local school teacher Mary (Patty Shepard).
He discovers that the crypt that fell on his father was that of the vampire Hannah (Teresa Gimpera) who has been there since 1269.
To the dismay of the village, he opens the crypt to find a perfectly preserved body.The film is low action.
At one point we discover the vampire can make herself into a mist and then a wolf, supposedly a werewolf, but it looked more like a regular wolf.
Hannah, the queen of the vampires......
The movie opens with some kind of ritual and a lightning storm: two decent elements for classic horror.The beginning of the story, seems to be a little suggestive of Dracula with many differences.
It is not immediately apparent to the viewer, what the actual plot of the story is all about.Archeologists, a tomb, the talk of vampires; and the sounds of a beating heart, build on the suspense.The score, seems to play okay with the scenes.The weather changing with the opening of the crypt, is a nice touch; it gives the film a mummy- like feel.The evil, takes on alternate forms of a mist and a wolf: classic vampire ideas.The title: Crypt of the Living Dead is a little unexpected.
Crypt of the damned, or queen of the vampires easily comes to mind as alternate titles.Decent acting talent, and a well thought out story.
Crypt of the Living Dead is an okay movie.
The film will appeal to any fan of classic horror..
Archaeologist Chris Bolton (a typically excellent and engaging performance by the always reliable Andrew Prine) comes across a vampire burial ground while working on a scientific dig in turkey and unleashes lethal vampire queen Hannah (the beauteous and bewitching Teresa Gimpera) from her tomb.
Meanwhile, Bolton romances local school teacher Mary (an appealing portrayal by striking brunette Patty Shepard).Directors Julio Salvador and Ray Danton keep the enjoyable story moving along at a steady pace, make good use of the scenic Turkish locations, do a bang-up job of crafting a supremely spooky'n'dreamy ooga-booga atmosphere, deliver a few nice bits of gore, and pull out the stirring stops for the lively and exciting climax.