This October & Nov. Studio Canal unleashes a torrent of Hammer Films on Blu-Ray. After several years of silence were getting seven (!!) new titles which include three of their more interesting psychological thrillers from 1972 with DEMONS OF THE MIND, FEAR IN THE NIGHT and STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING along with a couple of their iffy later Gothics with 1970's SCARS OF DRACULA and HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (which originally shared a double bill) and classic Hammer's swan song TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER from 1976. The luridly fascinating DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE from 1971 is coming at a later date.
The seventh tile is 1971's BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB. Hammer always struggled a bit with their mummy films after the masterful THE MUMMY (1959) and after two previous films (CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB & THE MUMMY'S SHROUD) they ended their association with the Egyptian walking dead with this film. A truly cursed production as star Peter Cushing had to leave after a few days shooting because of wife's illness and director Seth Holt's tragic death a week before the film was to wrap, it always been rather unfairly maligned.
I've always been fond of it however as it contains a typical wonderful performance by Andrew Keir (filling in for Cushing), an interesting take on the mummy mythos's (based upon THE JEWEL OF THE SEVENTH STAR by Bram Stoker) and best of all Valerie Leon makes for one heck of a mummy.
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