Customer Reviews

Awakening, The [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The spirit of a dead, evil Egyptian queen reincarnates as the daughter of an archeologist. "The Awakening" is a tantilizing thrill ride complete with incest, betrayal, and murder. A young Stephanie Zimbalist gives an eerie performance as the young innocent daughter who tries to combat the demon within her.

Egyptologist Charlton Heston has had a string of bad luck, ever since unearthing evil old Egyptian sorceress queen Tara. His wife died in childbirth, and numerous colleagues associated with the find suffered dreadful accidents. Still, the find made him famous.

Eighteen years later, his daughter Stephanie Zimbalist (in her first film role) is coming into her own, and wanting to travel with dad to Egypt and get to know him better - she's often been away, while Heston was making time with his new wife and former assistant, Susannah York, and conducting his lecture tours. Stephanie's a sweet kid, even if she is suddenly developing problems. Seems she doesn't always know where she's been at night - or what she was doing. In fact, she isn't even sure who she is, anymore, half the time.

Heston is equally afraid he is losing his own appreciable mind. He's coming to recognize that he is the fulfillment of Queen Tara's prophecy for her own resurrection in a later age. As before, those near and dear to him are dying, paving his way to become Tara's new prophet, and Heston is beginning to think the ancient Egyptian magic has more going for it than any of his own modern science. The problem is, it appears his daughter may have to die to fulfill the prophecy...

This movie was one whole star better, before the releasing studio completely reshot its ending. What was a clever conclusion became instead more heavy-handed and far less satisfying, and even somewhat comical. It also occasionally suffers from a bit of heavy-handedness in direction, inadvertently turning some melodramatic moments into humorous ones.

However, the production itself is superior. Maurice Binder did the stylish opening credit sequence. Robert H. Solo produced, almost contemporaneously with his excellent version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The excellent Claude Bolling score is eerie and romantic, and sometimes reminiscent of The Omen, as is the manner in which the numerous ugly accidental deaths occur. The performances are generally quite good, especially Zimbalist, who is fresh and charming. The cinematography and location shooting are breathtakingly beautiful.

This second filming of Bram Stoker's The Jewel of the Seven Stars is overall more commendable than not, especially for fans of horror films - The Omen especially, which the movie in many ways resembles - or of Egyptian settings and trappings.

"The Awakening" isn't a summer blockbuster; it was never meant to be. This is a story about an archaeologist trying to break ground despite being the 17 millionth person studying ancient Egypt. He is a believer and his passion consumes him. He is also not a perfect man. He is a man of science who's work defines his whole being. This is why I think the audience may have a hard time warming up to him.
I don't like to give details in my reviews. What this story has to offer is a realistic horror film. Even though there are virtually no special effects, we are still drawn in to a world of silent malevolence.
This is not a "slasher" film. There is much weight given to suspicious happenings and ancient curses that frankly, makes this story much more creepy. There is virtually nothing offered in the movie that I couldn't see actually happening. Not that I believe in curses, but you never know, there are things in the universe that you don't want to piss off. Leave them alone, you may live longer.
Some have said that is story is "slow". Yes. It is a drama. It's trying to weave a tale for you that is intelligent, thoughtful and if you're willing sit and be invested in the story, it may scare you more than Freddy Kruger ever could.

I saw this movie in the theater. It's entertaining and certainly not as bad as some critics say. Especially the references to magic which is real and Egypt was/is the font of all true magic. How can anyone doubt when looking at the pyramids and other Egyptian wonders?

This is one of my favorite horror films. Stephanie Zimbalist plays the part of Heston's daughter who is possessed by an ancient and evil -- of course it's evil - spirit from Egypt. The typical evil Egyption queen. I really like it towards the end where she is fully possessed and goes after ol' Chuck. I will agree it's not up to the class of Moses, but then again, it never planned on it. I really like it a lot.

I had this in vhs and it was stolen-now i have FOUND it-the movie is a little slow in progression-but all the classics are slow in comparison to the action movies nowadays-i REALLY love this movie-the tape is in great condition-the sound is better than the dvd's of action we have now-you have to turn them up to hear the voices-I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE IN VHS!

A fun film with lots of emotion and plot twisting action...the final ten minutes will evoke awe.

Glancing over the credits of The Awakening, you can't help thinking so many talented people, such an ordinary film. Charlton Heston, director Mike Newell (making his debut), legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff (Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death), editor Terry Rawlings (Alien, Chariots of Fire) and a trio of quality scribes in Ten Rillington Place screenwriter Clive Exton and Don't Look Now co-writers Allan Scott and Chris Bryant. The latter's involvement makes you think that Nic Roeg could have really made something of the material at that time. Certainly this should have been much better than it is. It's not that it's a rehash of Bram Stoker's Jewel of the Seven Stars that served as the basis for Hammer's infinitely superior Blood From the Mummy's Tomb less than a decade earlier - producer Robert H. Solo had remade even better source material with surprising intelligence and success with 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers - more that it's a horror film that doesn't chill and which feels like it's only just getting down to business when it ends. It certainly has the kind of budget Hammer could only dream of, but none of the compensating imagination.

It's one of those films which it's obvious the leading man has taken on largely because he turned down a similar film that proved a huge hit and figures that he'd better not miss the boat a second time, in this case Charlton Heston clearly regretting his decision not to make The Omen. Still, at least he has the right cinematic pedigree to convince as an obsessive Egyptologist who unearths a forgotten tomb of a damned queen in the Valley of the Kings only to come to suspect in later years that the evil one's spirit is possessing his daughter, who was stillborn but miraculously came to life at the moment he looked upon the Nameless One's face. Flash forward 18 years, a couple of violent accidental deaths, a failed marriage and one wig later, and Heston's daughter is coming of age and developing some sudden mental health problems while the Nameless One's mummy is suddenly affected by a post-eclipse virus that's starting to eat it away. Reunited with his great discovery, Heston becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea of bringing her back to life as anyone who stands in the way of her reincarnation meets a horrible death... You just know that's not going to end well, but what's surprising is how sloppy it is getting to its drawn out but not especially involving finale. The editing seems surprisingly haphazard in places, with a couple of early deaths very clumsily executed with no proper build up, and only a couple of moments really build up the kind of atmosphere the film desperately needs to work. Other moments, such as one of a sleeping Heston being dragged across a room by unseen hands while Stephanie Zimbalist has what looks like either an asthmatic fit or an attempt to suppress a fit of giggles, are just plain laughable. The attempts to make the stars look younger in the lengthy opening section don't work at all - Susannah York actually looks younger in the '18 years later' section of the film - and Heston is all too obviously giving a performance here, and it's a highly variable one at that, veering from competent to plain bloody awful.

The script suffers from too many cooks and too many half-developed ideas: on the one hand it wants to take its premise seriously, yet it never quite develops ideas that it touches upon, like the possibly incestuous relationship between father and daughter being a repeat of the Nameless One's relationship with her own father or a vaguely alluded to suggestion that it's all in their mind. Instead it relies increasingly heavily on the scraps from bigger and better horror hits. Like The Exorcist it begins at an archaeological dig and has a possibly possessed child, like The Omen it has a neurotic mother and a child who scares zoo animals plus the obligatory would-be horrible death by truck and a woman falling to her death from a window. The end result is a watchable film with some good ideas it doesn't really know what to do with but which becomes increasingly silly and dreary as it goes on. You're much better off sticking with Blood from the Mummy's Tomb.

Although marked on the packaging as fullframe, Optimum's UK PAL DVD is a 1.85:1 widescreen transfer with no extras.

Being a Chareston Heston ..I loved this movie!! When are they going to put it on dvd?

The Awakening was the second adaptation of Bram Stoker's The Jewel of the Seven Stars. Hammer's Blood from the Mummy's Tomb being the first. Many have compared The Awakening unfavourably with the first film, a comparison that I consider to be unfair becauise they are two very different adaptations and both succeed in their own right.
Of the two films, The Awakening has by far the higher production values and benefits from its stunning Egyptian locations.
It also has a superb and eerie music score and has one of my all time favourite credit sequences, showing the Nile and the surrounding scenery. The music to this opening piece is simply sublime and sets the viewer up nicely for the rest of the film.

Charlton Heston plays an archeologist looking for a fabled lost tomb, of a nameless and apparently evil Egyptian queen. Needless to say he uncovers an ancient and vile power which starts to kill off his friends, and to threaten his daughter (played by Stephanie Zimbalist).
The film has a good narrative which is also suspenseful, as the events unfold.
Unfortunately the ending is weak and appears to be rushed. This is a great shame because otherwise the film would have been worthy of five stars. The makers would have done better to stick with a similar ending to Blood from The Mummy's Tomb.

That said, The Awakening remains a very good film and is well worth a look. I own the film on dvd and it is available in Australia on Region 4. Sound is Dolby Digital Mono. Unfortunately the picture transfer is not as good as it could have been and is little better than on vhs.
It would be nice to see a Region 1 or 2 dvd of this film, with a proper transfer and 5.1 sound. Now that really would be something.