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.