They thought they had buried her forever!

English archaeologist Matthew Corbeck (played by the emphatically-American Charlton Heston) undertakes an expedition to find the tomb of the Egyptian princess Kara, despite his awareness of a nefarious curse that is said to befall anyone who disturbs the tomb. Eighteen years after Corbeck's discovery of the burial site, his teenage daughter (who was born at the very moment of the tomb's violation) begins to behave strangely. Turns out she's been possessed by Kara's malevolent spirit, carrying out the princess's revenge by causing several deaths and developing a less-than-healthy obsession with Daddy. Based very loosely on Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars (itself the inspiration for Hammer's superior Blood from the Mummy's Tomb), this is basically Warner Brothers' attempt to jump on the big-budget horror bandwagon in the wake of The Omen's staggering success. The result is a good-looking but artistically hollow film -- with elaborate sets, lush cinematography and a sweeping musical score, but little in the way of logic or suspense.


The Awakening is a 1980 British horror film. It is the debut film of director Mike Newell, who had previously worked extensively in television. The Awakening is the third film version of Bram Stoker's 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars, following a 1970 television adaptation as The Curse of the Mummy, and the 1971 theatrical film, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb. The Awakening stars Charlton Heston, Susannah York, and Stephanie Zimbalist in an early acting role. It was released by Warner Bros.
Another adaptation of Stoker's novel was released directly to video in 1997, under the title Bram Stoker's The Mummy.


Release Date: October 31, 1980

Distrib: Warner Brothers

Boxoffice: $8,415,112 2013: $24,838,700