The musical master of the macabre is back from the dead, and boy, is he loving it! After entering stage one of the underworld in the first of two films, Dr. Philbes loaded himself up with formaldehyde and went off into a deep sleep, prepared to be woken up by his silent assistant and head off to the next part of his big adventure. In the process, more people have violent and painful deaths, all the more head-turning and difficult to watch than the very first one. While death may not exactly happen on the Nile, it is near the land of the Pharaohs, and if you think Joan Collins had a nervous breakdown when she found herself being enclosed in that 1955 camp epic, wait until you see what happens to modern intruders on Philbes' efforts to find life eternal here.
A rather rough looking Mr. Clean wanna-be gets amusement by computerized snakes which interrupt him playing pool. But of course, one of them is real. Yet, this isn't enough to stop the macho muscle man from cutting out the venom, but there's another surprise in store. Hugh Griffith, who had a cameo in the first film as a rabbi, comes across Philbes' musical dummies on the Egyptian bound cruiser, and literally ends up meeting the bottle in one of the funnier (if still macabre) moments, taking the phrase "stuff it!" to extremes. Another one of the explorers intruding in on Philbes' plans ends up with a truly painful demise involving a key he desperately needs in the middle of the most gruesome form of living animals. I had to turn my head throughout this entire sequence but even with that was laughing, half in disgust, half at myself for being such a coward in not being able to watch it. Another goes down "Days of Our Lives" territory where he finds the danger of the sands through the hour glass. Cameos from Peter Cushing, Terry-Thomas (playing a different character who doesn't meet a grizzly end) and Beryl Reid seem pointless.
As an artistic looking horror film with much art deco, a wonderful period feel and some brilliant comedy, this succeeds. But as a film and especially as a sequel, it truly feels unnecessary, since the previous movie had wrapped everything up neatly and didn't warrant continuation. There's also a major blunder concerning the silent character of Vulnavia, Philbes' obvious mistress, who was brutally covered in acid at the end of the first film. The recast of the role is supposed to make you assume that the character had some sort of plastic surgery, but certainly, Dr. Philbes' accomplice, even with medical attention needed, would have been incarcerated for life after all the hideous things she helped him accomplish in the first film. The film is obviously a matter of taste, and while the squeamish not need bother, neither should those who look for consistency and pretty much demand that even the worst of horrific films like this have a point. The first one did; The only point this one had for me was the fast-forward button on the remote control.
A rather rough looking Mr. Clean wanna-be gets amusement by computerized snakes which interrupt him playing pool. But of course, one of them is real. Yet, this isn't enough to stop the macho muscle man from cutting out the venom, but there's another surprise in store. Hugh Griffith, who had a cameo in the first film as a rabbi, comes across Philbes' musical dummies on the Egyptian bound cruiser, and literally ends up meeting the bottle in one of the funnier (if still macabre) moments, taking the phrase "stuff it!" to extremes. Another one of the explorers intruding in on Philbes' plans ends up with a truly painful demise involving a key he desperately needs in the middle of the most gruesome form of living animals. I had to turn my head throughout this entire sequence but even with that was laughing, half in disgust, half at myself for being such a coward in not being able to watch it. Another goes down "Days of Our Lives" territory where he finds the danger of the sands through the hour glass. Cameos from Peter Cushing, Terry-Thomas (playing a different character who doesn't meet a grizzly end) and Beryl Reid seem pointless.
As an artistic looking horror film with much art deco, a wonderful period feel and some brilliant comedy, this succeeds. But as a film and especially as a sequel, it truly feels unnecessary, since the previous movie had wrapped everything up neatly and didn't warrant continuation. There's also a major blunder concerning the silent character of Vulnavia, Philbes' obvious mistress, who was brutally covered in acid at the end of the first film. The recast of the role is supposed to make you assume that the character had some sort of plastic surgery, but certainly, Dr. Philbes' accomplice, even with medical attention needed, would have been incarcerated for life after all the hideous things she helped him accomplish in the first film. The film is obviously a matter of taste, and while the squeamish not need bother, neither should those who look for consistency and pretty much demand that even the worst of horrific films like this have a point. The first one did; The only point this one had for me was the fast-forward button on the remote control.