The Tomb (1986; Fred Olen Ray)

I could only chuckle as I made my way through the available user comments on the IMDb page for Fred Olen Ray’s The Tomb (1986). It barely has much of a Wiki page, either. Olen Ray was one of those who dreamed of being a filmmaker and I think, even though his pacing never quite found a groove or flow that didn’t at many points drag or hold a bit too long, you can see the horror/sci-fi kid geeking out with casting of the likes of Cameron Mitchell and John Carradine. Carradine is in the film barely seven or maybe eight minutes, merely giving the film’s heroes, Richard Hench and murdered father’s professor friend, George Hoth, a history lesson about Bauer’s Egyptian heritage and beliefs. Bauer portrays Nefratis, an Egyptian “demon” with vampire fangs, the ability to fire electric bolts and create snakes out of thin air, and cause a scarab to hug close to a foul, boozing archeological thief’s heart in order to do her bidding (I guess). Hench is David Manners (nice homage to the actor from Dracula (1931)), a college student and ladies man who loses his Egyptologist father to Nefratis’ heart-plucking savagery, securing an artifact stolen from her tomb by greedy thief, John Banning (David O’Hara, no Peter Cushing). Banning had sold another artifact, an amulet, to Mitchell’s Dr. Howard Phillips. Mitchell gets top billing but he’s not really in it very long, maybe twenty minutes tops. He is in a car to pick up the amulet from Banning, who flees two US custom agents in a train yard chase and later remains practically glued to his small office desk. His demise through Bauer’s electric bolts is a light effects show that isn’t exactly a jolt. Laughably, at the end when Bauer points her hand at cops and Hoth (who challenges her with great authority and eviscerated hilariously shortly after), when they oppose her, this body-engulfing beam leaves no trace of her victims left! The scarab entering into O’Hara isn’t a particularly gnarly makeup effects scene but for the budget restrictions Olen Ray had, it could have been a lot worse. A neck wound to O’Hara’s cohort-in-crime isn’t too shabby.

There is plenty of dead air that Olen Ray can’t quite pace better, as mentioned before, and the film’s plot is often bobbing and weaving until the inevitable confrontation between Bauer and the main characters looking to defeat her. Another introduced character is Suzy Stokey’s stuttering, sweet, and bookish student, Helen, smitten with Manners, eventually kidnapped by Nefratis in an attempt to get back her amulet. There is some weird lights show at the end as well, where Nefratis’ own artifacts seem to glow her neck, age her, and then set her on fire. I didn’t even bother to try and understand this. At least Banning gets to use some fire that is turning Bauer’s demon princess to skeletal ruin to light his cigarette.

For me the best this has to offer is Bauer. Egypt is clearly some footage and American locations subbing for where the tomb is located by O’Hara, his associate, and an Arab guide (there is some blunt racism to describe Youusef’s head covering by these two thieving American smugglers), Hollywood appears to be Olen Ray stealing shots where he can, and there are bars (with one dancer baring her breasts, Natividad, another patron seduced by Bauer before being pushed into a bed of snakes, Wildsmith) and O’Hara with his beers. Don’t let Sybil Danning’s name in the cast perk up your interest too much…Danning is only in the opening scene when she and gunmen try to take the amulet from O’Hara. Olen Ray does give us some good gunfire, a car flip, and plane explosion.

Bauer doesn’t task herself too much with delivering a Broadway / Shakespearian thespian performance and she doesn’t have to. Her presence is really impressive—she’s downright sexy, almost always sultry—and particularly emerged in red hue at one point in a club is she captivating…I never wanted to take my eyes off her and when she’s absent I couldn’t wait to see her again. Almost always, Bauer doesn’t disappoint when she walks into a scene. When she tries to establish menace, it doesn’t necessarily work, but Bauer still looks fantastic. Olen Ray knew what he had with her. Surprisingly, Olen Ray didn’t ask her to get naked. The liability is Hench as the main hero…he is all bland and the lines are delivered with as much energy as a corpse on a slab. Stokey as the anxious, meek librarian type with a sexpot dying to get out doesn’t exactly heat up the screen much, either, almost equaling Hench in terms of flatline performance. What Bauer didn’t quite accomplish in terms of strong villainy she made up for in sensuality and charisma. No one else quite meets that. 2/5

*The "playful" opening credits are a standout. It does seem like FOR enjoyed doing these