Horror Rises from the Tomb

Horror Rises from the Tomb (AKA El espanto surge de la rumba) is a 1973 Spanish horror film about an evil warlock (Paul Naschy) who plans to bring himself back to life with the unwitting help of the descendants of his executioners. The film also starred Emma Cohen and Victor Alcazar. It was one of 11 horror movies released in 1973 that featured the prolific Naschy, an icon of Spanish horror films.

Plot Summary
In 1454 France, the evil warlock Alaric de Marnac (Naschy) and his assistant Mabille (Helga Line) are brutally executed for practicing witchcraft and cannibalism. The two curse the descendants of their executioners (one of which is de Marnac's own brother). In the present day, Alaric's descendent Hugo (Naschy) and his friends attend a seance where the warlock takes control of the medium and tells the group that his head and body are buried on the grounds of Hugo's ancestral estate. The friends decide to go there to find the body (and possibly treasure). Once at the estate, Maurice (Alcazar) and Hugo find a chest that they cannot open.

Later that night, a villager (Luis Ciges) pries open the chest to find Alaric's intact head. Alaric hypnotizes the man into becoming his servant. With the villager's help, Alaric soon hypnotizes Paula (Cristina Suriani) and Maurice as well. The three mindless slaves reunite Alaric's head with his body and sacrifice their friend Sylvia (Betsabe Ruiz) to resurrect Mabille.

Hugo and Elviria (Cohen) manage to fight off both slaves and zombies with the help of a talisman, but Maurice tricks Hugo and kills him. When he tries to grab Elvira, the talisman breaks Alaric's hold on him. Alaric uses Paula and Mabille to distract Maurice while Alaric hypnotizes Elvira, leading to a final battle in which Elvira is the only survivor. She uses the talisman to split Alaric's head from his body and then burns them.