| The Awakening | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mike Newell |
| Produced by | Robert H. Solo |
| Written by | Novel: Bram Stoker Screenplay: Clive Exton Chris Bryant Allan Scott |
| Starring | Charlton Heston Susannah York Jill Townsend Stephanie Zimbalist Patrick Drury |
| Music by | Claude Bolling |
| Cinematography | Jack Cardiff |
| Editing by | Terry Rawlings |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | 1980 (USA) |
| Running time | 101 min. |
| Language | English |
The Awakening is a 1980 horror film. It was directed by Mike Newell, and was his first theatrical feature; he had worked in television for many years prior. It is the third film version of Bram Stoker's 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars, which had previously been adapted for television in 1970 as The Curse of the Mummy, followed by a theatrical adaptation in 1971, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, released through Hammer Films. The film stars Charlton Heston, Susannah York, and Stephanie Zimbalist in an early acting role. It was released by Warner Bros.. 101 min., rated R. Another adaptation of Stoker's novel was released directly to video in 1997, under the title Bram Stoker's The Mummy.
Plot synopsis
Heston portrays an arachaeologist who opens the tomb of an ancient Egyptian queen at the exact moment his daughter is born. Years later, the girl (Zimbalist), now a teenager, starts to undergo frightening changes in personality and people begin to mysteriously die. Heston soon comes to believe that the spirit of the queen, a cruel monarch named Kara, possessed his daughter at the moment of her birth and intends to resurrect herself through the girl's body.
