“The meek shall NOT inherit the earth. They can't be trusted with it.”

Andrew Keir (deputising here for a recently widowered Peter Cushing) is his usual self - a fat, shouty know-it-all who breaks into the tomb of The Evil One and finds a perfectly perserved body of an Egyptian Princess. Perfectly preserved, except for a missing hand. That hand was lopped off in the pre titles sequence by a bunch of Egyptian priests (okay, blacked-up luvvies) who immediately come to regret their actions when they're butchered by an invisible force. Gory throat-gougings abound in this one - still, makes a change from the usual mummy head-stampings.

Prof Fuchs (Keir's character) takes the body back to his house and keeps her in the cellar, and when his daughter (who was born at the exact same time as he broke into the tomb) grows up into Valerie Leon, she looks exactly like the Princess.

Cue much gory death as prophecies are fulfilled and the Evil Queen (using Val's body) sets about reviving herself by retrieving the ancient artifacts she needs.

Hammer also decided to chuck in a bit of incestuous necrophilia (always a good selling point for a film) and some great set pieces - the scene in the asylum sticks in the viewers mind long after the equally disturbing twist ending. Of course, there are bad points - the bit where a woman is menaced by a pottery cat stinks strongly of cheese. But in the main it's a quality film, and a genuine Hammer high spot.