Film

The Awakening

Name: The Awakening
Genre: Horror
Released: 1980
Cast: Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend, Stephanie Zimbalist, Patrick Drury

Other titles called The Awakening: the 1971 film, the 2011 film, the 2014 film, the 2026 film.

A 1980 British horror film where an archaeologist's desecration of an Egyptian tomb unleashes a malevolent spirit that possesses his daughter. It's a gothic supernatural thriller with atmosphere over gore, featuring Charlton Heston in full intensity mode. Ideal for fans of period horror and possession stories who appreciate earnest, pulpy filmmaking from the pre-CGI era.

TMDb rating

2.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love lavish, old-school gothic horror where ancient curses seep into modern family life, and you're happy to let the atmosphere do the heavy lifting.

Skip it if you want fast scares or sharp modern effects, because this is a deliberate, talky 1980 film whose chills rely on mood more than shocks and whose effects have aged.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a leisurely 105 minutes; the dread builds at a measured crawl, with long stretches of talk and exploration before anything jolts, so patience matters more than nerve.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Exorcist1973

The definitive possession film: terrifying, methodical, and genuinely unsettling. Blatty and Friedkin created the blueprint that everything after either follows or deliberately subverts. Essential viewing.

But Forty-plus years old and famously graphic in ways that still disturb. Slow-burn pacing means it demands patience from modern audiences accustomed to faster cuts.

Poltergeist1982

Spielberg-produced supernatural horror that channels 1980s dread through a family under siege. Visceral, expertly paced, and genuinely inventive in its scares. Tobe Hooper directs with real malice.

But The child-in-peril storyline is relentlessly tense. Some effects haven't aged gracefully, and the tone wavers between camp and genuine terror.

The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb1964

Hammer's version of the mummy formula: lush Technicolor, Christopher Lee, and a sensibility that treats ancient curses as genuinely frightening rather than quaint. Sumptuous and eerie in equal measure.

But Very much a product of its era—stiff dialogue, theatrical acting. The pacing is leisurely by modern standards and some plot threads go nowhere.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Awakening

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Road Builder1971

Both explore possession and violation through the domestic sphere—the invasion of a home and a body by an unwanted presence. Both are interested in period architecture as menace.

Alastair Reid's astonishing psychological thriller: a widow takes in a mysterious young man whose presence destabilizes her isolated household. Suspense through character rather than jumps; deeply perverse without showing its hand. Nicolas Roeg's cinematography makes trauma visible.

But Not a supernatural film at all—psychological horror is slower and more insinuating. Misogyny embedded in the premise uncomfortable to watch; ambiguous moral center.

The Lair of the White Worm1988

Ken Russell's delirious adaptation of Bram Stoker: surreal, sexually charged, visually baroque. Amanda Donohoe is hypnotic. It's horror as avant-garde fever dream, utterly committed to its own weirdness.

But Structurally incoherent and deeply strange in ways that feel self-indulgent. Sexual content is explicit and the plot becomes increasingly abstract. Not for literal-minded viewers.

The Haunting1963

Robert Wise's masterpiece of psychological horror: a house becomes a character through meticulous cinematography and sound design. Ambiguity drives the terror. Architectural dread has rarely been done better.

But Almost entirely dialogue and atmosphere—no gore, minimal action. Feels remote and requires active engagement rather than passive watching.

The Mummy1932

Universal's atmospheric original with Boris Karloff: slow, hypnotic, obsessed with decay and resurrection. Influences everything that followed about mummies, curses, and supernatural revenge.

But Nearly a century old, deliberately paced like a séance. The plot barely moves and dialogue can feel overwrought to modern ears.

The Watcher in the Woods1980

Disney's anomalous entry into horror: genuinely unsettling, beautifully shot, with a supernatural mystery that actually rewards attention. Bette Davis brings gravitas; the atmosphere is thick.

But Tonal confusion between family drama and genuine dread. The climax divides viewers on whether it satisfies or disappoints. Feels like something's missing.

Venom1981

Klaus Kinski, Sterling Hayden, and Sterling Hayden's hairpiece under siege by a black mamba. Pinter's script crackles; Sarne's direction is taut. A siege film that treats animals and people with equal dread.

But Takes an irrational premise seriously, which some find tense and others find risible. Slow build to the reptilian payoff. Limited scope.

The Omega Man1971

Charlton Heston alone in Los Angeles post-plague, hunted by albino vampires. Weird, wasteland-chic production design; Heston's intensity is perfectly deployed. Campy but effective.

But The racial allegory is muddled and uncomfortable by modern standards. Acting pitched at theatrical levels; plot resolution feels abrupt after slow pacing.

Eyes Without a Face1960

Both are European period horrors obsessed with the violation of flesh, the invasion of the body, and the aesthetics of dread. Both treat supernatural/psychological horror as a chamber piece.

Franju's extraordinary French horror: a surgeon imprisoned by guilt and obsession performs grotesque rituals in a fog-bound mansion. Visually stunning, genuinely disturbing without gore. Surreal and precise simultaneously.

But Black and white with subtitle requirements. The premise involves facial disfigurement and body mutilation. Art-film pacing will feel glacial to viewers expecting conventional narrative.

Night of the Demon1957

Both are mid-century British/European occult horrors where rational men confront ancient forces they cannot intellectualize away. Both culminate in family jeopardy from the supernatural realm.

Jacques Tourneur's masterly supernatural thriller: a skeptic investigates occultism and discovers something genuinely malevolent. Black-and-white atmosphere thick enough to drink. Dana Andrews and Peggy Cummins ground the irrational.

But The demon reveal (in the final shot) is rubber-suit camp, undercutting much of the dread. Fifties gender politics dated and patronizing. Plot requires acceptance of extremely convenient coincidences.