Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Awakening

  • 19801980
  • RR
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
The Awakening (1980)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer0:30
2 Videos
99+ Photos
Horror
An archeologist discovers his daughter is possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian queen. To save mankind he must destroy her.An archeologist discovers his daughter is possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian queen. To save mankind he must destroy her.An archeologist discovers his daughter is possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian queen. To save mankind he must destroy her.
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Mike Newell
  • Writers
    • Allan Scott(screenplay)
    • Chris Bryant(screenplay)
    • Clive Exton(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Charlton Heston
    • Susannah York
    • Jill Townsend
  • Director
    • Mike Newell
  • Writers
    • Allan Scott(screenplay)
    • Chris Bryant(screenplay)
    • Clive Exton(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Charlton Heston
    • Susannah York
    • Jill Townsend
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 56User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 0:30
    Watch Official Trailer
    Sneak Previews Season 3 Episode 6
    Video 28:55
    Watch Sneak Previews Season 3 Episode 6

    Photos139

    Charlton Heston in The Awakening (1980)
    Charlton Heston in The Awakening (1980)
    Charlton Heston and Patrick Drury in The Awakening (1980)
    Stephanie Zimbalist in The Awakening (1980)
    The Awakening (1980)
    The Awakening (1980)
    Susannah York in The Awakening (1980)
    The Awakening (1980)
    The Awakening (1980)
    The Awakening (1980)
    Charlton Heston in The Awakening (1980)
    Charlton Heston in The Awakening (1980)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Charlton Heston
    Charlton Heston
    • Prof. Matthew Corbeck
    Susannah York
    Susannah York
    • Jane Turner
    Jill Townsend
    Jill Townsend
    • Anne Corbeck
    Stephanie Zimbalist
    Stephanie Zimbalist
    • Margaret Corbeck
    Patrick Drury
    Patrick Drury
    • Paul Whittier
    Bruce Myers
    • Dr. Khalid
    Nadim Sawalha
    Nadim Sawalha
    • Dr. El Sadek
    Ian McDiarmid
    Ian McDiarmid
    • Dr. Richter
    Ahmed Osman
    • Yussef
    Miriam Margolyes
    Miriam Margolyes
    • Dr. Kadira
    Michael Mellinger
    Michael Mellinger
    • Hamid
    Leonard Maguire
    • John Matthews
    Ishia Bennison
    • Nurse
    Madhav Sharma
    • Doctor
    Michael Halphie
    • Doctor
    Christopher Fairbank
    Christopher Fairbank
    • Porter
    Roger Kemp
    • Doctor
    Richard Atherton
    • Vicar
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Mike Newell
    • Writers
      • Allan Scott(screenplay)
      • Chris Bryant(screenplay)
      • Clive Exton(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
    5.6
    Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
    The Oblong Box
    6.0
    The Oblong Box
    The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
    5.6
    The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
    Madhouse
    6.2
    Madhouse
    Dark Places
    5.6
    Dark Places
    The Awakening
    6.4
    The Awakening
    To the Devil a Daughter
    5.8
    To the Devil a Daughter
    The Mummy's Shroud
    5.5
    The Mummy's Shroud
    The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
    5.8
    The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
    Bad Blood
    6.5
    Bad Blood
    The Witch
    6.4
    The Witch
    Edge of the Axe
    5.3
    Edge of the Axe

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Charlton Heston said of this film in a 1979 interview: "I've read biographies of prominent Egyptologists such as Howard Carter and Brested. The film is based on a book by Bram Stoker who wrote it long before any Egyptian mummies were ever found. In fact, the discovery of an intact Royal tomb has only occurred once in history; Carter's discovery of Tutankamun, and everything in this film is keyed to that because it's the only material available".
    • Goofs
      When Jane and Matt discover the tomb entrance, Jane reads the hieroglyphic inscription from left to right, but the direction in which the inscription is written is right to left, as shown by the birds in it which face the start of the line by convention.
    • Quotes

      Margaret Corbeck: Hi.

      Paul Whittier: You're American aren't you?

      Margaret Corbeck: How did you know?

      Paul Whittier: The one word, "hi".

    • Alternate versions
      The Awakening (1980) has two endings: SPOILERS AHEAD! For the U.S. dvd, the film ends with Margaret- now possessed- staring with crazed eyes and Egyptian makeup. For the U.K. dvd, the film ends with Margaret stepping outside the museum at night, and her shadow is superimposed over the skyline of London to suggest her evil or plans.
    • Connections
      Featured in Sneak Previews: The Awakening/One-Trick Pony/The Stunt Man/The First Deadly Sin (1980)
    • Soundtracks
      Ankara Streets
      (uncredited)

      Music by Ali Isfahan (i.e. John Leach

      KPM Music

    User reviews56

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    5/10
    All this time we thought it was the big sleep...
    This movie isn't as terrible as some reviewers have made it out to be. Let's say, overall, about average for its type. The photography is more than adequate, the locations unmistakably including Egypt. The score does its job well. And the acting is on par with Charlton Heston's usual. He can do better when he wants to, as in "Khartoum." Stephanie Zimbalist is fresh, attractive, and seductive -- both before and after she is possessed by the spirit of Kara. She's pretty sexy too, decked out in tight bell-bottomed slacks and wearing her long auburn hair held back by a barette -- is that the word? One of her more exciting moments comes when she steps down in the tomb and kisses her father warmly on the lips. She seems to have not much more than a few expressions to work with, which is okay; Gary Cooper only had one and a half. She relies mainly on an intense stare and half smile, which can signal either happiness or evil intent. The editing is confusing and the ending leaves the story open for a sequel which will probably never come. The story itself is dated, although spiced up with some Omen-like executions.

    Heston would never get away with removing those artifacts from Egypt today. Not unless there was a huge under-the-table payoff made. No more Elgin-marble controversies. The archaeological techniques are dated as well. The archaeologists we seem to think of as heroes would be considered criminally sloppy by today's standards. If you excavate a site now, you don't just dig into it to see what you can find. You dig a trench into the site, from the outside inward, so you leave most of the site intact for future research. We don't know what analytic techniques will be available a hundred years from now, anymore than Carnaveron and the rest could foresee Carbon dating. Brouilloin, the information theorist, called this "the principle of fundamental surprise." If we knew now what we will have discovered a hundred years from now, we would already have discovered it. What Schliemann did at Troy was simply dig it up until all the information was gone, the archaeological equivalent of strip mining. King Tut's tomb was handled just as badly. When they first cracked the wall of the as-yet unsullied part of the tomb, a breath of air whooshed out from the opening. That air was three thousand years old. It was the same air breathed by the Egyptians who built the tomb. We will never know its chemical composition or what kind of particulate matter might still have been floating around. And the soil of the tomb, which surely contained biological materials like pollen and the residue of three-thousand-year-old microorganisms, was treated like -- well, like ordinary dirt.

    The movie has few zingers. It moves slowly and deliberately, a pace that many modern moviegoers are no longer used to, after so much exposure to MTV techniques. And the director -- all directors -- need to have it pounded into their skulls that when a character looks into a mirror on screen, the audience is not supposed to see her staring obliquely into the camera lens. Not only does the use of this stupid trick contribute absolutely nothing, but it is distracting and jarring, and an insult to at least some of the viewers.
    helpful•6
    4
    • rmax304823
    • May 26, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 31, 1980 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Budjenje
    • Filming locations
      • Cairo, Egypt
    • Production company
      • EMI Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $8,415,112
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,728,520
      • Nov 2, 1980
    • Gross worldwide
      • $8,415,112
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Awakening (1980)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Awakening (1980) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.