Marissa (Aliza Gur) is the villainess in the 1968 horror film "Beast of Morocco. The film was originally known as "The Hand of Night".
An architect traveling in Morocco, meets an archaeologist named Otto Gunther (Edward Underdown) and his young assistant Chantal (Diane Clare). Otto has been excavating an ancient tomb.
Later, Carver is invited to a party at Guther's home. While there, Carver meets and is entertained by a mysterious wealthy woman named Marissa. He also notices that she casts no reflection in the hall mirror, though in his drunken state, it just doesn't click with him.
Carver later while traveling through the Moroccan desert comes at night upon a lavish Moorish castle. Here he again sees the beautiful Marissa there. He passes out, and wakes up back in the desert the next morning. Carver attempts to find the place again, but learns it has vanished. He inquires among the local villagers, and only receives fear and hostility.
He learns that Marissa is a 14th-century princess, who was the cherished prize of her husband's harem. However, she was buried alive for her faithlessness, but not before she put a curse on men she encounters as she wanders around at night. She has a vampire henchman named Omar (Terence de Marney) who takes care of her.
He gradually finds himself lured into a deadly and sinister mystery. Carver has his way with the beautiful vampire and lives to tell the tale. Chantal tries to convince him that she is the safer choice for love, but keeps thinking about the deadly Marissa.
Marissa then puts Chantal in danger, and that is when Carver makes the decision between light and dark. He goes to Marissa's coffin and stakes her ithrough the heart. Marissa quickly becomes a skeleton.
Trivia[]
- Aliza Gur is best known for her non-evil character of Vida, who had a gypsy woman catfight with Zora (Martine Beswick) in the 1963 James Bond film "From Russia with Love".
- Aliza Gur appeared as flaminco dancer Carmen, who warns Burke of the fake Princess (Lisa Seagram), and the two of them get in a catfight. This was in the 1965 episode "Deadlier Than the Male" for the TV series Burke's Law.
- Aliza Gur is also remembered for her role as a pregnant Indian woman in the episode ‘Earthquake’ for the TV series ‘The Big Valley.’ Despite not being a villainess, her stunning beauty and untimely demise make her a very memorable guest star.
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