Universal Horror - The Mummy

The 1920's were full of Egypt-mania. It became the fad of the day. New tombs and pyramids were being discovered, most famously Tutankhamen. Even theaters were being made to represent ancient Egypt. So, naturally, a movie about ancient Egypt was inevitable.

"The Mummy" (1932)

The first movie in this series stars Boris Karloff as the mummy called Imhotep (which was named after the designer of the ancient pyramids). His famous makeup has been called the most painful of his career. His screen time in this makeup was short, but very impressive. The best scene in my opinion was the scene near the beginning when he awakens.

The story begins with an expedition in 1921 with Sir Joseph Whemple, who uncovers the mummy of Imhotep. His assistant is told not to mess with the scroll that is found with him, but curiosity gets the better of him. The tampering with the scroll awakens Imhotep, and the sight of such a thing causes the assistant to go insane. Ten years later, Whemple returns with his son Frank. Imhotep is now seemingly much younger and calls himself Ardath Bay. He assists the archeologists, but only to awaken his long lost love, Princess Anck-es-en-Amon. In order to do that, he must cause Helen Grosvenor to die so he can revive her and make her a living mummy like himself.

The most interesting thing about this movie is how little Boris Karloff does. Even when he is Ardath Bay, he moves very little and very gracefully. He underacts the part, which makes this movie much creepier. Arguably this is the best of the series.

"The Mummy's Hand" (1940)

The inevitable sequel had to be made. But, this one was much different than many others. Instead of continuing the story, it chose to start over with a new mummy and new plot points. Everything introduced in this movie spilled over into the next three. Boris Karloff wisely was not in this movie. The mummy was played by Tom Tyler, but with one new addition: his eyes were made black. This was done by putting black over his eyes frame by frame to create the illusion he had no eyes. At the time, it was marvelous special effects, but cheesy if you slow it down, because you can still see his eyes. Plus his acting is far from the underacting of Boris Karloff in the previous movie.

The plot of this movie follows two down on their luck (and bummed) archeologists who come across some pottery that they believe would lead them to the tomb of Princess Ananka. Vowed to protect the tomb is the high priest, who keeps mummy Kharis alive by feeding him 3 tanna leaves every day. The high priest gives his charge up to a new high priest Andoheb, played by George Zucco. You also discover that 9 leaves will awaken Kharis and allow him to move about to cause chaos and death. The two archeologists gather financing and a crew, and soon they believe they have found the tomb of Ananka, but instead it is Kharis's. The high priest gives a 9-leaf brew to Kharis who awakens and begins killing whoever gets in his way. He kidnaps the daughter of the financier and with the high priest plans to make her the living mummy for Ananka. The high priest and Kharis are stopped. The archeologists will be bringing the tomb of Ananka to America to be put on display in a museum.

Interesting note: Kharis is burned at the end of the movie, but not a burn or scratch appears on him in the next movie. Weird, but it gets weirder that it's not explained.

Another interesting note: Due to a clerical oversight, The Mummy's Hand was never legally made available for television viewings, and remained largely unseen until Universal Studios VHS release in 1997.

"The Mummy's Tomb" (1942)

This sequel begins the first of two major jumps in time. This movie supposedly takes places 30 years after the events of "The Mummy's Hand". Time-wise, this should be the early 60's but it's still the 40's; don't you love movie logic? The two archeologists make an appearance in this movie as old men. Andoheb the high priest also makes an appearance as an old man, but this time he promotes Mehemet Bey to be the new high priest and take charge is getting revenge for desecrating the tombs of Kharis and Ananka. Also making his first appearance in the Mummy movies is Lon Chaney Jr., who plays as the Kharis. His movements are more what we think of today as the mummy slide and one arm folded up.

This movie follows Mehemet Bey and Kharis coming to America to kill the members of the archeologists family that opened the tombs in the previous movie. Kharis proceeds to kill the two archeologists and members of their family. The son of one of the archeologists becomes the main protagonist and his girlfriend becomes the new obsession of Bey and Kharis. Kharis eventually kidnaps the girlfriend and is chased by a town mob. They end up back at the archeologist's house which is set on fire by the mob. After a narrow escape by the heroes, Kharis is burned in the house.

In my opinion, this is the weakest of the sequels because the first ten minutes shamelessly uses footage from "The Mummy's Hand" to give exposition. It uses so much that it is not necessary to even watch "The Mummy's Hand". If you take the amount of exposition out of this movie, then the runtime becomes less than 50 minutes.

"The Mummy's Ghost" (1944)

Yet another sequel comes out two years later. This features once again Lon Chaney Jr. as Kharis and George Zucco as Andoheb. This is interesting in that Andoheb was shot and died at the end of "The Mummy's Hand", but he returns in the following movie saying he was only shot in the arm. Then he died of old age, but he is back again and doesn't die. Interesting in that you don't see him again. Making a good appearance in this one is John Carradine as Yousef Bey, the new high priest that is bestowed by Andoheb. This sequel is actually not bad, mostly for its tragic ending.

The story follows the new priest Yousef Bey coming to America to awaken Kharis and return Kharis and Ananka to Egypt. However, when they find Ananka's mummy, it disintegrates. They learn that her soul has been reincarnated in a young women named Amina. A white streak appears in her hair, but that is the only thing that symbolizes this. Kharis soon kidnaps Amina and brings her to Bey, who is prepared to make her into a living mummy for Kharis. But his thoughts turn on him, and he wants her for himself. He loses control of Kharis who takes Amina into the swamps. A mob is in pursuit, as well as her boyfriend. As Kharis is fleeing, Amina begins to grow old in his arms, and her hair becomes white. They escape into the swamp and vanish in the murk.

This is the only movie that allows Kharis to get his beloved Ananka, even though they are lost in the muck of the swamp. The tragic ending makes this sequel not horrible, but it's not great either.

"The Mummy's Curse" (1944)

No, that's not a typo: the last of the original Mummy came out the same year as the previous sequel. Once again Long Chaney Jr. suits up as Kharis. Once again Kharis is searching for Ananka. Once again a new high priest is in charge of Kharis. But this time, the serial of movies was out of ideas. Even though the last movie's swamp was in Massachusetts, this movie's swamp was in Louisiana - bit of a glitch. Also, it takes places 25 years after the last movie, which would make this at least supposedly the late 80's or early 90's by now, but no, it's still the 40's.

This movie follows an irrigation project that is clearing out the swamp. The superstitions of the men are fueled by the arrival of an archeologist and his partner, who are searching for Kharis and Ananka in the swamp. Kharis is awakened and is entreated to find Ananka. Ananka awakens from the muck and stumbles into the water, where she is washed and becomes young and beautiful again. She is found by the workers, but soon by Kharis too. The partner of the archeologist is the new high priest, and he has a spy working on the irrigation project. Kharis is tracked to an abandoned temple, where the priest and his assistant are killed, and taking with them the secret of the leaves that gives Kharis power. Ananka is back to being a mummy, and Kharis will be retrieved. Both of which are going to be sent back to the museum.

The stereotyping of the black actors in this movie are the norm for 40's movies, but it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth when you watch.

And thus ends the mummy movies. The sequels are not good movies. I recommend the first and that's it. The others are not essential viewing. The plot holes are horrible: everything from names changing from movie to movie, to changes in location, or the burning and/or killing then reappearance in the sequel without injury. The retelling of the leaves at the beginning of each movie as well as the choosing of a new high priest gets to be a cliche. Fortunately, these are short movies so you won't have to watch them long.

In the late 50's-60's mummy movies came out again, but not much better than the originals. To date, there haven't been really good mummy movies made since. Who knows if there can be. Just watch Karloff in the original, and forget the rest.