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Rating:  -
Ah, "The Mummy" on Halloween night! What could be better? My brother and I, now aging boomers, were allowed as children the special treat to stay up on Friday nights to watch Horror Theater (or whatever it was called) and scare ourselves silly. This was in the late '50's. "The Mummy" was a favorite, so when I found this VHS tape in the library, I took it home for Halloween.
After a couple of hours of Trick or Treating, the three children were ready to go home. We put on the movie, expecting magic to revisit. Their grandfather (my brother) and I expected to pass on a tradition. We really thought the nine-year-old boy would delight in the movie. He loves things like this. However, it was too slow for him--he fell asleep soon into the movie, as did the other two children.
That left my brother and me to stroll down Memory Lane with the Mummmy! It wasn't the same story we both remembered. We had the notion of lots of wrappings with the mummy walking all over the place with arms outstretched and killing people. Another reviewer said this wasn't "The Mummy" he saw either. Probably a sequel.
Let's return to the reality of the story. We discovered how faulty our memories are. However, the film did surprise us with what was there.
In the 1920's when the discovery of the Tutankhamun tomb was the rage, three other English archaeologists were certain to make a find. Indeed, they did--an ancient sarcophagus with a box attached: Do not open this coffin upon threat of death. Two are wise enough to discuss it. The third cannot control his eagerness and opens it. In a few minutes the mummy is mysteriously wrought to life, and sidles out the door. The archaeologist witnesses this and goes stark raving insane. A chilling scene. The viewer sees only a piece of wrapping sliding out of sight--the only view we get of a newly awakened corpse. Then the hysterical laughing. Everything is always just out of sight. A suggestion of evil. A suggestion of terror. A scream.
The mummy comes back as an Egyptian attached somehow to the museum. It's Boris Karlof in a dark role. Why no one was not creeped out by his persona is beyond me. Bring in the the son of one of the original three archaeologists and the daughter of the museum director and you have a triangle about to happen. Karlof's mummy/man believes she is the reincarnation of his beloved temple virgin from back in the day. He is determined to take her back and almost succeeds.
Today's filming shows all and then some. Old films like this tell the story with suggestion, little nuances, creating creepy atmosphere and mood. As I watched, I slipped in and out of sleep. In one dream sequence I was in the movie, going down one of the underground passages. Only in my dream I rounded the bend to see what veiwers could hear. Black-clad, wispy creatures were stirring around a walking, stalking mummy. I fell on the rocks, they turned toward me. Of course, I awoke, further creeped out.
A successful movie-- "The Mummy"--even now!
Rating: -
Just wanted to mention that I recently compared the transfers on the Mummy Special Edition (Universal Legacy Series) 2-disc DVD released in July 2008 and the original 1999 Universal single-disc DVD release. The quality of the transfers in terms of contrast, brightness, detail, scratches and blemishes, etc., seems to be virtually identical. However, for some unknown reason the framing of the Legacy Series release is cropped tighter than the 1999 edition, with a small but significant loss of picture information along the right, left, and bottom borders. I watched the Legacy Series version yesterday and the missing information was not enough to seriously impact my enjoyment of the movie, but it's kind of irritating that the older, supposedly obsolete edition actually reveals more of the frame than the newer, supposedly definitive edition. Unfortunately, this seems to be typical of Universal's double- and triple-dip DVD editions: two steps forward and one back. I'm still debating whether to hang on to the 1999 edition, which I was hoping to ditch after buying the newest release. So if you're thinking of upgrading in hopes of getting a superior transfer and don't really care about the extras, my advice is stick with the original 1999 release. The only new extras you get with the Legacy Series release are the second commentary track, 1940s Mummy series trailers, and the Jack Pierce featurette, which is interesting but does not contain much new information unless you are completely ignorant of Pierce's career. The Unraveling the Legacy of the Mummy featurette is really just a promo for the two Brendan Fraser Mummy movies, it doesn't even address the 1940s mummy series, or any other mummy movies for that matter. The TCM Universal Horror documentary is nice but it is available on the Dracula and Frankenstein 75th Anniversary Edition DVDs and hardly worth the purchase price of the new Mummy DVD by itself, especially if you already have the Dracula or Frankenstein anniversary sets. If the limited new extras sound worth it to you, go for it, but realize that you are losing some picture information in the feature attraction, not to mention the Production Notes, Cast and Filmmakers' Bios, and Mummy Archives (poster and stills gallery) extras from the 1999 release. I never bought the Mummy Legacy Collection box set so I can't comment on that release.
Rating:  -
I had remembered the mummy movies with Boris Karloff from my childhood. After viewing this one I think I must have seen only the several sequels that followed. The foot dragging monster was nearly absent in this movie. However there was a lot of dialouge. Of course what was scary in my youth doesn't even register on the scale of the Brandon Frazier mummy movies. Still all-in-all I am glad I purchased the DVD.
Rating:  -
-This review pertains to The Mummy: Special Edition DVD-
In 1932, one year after Universal Studios' success with Frankenstein, Boris Karloff got all wrapped up in a role that would become one of the all-time great movie monsters. As the mummy, Im-Ho-Tep, Karloff gave a drastically different performance than that of the pathetic and misunderstood creature in Frankenstein. Im-Ho-Tep is a cold and methodical killer, his heart warped from the pain of losing his love. He uses any means necessary to obtain that which he covets, whether it's power or people.
The Mummy was the directorial debut of Karl Freund, the brilliant German cinematographer whose works include Metropolis, Dracula, and Murders in the Rue Morgue. Over a decade earlier it was people like Freund who helped to make Germany famous for its expressionist cinema, as well as revolutionizing the way films were photographed. John L. Balderston, the famous playwright who Americanized the Dracula play, which was later to serve as the main inspiration for the 1931 Tod Browning film, wrote the screenplay for The Mummy. The story of The Mummy owes much to screenplay of Dracula and the film even uses members of the cast of that film. However, the presence of Boris Karloff is what gives The Mummy its individual identity and separates it from other horror films of its era. Also, unlike either Dracula or Frankenstein, The Mummy wasn't set in some gothic European locale. No, The Mummy featured exotic Egypt as its setting (though the film was shot entirely in California as almost all Universal pictures were at the time).
Exploiting the obsessive fascination that Americans and Europeans had for all things Egyptian, after the finding of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1921, the story utilizes mummies, curses, and Egyptian occultism to attract viewers.
After committing sacrilege, Egyptian High Priest, Im-Ho-Tep is buried alive only to be rediscovered 3,700 years later by British archaeologists. He is accidentally resurrected and assumes the identity of Ardeth Bay. Ardeth Bay's one passion, his one obsession is to be reunited with his long-dead lover, Princess Anck-es-en-Amon. Ardeth Bay believes that his loneliness may be over when he meets the beautiful Helen Grosvenor, the reincarnated Anck-es-en-Amon. As Ardeth pursues Helen, he is also determined to obtain the Scroll of Thoth, which will ensure his immortality and his control over Helen. Challenging him are Doctor Muller, an expert on the Egyptian occult, Sir Joseph Whemple, a renowned archaeologist, and his son, Frank Whemple who has fallen in love with Helen. But do these three stand a chance against Ardeth Bay, who has a mastery over hypnosis? Can they save Helen from... The Mummy?
The film stars Boris Karloff (who was billed as Karloff the Uncanny) as Im-Ho-Tep / Ardeth Bay, Zita Johann as Helen Grosvenor / Anck-es-en-Amon, David Manners as Frank Whemple, Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple, and Edward Van Sloan as Doctor Muller.
This terrifyingly good DVD includes an audio commentary with film historian Paul M. Jensen, an audio commentary with makeup artist Rick Baker, screenwriter Steven Haberman, film historian Scott Essman, Universal horror expert Bob Burns, and sculptor Brent Armstrong, He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce documentary, Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed documentary, Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy featurette, Universal Horror feature-length documentary, poster montage with music, and theatrical trailers for all five original Mummy films.
Also recommended:
The Mummy: The Legacy Collection
The Mummy (1959 Hammer Studios' remake)
The Mummy (1999 Universal Studios' remake)
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Collector's Set
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Rating: -
...has always been my take on THE MUMMY even when I first saw it as a child. I was fascinated by the Karloff character in the beginning and then felt sorry for him when I realized that he did it all for love. His hypnotic powers were awesome especially the shots of his eyes glowing in their blackened eye sockets. The power of the scarab ring to bring death and the pool of dry ice created lasting memories that have lingered years after first having seen them. And then there was Zita Johann! She was my first real crush to come from the movies. Her face was so striking and her voice seemed so exotic. As I got older, her pre-code evening dress and Princess costume had their own appeal as well. What a pity she made so few films (check out THE SIN OF NORA MORAN to see her at her best). Along with the 1935 THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON, it is my favorite Universal film from their first great horror cycle.
This Universal Legacy Series release (which missed the 75th anniversary by one year) recycles the earler DVD incarnation of the film which is fine as that was a quality release with a cleaned up print and a remastered soundtrack which sounds better than ever. This time around there is a second DVD of bonus features which is highlighted by Kevin Brownlow's Photoplay Production of UNIVERSAL HORRORS which traces the development of Universal as THE horror studio starting back in the silent era with THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. There are numerous plugs for the new MUMMY series with Brendan Fraser and while those are good films by the standards of today (today's audiences would find the original WAY too slow and lacking in action), they lack the atmospheric poetry of the original. For those who are able to respond to it, the 1932 MUMMY remains a unique, dreamlike experience.
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