Hollywood Horror – Mummy Movies
Ever since the mummies of egypt were unearthed by archaeologists, macabre folklores and legends fluttered about. Speculations of Mummy’s curse and resurrections inspired many mummy horror themed hollywood films.
The Mummy
An Ancient Egyptian priest called Imhotep is revived when an archaeological expedition finds Imhotep’s mummy and one of the archaeologists accidentally reads an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the archaeologists and prowls Cairo seeking the reincarnation of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon. Imhotep was once mummified alive for attempting to resurrect her, and, upon finding a woman bearing a striking resemblance to her, attempts to mummify her and make her his bride. In the end, she is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis to save her. The young woman utters a prayer and the scroll containing the resurrection spell is burned, and Imhotep dissolved.
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
The still very undead mummy experiences insane jealousy in this the third of Universal’s Kharis thrillers. Although he was thought to have perished in a fire in The Mummy’s Tomb (1942), Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) is once again wreaking havoc in the town of Mapleton, MA. Sent by the High Priest (George Zucco) to retrieve both Kharis and his ancient love interest, the Princess Ananka, from their resting places at New York’s Scripps Museum, Yousef Bey (John Carradine) learns that the princess has turned to dust. Her soul, however, seems to have been reincarnated as Amina Mansouri (Ramsay Ames), an Egyptian exchange student studying with Mapleton Egyptologist professor Norman (Frank Reicher). The latter’s experiments with brewing tanna leaves turn ugly when Kharis appears. Soon after, Amina’s hair develops grey streaks and she experiences strange and unsettling trances, unsettling especially for boyfriend Tom Hervey (Robert Lowery). Investigating Professor Norman’s strange death, Inspector Walgreen (Barton MacLane) sets a trap for Kharis, but the crafty mummy escapes with a prostrate Amina. Hiding in an abandoned mineshaft, Kharis, to his distress, learns that Yousef harbors more than a religious interest in the beautiful Amina and promptly kills him. With the reincarnated but rapidly decaying princess in his arms, the mummy, to the horrors of the townspeople in general and Tom in particular, blithely walks into a nearby swamp and slowly sinks into the quagmire.
The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
You cannot keep a good mummy down forever and Kharis is back in this sequel to The Mummy’s Hand, which itself was something of a remake of the classic Boris Karloff thriller of 1935, The Mummy. Although assumed to have been killed by Stephen Banning (Dick Foran) in the previous film, Andoheb (George Zucco) has miraculously survived and is now planning a terrible revenge on both Banning and his entire family in Mapleton, MA. With High Priest Mehemet Bey (Turhan Bey) as his faithful companion, Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) takes up residence in a Mapleton graveyard where the mysterious Mr. Bey somehow has obtained the job of caretaker. At the first full moon, the mummy is fed enough tanna leaves to break into the Banning residence and kill the now elderly Stephen. To find out what exactly happened, the dead man’s son, John (John Hubbard), gets in contact with Babe Hanson (Wallace Ford), one of the members of the original Banning expedition to Egypt. Neither Babe nor John can prevent Kharis from killing Stephen’s sister, Jane (Mary Gordon), or from kidnapping John’s blonde fiancée, Isobel (Elyse Knox). A posse of upset citizens advances to the graveyard where Mehemet Bey has been promising to literally spend an eternity with Isobel. Interrupted in these romantic pursuits, Bey hands the girl over to Kharis before being shot by John. Carrying a prostrate Isobel, Kharis shuffles back to the Banning estate, which is soon set afire by the mob. Isobel is rescued in the nick of time by John and Kharis perishes in the flames. Or does he?
The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
1944 horror film follow-up to The Mummy’s Ghost which was also released in 1944. This film marks Lon Chaney Jr.’s final appearance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The Universal Mummy series also boasts of a parallel-earth kind of timeline. The Mummy’s Hand was made and set in 1940; The Mummy’s Tomb takes place 30 years later; The Mummy’s Ghost about five years after that, and The Mummy’s Curse twenty-five years after “Ghost.” That means if the timeline is taken seriously, this film is set around the year 2000.
The Mummy (1959)
While on a dig in Egypt, British archaeologist John Banning (Peter Cushing) desecrates the tomb of Princess Ananka, awakening her mummified lover (Christopher Lee). With revenge on his mind, the mummy follows Banning and the rest of his group back to England, but becomes quite taken with Banning’s wife (Yvonne Furneaux), who resembles the princess quite closely.
The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1965)
This cheap, but colorful British period horror piece follows an ill-fated archaeological expedition to the cursed tomb of the pharaoh, Ra-Antef, whose sarcophagus the team’s leader opts to sell to a smooth-talking American promoter who intends to set it up as part of an exploitive side-show attraction. No sooner has the tomb reached the States than the foul-tempered pharaoh is released; he then begins stalking and strangling all those who have desecrated his resting place. The bandaged one’s vendetta doesn’t stop there; he also has a score to settle with the reincarnation of a man who betrayed him eons ago. This rather dull mummy muddle was originally double-billed with Hammer Studio’s superior chiller The Gorgon.
The Mummy’s Shroud (1967)
A murderous mummy is on the loose and it’s got the Hammer Films stamp on it, but this tame terror flick never gets the bandages off when it comes to thrills, chills, and gore. A British archeological team consisting of Sir Basil Walden (Andre Morrell), Paul Preston (David Buck), a photographer (Tim Barrett), and psychic linguist Claire (Maggie Kimberley) discover the tomb of Kah-to-Bey, a young heir to Pharaoh who died trying to escape a rebellion. The boy was buried by a loyal slave named Prem, whose mummy stands in a Cairo museum. The expedition is joined by Preston’s wealthy, press-hungry father Stanley (John Phillips), who insists they return to Cairo with the body despite warnings of a curse by the tomb’s guardian. The curse soon proves to be true as the slave’s mummy is reanimated by the guardian and begins murdering each of the explorers who entered the tomb. While Stanley Preston unsuccessfully tries to save his own skin, Paul and Claire find themselves in a showdown with the seemingly indestructible mummy — until they discover that the strange writing on the boy Pharaoh’s shroud may be the secret to their survival.
Mummy and the Curse of the Jackal (1967)
Writer/producer/director Oliver Drake made so many poverty-row pictures over a 40 year period that one suspects he wasn’t a single individual at all, but a “house name” adopted by whomever happened to be handy. Drake’s Mummy and Curse of the Jackal is up to the director’s usual standard, which isn’t saying a whole lot. This time the bandaged title character is at large in Las Vegas. The script is a bit confusing: we’re not sure if Anthony Eisley is a hero and John Carradine a villain, or vice versa. Uncompleted and unreleased for many years, Mummy and Curse of the Jackal finally saw the light of day on videotape.
Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)
The swan song for director Seth Holt (who died shortly before filming was completed), this stylish Hammer production transcends its low budget thanks to lush photography, a stylish look, and fine performances from the leads. The plot, adapted from Bram Stoker’s novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars, involves an expedition led by Professor Fuchs (Andrew Keir) to find the cursed tomb of an evil Egyptian princess. Upon discovery of her sarcophagus, Fuchs finds her perfectly preserved, still-bleeding severed hand — which also sports a dazzling ruby ring. Several years later, Fuchs gives the pilfered ring to his voluptuous young daughter Margaret (Valerie Leon), whereupon she slowly begins to take on the malevolent traits of its original wearer, seeking revenge for the defilement of her tomb. Though Christopher Wicking’s adaptation of Stoker’s obscure novel is a bit uneven, it still provides ample suspense and the production has an overall richness that captures the flavor of Hammer’s other mummy projects. Remade eight years later (with less effective results) as The Awakening; traces of the same story can also be found in Universal’s 1999 mega-budget version The Mummy.
Tale of the Mummy (1998)
Best known for his Highlander series, Russell Mulcahy pays homage to the Hammer films of the 1960s with this all-star recreation of the Mummy story. Centuries ago, a sadistic prince named Talos was buried and his tomb was infinitely cursed so that no man would ever again suffer from his evil ways. But hundreds of years later, a group of archeologists break the seal of the tomb and are brutally massacred. The bandages of Talos are discovered years later by the head archeologist’s daughter and brought back to London to be displayed in a museum. But the bandages go on a violent rampage. His evil threatens to spread around the world when the approaching alignment of the planets will raise the legendary Talos to a level of immortal power. The American detective in charge of the affair and the daughter of the archeologist race against time to defeat the malicious mummy. Russell Mulcahy has modern computer graphics techniques on his side in this remake of the classic Mummy monster story. At the same time, he has invited the legendary Christopher Lee to appear in the role of the ill-fated archeologist who discovers Talos. Shelley Duvall and Jason Scott Lee round out the main cast.
Dawn of the Mummy (1981)
This film’s title clearly reflects the two films that most inspired it: The Mummy and Dawn of the Dead. The plot involves a group of jet-setting fashion models and photographers who choose the tomb of an evil and sadistic pharaoh named “Seferaman” as the setting for their Egyptian-themed magazine shoot. Since these characters are also phenomenally stupid, it’s only a matter of time before someone’s disturbing the hot-tempered pharaoh’s beauty rest, prompting the mummy and his cannibal companions to rise from their dusty graves and tear the infidel defilers to shreds. Good camerawork, voracious gore effects, and the chaotic mummies-in-the-streets finale recall some of the better Italian zombie epics — but this resemblance unfortunately extends to the typically threadbare plot, which requires each and every character to plow headfirst into situations that almost guarantee death or dismemberment.
The Mummy Lives (1993)
Although it claims to be “suggested by an Edgar Allen Poe” story, this British production is basically a remake of Karl Freund’s 1932 The Mummy — but with nude shower scenes. Tony Curtis, in the Boris Karloff role, becomes obsessed with a young blonde woman whom he believes to be the reincarnated spirit of an Egyptian princess. She begins having nightmares, hallucinations, and starts hearing voices, while people around her suddenly start turning up brutally murdered.
Legend of the Mummy (1997, Bram Stoker)
Made-for-cable and loosely based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Jewel of the Seven Stars, this chiller is set in modern-day San Francisco and centers upon a rare ruby. The gem is cursed and its removal from its resting place in Egypt awakens the wrath of a mummy that will stop at nothing to get it back.
The Mummy (1999, Stephen Sommers) Series
Loosely adapted from the classic 1932 horror film starring Boris Karloff, The Mummy is set in Egypt, where over 3,000 years ago the high priest Imhotep (played by Arnold Vosloo) was given the all-important assignment of preparing the recently dead for their journey into the afterlife. However, Imhotep made one terrible mistake – he became smitten with Anck-Su-Namun, the mistress of the Pharaoh himself. Driven mad by jealousy and love, Imhotep murdered the Pharaoh, and his punishment was to be buried alive and suffer the torment of an eternal life in his wretched tomb. In 1925, a band of adventurers seeking fame and fortune – led by Rick O’Connel (Brendan Fraser), an American expatriate who has joined the foreign legion, and Evelyn Carnarvon (Rachel Weisz), an amateur archeologist – find a previously unknown burial site in Egypt. The team starts to dig, hoping to find lost riches, but instead they disturb the tomb of Imhotep, and soon the cursed priest rises from his grave to wreck vengeance on humanity. The Mummy was written and directed by Stephen Sommers, whose previous cinematic journeys into the past include The Jungle Book and The Adventures Of Huck Finn.
Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy (2000)
In this tale of terror, six archaeology students are on a dig when they unearth an ancient Aztec mummy. The young scholars’ excitement at their discovery soon turns to alarm when the mummy suddenly comes to life — and quickly displays a desire to kill anyone in its path. Ancient Evil was also released as Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy.
The Mummy Returns (2001)
This big-budget sequel from writer/director Stephen Sommers navigates much of the same cliffhanger territory as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones franchise. It is 1933, eight years after the events of The Mummy (1999). Legionnaire Rick O’Connell Brendan Fraser has married his Egyptologist girlfriend Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) and the couple has settled in London, where they’re raising their young son Alex (Freddie Boath). The family’s domestic tranquility is shattered when the 3,000-year-old mummified corpse of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), which has been shipped to the British Museum, is resurrected once again to resume his evil quest for immortality. In the meantime, another ancient threat emerges in the form of the Scorpion King (professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson, aka. the Rock), a mighty warrior frozen in time with his supernatural army. In order to save his family, Rick is forced to seek a mythical pyramid of gold, facing marauding bands of pygmy skeletons, among other hazards. The Mummy Returns co-stars John Hannah, Oded Fehr, and Patricia Velasquez.
Source: Wikipedia and Allmovies.com
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 9:54 amand is filed under Hollywood Films. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:23 pm
i want to downlode this