
But it’s better to watch the story unfold since that’s a scene when you feel sympathy for the monster himself. This is probably the reason why it is one of the most memorable shots from classic horror films in that period.įor the love story, I don’t want to reveal too much of it although it might’ve entered the pop culture by now, like how everyone knows the ending of Empire Strikes Back, Soylent Green, The Sixth Sense, or Psycho. The fact that it shows up whenever Ardath uses his mind force somehow creeps out viewers. There’s no way you can find them scary when you google their image, but if you watch the film…the context and the atmosphere elevate how scary they are. It reminds me of the twins from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Sometimes, the shot is still the same but we slowly see his eyes glowing in the dark. This appears in the film four times and it is used whenever he uses his psychic power. I said scary not because of gory effects or jump scares, it’s because of one iconic shot in which Ardath looks at the audience and says nothing. The bad guy here is vulnerable and scary at the same time. From the beginning when he looks like an ordinary person to the point when he kills people with his psychic power, we know that this isn’t the typical Jason Voorhees style of mummy (in which he says nothing and kills people for revenge). We see him slowly reveal his story power. His baritone voice and stiff look are outstanding here. Our hero has a pretty sad background and one of the main reasons why I love him is because of Boris Karloff’s acting. This is actually a tragic love story disguised as a monster movie. Since then, we learn that Ardath is actually the mummy they discovered ten years ago and there’s a reason why he wants Helen…. Meanwhile, Ardath uses his psychic power to lure Helen (Zita Johann), a daughter of the Sudanese governor, since she has a striking resemblance to princess Ankh-es-en-amon. After they find it, it’s placed inside the Cairo Museum. That is, until a creepy tall guy named Ardath Bey (Boris Karloff) tells them the location of the Princess Ankh-es-en-amon’s tomb. They have heard of the mystery that occurred ten years ago, but still don’t believe it. Ten years later, Frank (David Manners), the son of Sir Joseph, and Prof. So the mummy wakes up, escapes, and it causes that archaeologist to go insane to the point that he laughs to death, literally. Unfortunately, one of the archaeologists accidentally reads it. Moreover, they also retrieve a mysterious box that has a spell to revive the mummy. One day, they find a mummy coffin and prepare to study more about it. A group of British archaeologists, led by Sir Joseph (Arthur Byron), are in Egypt to “increase the sum of human knowledge of the past”. Oh! Amon-Ra–Oh! God of Gods–Death is but the doorway to new life-We live today-we shall live again–In many forms shall we return-Oh, mighty one” Herein are set down the magic words by which Isis raised Osiris from the dead. This is something that Tim Burton would later do in his 90’s films.Īnd here’s how the story begins. Personally, I think it’s a combination of Fantasy, Romance and Horror. Some viewers may find it boring since it relies more on dialogue and has a low body count. – Don’t expect it to be a total thrill-fest. The main villain isn’t rolled up in bandages and doesn’t kill lots of people like what we always think of with mummies. – This is a totally different kind of Mummy film. Before I go any further, there are two points I have to make here. It is widely regarded as one of the best Universal classic horror films along with Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). So what could be a more appropriate time to take a look at three other films that share the same title? We’ll be talking about the 1932, 1959, and 1999 versions of The Mummy and analyze the differences between them.įirst, let’s take a look at the original The Mummy from 1932. This is the week when the new Mummy reboot starring Tom “Show me the Mummyyyyy!!!” Cruise hits theaters.
