The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb

The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb [DVD] [1964]
Directed by Michael Carreras

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"He's worth ten cents of anybody's money!"3
Despite their success with Dracula and Dr Frankenstein, Hammer never had as much luck with the Mummy despite an enjoyable first outing. The second of their Mummy trilogy, 1964's The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, is a lot better than 1967's visibly underfunded The Mummy's Shroud, but while enjoyable enough if your expectations are low, it's over-riding atmosphere is of cosiness, akin to a Sunday afternoon Sherlock Holmes adaptation. Scripted by Henry Younger (actually Michael Carreras in a pun on Hammer producer Anthony Hinds' nom de plume John Elder), it includes all the regulars - European archaeologists incurring a curse after opening a tomb, the Words of Life, a reanimated mummy on the rampage, the girl the mummy can't bring itself to kill - and the first two thirds is all exposition, but it throws in a neat spin with Ronald Lewis' motive for bringing the mummy back to life before ending in a memorable London sewer set.

The cast isn't exactly glittering even by Hammer standards: female lead Jeanne Roland is probably best remembered, if at all, as James Bond's Japanese masseuse in You Only Live Twice, former 50s TV Sherlock Holmes Ronald (son of Leslie) Howard is a veritable Mr Excitement as her dutifully dull fiancé, George Pastell the obligatory educated Egyptian voice of doom vainly warning the profaners against taking the treasures out of the country, with only Fred Clark giving it much energy as the Barnumesque showman determined to turn a fast quarter of a million bucks by exhibiting the contents of the tomb with hourly unveilings of the Mummy himself ("He's worth 10 cents of anybody's money!") while the lower orders are represented by nervy cockney workman Harold Goodwin (you know the face, you just don't know the name) and a terrible display of eye-rolling from Hammer regular Michael Ripper as a burping Arab workman called Achmed. Perhaps more for the Hammer completist than anyone else, there's a nice use of Scope to hide the low budget and make the picture look bigger than it is that comes over well on Sony's extras-free 2.35:1 Region 2 DVD.

Show Me The Mummy4
In Egypt, at the beginning of the 20th Century, an archaeological expedition discovers the tomb of a Pharoah called Ra. The expedition's financier, an American called Alexander King, has plans to display the artefacts in a sort of travelling sideshow with the mummy as the star attraction. Unfortunately his plans hit a bit of a setback when the mummy comes back to life and starts killing people associated with the expedition....

This 1964 Hammer horror film seems to have been much-maligned over the years by some fans and critics but I don't know why because it is actually quite a good little film. Okay, so it's not as good as Hammer's 1959 film version of The Mummy and it does not have Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee in it or any other big-name actors but I still think that it is quite enjoyable and stylishly-done.

Fred Clark is great as the Barnum-type promoter, Alexander King. At one point when the police are questioning him about the strange goings on and they ask him if he has any enemies, he replies, "Of course I've got enemies, I'm in show business!" There's also an unusual twist when one of the main characters is not who he initially appears to be.

If you love Hammer films or 1960s British horror movies in general then "The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb" is certainly worth a look.

HAMMER FILM'S MUMMY5
The Curse Of Frankenstein/Horror Of Dracula /The Mummy [1959]
This movie is actually my pappa's favourite. He had seen it during his school days. So,there was no need to coax him to buy this Hammer Horror DVD. I saw it in dad's home-theatre. I loved it. The Price of Eagypt, Ra having a cursed brother(he would never die unless by the hand of Ra), in modern America, might be a bit, far-fetched. But, come on fellas, we can allow a bit of latitude.The scenes of the 'Mummy', carrying the girl through under-ground sewers,seeking revenge on the desecrators of his tomb, are all extrmely thrilling even to this day.

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