The Mummy
Mummy is the word
As I child, I was really scared of
mummies. At the Natural History Museum, I was terrified to go into
the mummy exhibit. They may not be the first thing that comes to mind
when we think of monsters and things that go bump in the night, but
when you think about it, they are actually quite scary. While it's
great that there are tons of movies with giant city-destroying
monsters, vampires, werewolves, and extraterrestrial clowns, none of
them are actually real. Mummies actually exist and can be seen up
close. These are actual rotting corpses from thousands of years ago
that may or may not be cursed. That's scary as hell! It's no surprise
that there has been a slew of mummy-based horror movies.
The Mummy is a 1932 horror film from
Universal Studios starring Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, The Mask Of
Fu Manchu) as Imhotep. During an archaeological expedition in Egypt,
Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron, Fog Over Frisco, The Man With Two
Faces) discovers the mummy, Imhotep and the fabled Scroll of Thoth.
His friend and occultist Dr. Muller (Edward Van Sloan, Dracula,
Frankenstein) warns that the artifacts he has discovered are cursed
and begs him to burn the scroll. During their discussion, Sir
Joseph's assistant Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher, Svengali, The
Undying Monster) reads an ancient spell that gives life to the mummy
behind him. The mummy takes the Scroll of Thoth and, upon seeing the
living corpse, Norton is overcome by uncontrollable fits of
hysterical laughter. Norton was committed to an asylum after the
fateful night and eventually died. Ten years later, Sir Joseph's son
Frank (David Manners, The Black Cat, The Death Kiss) and Professor
Pearson (Leonard Mudie, Adventures Of Superman, Cleopatra) are
approached by a mysterious man named Ardath Bay, an Egyptian with
archaeological knowledge. He leads them the location of Imhotep's
lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon's tomb. After digging, the treasures
and mummy are donated to the Cairo Museum. It is revealed that Ardath
Bay is in fact the resurrected mummy Imhotep and he intends to bring
his love back to life. Bay kills Sir Joseph when he tries to stop his
nefarious plans. Using his mystical powers, Bay mesmerizes Helen
Grosvenor (Zita Johann) who bears a striking resemblance to
Ankh-es-en-amon. Will Frank be able to stop the mummy before it's too
late?
Who ordered the Mummy, extra crispy?
It's important to mention that despite
being one of, if not the first mummy-based horror movies, there is no
shambling mummy chasing after people. That comes in later mummy
movies. We only see the actual mummy in the very beginning. Instead,
we get Ardath Bay who looks like a raisin covered in mud. Boris
Karloff plays the part very well and manages to make the character
very creepy with his bass voice and unmoving face. I was disappointed
that we didn't get the usual mummy look that I was expecting, but
that can be blamed on pop culture. The rest of the cast plays their
roles well enough, though David Manners isn't exactly the best
leading man from Hollywood at the time. There is a decent amount of
action for the time with a few scenes of violence.
The story itself is fairly decent,
though it lacks the proper amount of pacing and horror seen in
Dracula. The plot moves very quickly and with a run-time of about an
hour and ten minutes, things feel very rushed. The scene where Norton
sees the mummy alive and is overcome with laughter is quite unnerving
even 80 years later. Sadly, this is really where the horror ends. The
movie lacks the number of scares even during the Universal era of
horror movies. What The Mummy lacks in scares, it makes up for in
atmosphere. The movie has good lighting which creates long and
unnatural shadows, conveying suspense and fear. The movie manages to
squeeze in a little romance between Frank and Helen, but it all feels
very convenient for the sake of the story. When looking at the
Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, it's easy to see where some of their
ideas came from.
Resurrecting your dead lover is serious business
The Mummy is a classic Universal horror
movie that spawned countless remakes, re-imaginings, sequels, and
adaptations. Thanks to great atmosphere and mood, the movie belongs
on the Universal monster's Mt. Rushmore along with Dracula,
Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man. Personally, I think the Creature From
The Black Lagoon should be on there as well, but he didn't have the
impact on movies like The Mummy did. The movie lacks a lot of scares
and the absence of seeing a mummy with it's wrappings, shambling
around after people is disappointing. Mummies should be scary, but the movie made a mistake by turning the mummy into a man. Boris Karloff is very good as
Ardath Bay and the supporting cast is good enough to keep things
going. The pacing of the movie is very quick which makes everything
else feel rushed. While it is certainly a classic, I feel that
Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man are far better movies. Still,
it's worth your time to see Boris Karloff in another fun monster
movie role.
7/10
