Mumie - Tal des Todes

"The Mummy Lives" is an American direct-to-video flick from 1993 starring Tony Curtis in the titular role when he was 67 years-old. The plot's typical to older mummy movies: Forbidden love in the ancient Egyptian world results in the guilty guy getting entombed alive, usually with the object of his desire. In the modern day the tomb is desecrated by archaeologists and the mummy seeks vengeance. The refreshing twist here is that when Curtis' character is resurrected he looks like his normal self, at least his face anyway; his hands look like death itself. Leslie Hardy plays a woman interested in Egyptology and she may be the mummy's beloved, Kia, reincarnated. Greg Wrangler plays a psychologist who takes interest in her.

This is a drama/mystery with light horror elements so don't expect heavy gore and scares. While it's clearly low-budget, it has numerous strengths, particularly the basic fish-out-of-water plot with the ancient mummy becoming a pretty interesting character in the modern world. I'm not sure how he knows how to speak English though, but I assume the god he prays to gives him the knowledge/power.

In any case, the Mummy's offended by the desecrations of Egyptian crypts and points out the obvious: How can archaeologists justify desecrating burial sites? How much time has to go by for such activity to be deemed acceptable in the name of research and science? The Mummy also makes a great point to the woman: The modern world is science-oriented, but passionless; and without passion there is no life. While the Mummy is a somewhat fascinating character and you find yourself rooting for him, the ending drops the ball. I don't want to say too much, but the Mummy essentially becomes the hero in the film and the filmmakers contradict this by insisting on tacking-on a more conventional horror ending. The film was unique as it was so they should've just gone all the way, if you know what I mean. I wish they had the courage to do this because it could've been a great or near-great independent movie.

Still, there's enough good here to recommend it to fans of unique independent movies (however, if you're addicted to a strict Hollywood "blockbuster" diet, flee as fast as you can). For one, the three main characters are effective and, like I said, the Mummy is an interesting character and you'll find yourself rooting for his cause. Although Hardy is too thin for my tastes, she's a likable and worthy protagonist; and Wrangler is an excellent masculine co-star. Secondly, you can't beat the authentic Egyptian locations. Compare this with Hammer's "The Mummy" (1959), which was shot entirely in England with lame "Egyptian" sets. Speaking of which, people criticize Tony Curtis for being miscast in this movie and yet Christopher Lee played the same character in the Hammer film and no one seems to criticize him as being miscast, not to mention that film is regarded fairly well while this one is typically lambasted, which is odd because -- low-budget or not -- this is the better film. Thirdly, the score is diversified and all-around excellent.

The film runs 97 minutes and was shot in Egypt and Israel.

GRADE: C+ or B- (keeping in mind that it's a low-budget direct-to-video flick)

Evidently thanks to Israeli model turned starlet turned casting director Cheli Goldenberg, a team of some of Israel's top character actors turns up for the minor, otherwise uninteresting roles in this movie. Unfortunately, the movie was abandoned by its originally intended star and director and its budget seems to have disappeared along with them. There seems to have been insufficient shooting time, to judge from the long, cheap, unnecessary opening and the abrupt conclusion. The plot is a fairly standard creaker that could have come out of H. Rider Haggard, but with one interesting twist behind Tony Curtis's character: He is tried and convicted for disrespect of the gods, but he takes his medicine and emerges thousands of years later as their defender.

THE MUMMY LIVES is -very loosely- based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe. It opens with an interminably long lesson in astrology that really has nothing to do with the actual movie. Next, we join an archaeological dig in Egypt, where an ancient tomb is uncovered.

Meanwhile, in Cairo, we are introduced to Sandra Barnes (Leslie Hardy). Annoying voiveover narration tells us her every thought. When she falls asleep, we're taken into her dreams of Ancient Egypt, where we're subjected to Tony Curtis as a Pharaoh (!!).

Meanwhile, back at the tomb, imbeciles -including a British zillionaire who says "By Jove!" a lot- break in, and the horror begins. Sort of.

If you've seen any of the mummy movies starting from the original 1932 classic, then you'll pretty much know the entire plot of this one from the beginning:

Forbidden love leads to death and a curse, which comes to fruition in modern times.

The only thing added to this basic outline is absurdity, bad acting, and ultra-melodramatic dialogue. Luckily for us, Mr. Curtis' character gets a central role, and gets to pontificate and spout tons of mumbo jumbo. Sometimes, he even slips into his glorious "Cary Grant" voice from SOME LIKE IT HOT! His death scene is beyond hilarious!

Extra Points For: The bonkers voice of the angry Egyptian deity!

A true gut-buster from start to finish! Prepare the intoxicants, gather your fellow cheeeze-lovers, and get ready to laugh yourself sick!...

I had first seen this movie with my fiancé long after the movie had come out. I watched the movie with him. He had told me the movie was quite good and interesting. He had filled me on what I had missed. I sat through the remained of the movie with all interest. The storyline was excellent and the scenery was exquisite in the movie. Tony Curtis was phenomenal in the move as the mummy, looking for his long lost love in woman who was having dreams of the ancient past. Since I first saw the movie I have seen it an additional two times.

In my honest opinion, this movie is worth seeing. It was inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's story "Words With A Mummy". I now own the movie to be amongst my personal movie library. If I felt for any reason the move didn't deserve such an honor with me, I wouldn't have purchased it.

By watching this movie a total of three times, I would recommend anyone who is an avid fan of Tony Curtis and Edgar Allen Poe, to see this movie.

oh,my word.i don't know what i just witnessed,but i know it wasn't good.this is not a good movie,at all.i'm not sure if i've ever been this bored in my life.it's supposed to be horror movie of sorts.the only problem is,they forgot to put in anything that would be scary.it's also done on the cheap,and looks it.the dialogue gives new meaning to the word abysmal.this thing may have been 95 minutes long,but it might as well have been 95 days,that's how slow it was.Tony Curtis plays a prominent role,but looks out of place in this movie.the only saving grace(if there is in one)is the actress who played the lead female character.she was more convincing than anyone else was.for that,i'll give The Mummy Lives a 2/10.