La malédiction des pharaons

The Mummy capped off an impressive initial run of horror movies from Hammer Studios. Believe it or not, it was mostly downhill from here; the company's subsequent efforts tended to be tackier and cheesier. But the "big three" (Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Mummy) are all solid horror flicks with, oddly enough, some of the most crisp and colorful photography I've ever seen.

There are some weaknesses here, though. The Egypt flashback waffles on for quite a while, and then we get ANOTHER flashback when Banning Sr. resurrects the mummy. However, the beginning and ending are well-paced and exciting, so most sins are forgiven. Lee's Mummy is spectacular; he's goddamn huge, and it's very impressive to watch him crashing through doors and French windows, absorbing shotgun blasts as if they were pinpricks (I hear Lee actually got injured several times making this movie; I can't say I'm surprised!)

My favorite scene is the ideological debate between the Egyptian badguy (a very cool performance by George Pastell) and Peter Cushing's snooty archaeologist character. Their heated exchange adds a bit of texture to the story and even makes me sympathetic to the villain's POV. However, subtext goes out the window again for the violent final confrontation.

On a side note, the exceedingly brilliant BBC show Doctor Who practically remade this movie twice. The episode "Tomb of the Cybermen" features Pastell as a guest star in a story involving an ill-fated archaeological dig, and "Pyramids of Mars" once again pits a hapless poacher against killer mummies. Just thought I'd mention it.

In1895, in Egypt, the British archaeologists John Banning (Peter Cushing), his father Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmer) and his uncle Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley) discover the tomb of Princess Ananka (Yvonne Furneaux). Stephen finds inside the tomb The Scroll of Life and reads it, awaking The Mummy of Anaka's keeper and former lover Kharis (Christopher Lee). He has a heart attack and goes insane. The Egyptian Mehemet Bey (George Pastell) that worships Ananka steals the scroll and controls The Mummy. Three years later, in England, Stephen is an intern in a mental institution and John has married his fiancée Isobel. However the fanatic Mehemet decides to use The Scroll of Life to revenge those that have desecrated Anaka's tomb. The Mummy attacks Stephen and Joseph; however, when The Mummy attacks John, Isobel that resembles Ananka saves her husband. But will she be saved from The Mummy?

"The Mummy" is another great horror movie by Hammer directed by Terence Fisher. The remake of the 1932 Universal's "The Mummy" is creepier, with the dirty bandages since he has fallen off into the bog. In addition, the beauty of Yvonne Furneaux is impressive as well the lack of chemistry with Peter Cushing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Múmia" ("The Mummy")

Note: On 24 Nov 2018, I saw this film again.

Hammer Film Productions rework some of the classic Universal Studios mummy material to great effect. Directed by Terence Fisher, this is not a remake of the seminal 1932 movie of the same name. Starring Peter Cushing (John Banning), Christopher Lee (Kharis/The Mummy), Raymond Huntley (Joseph Whemple) and Yvonne Furneaux (Isobel Banning/Princess Ananka), the film is written by Jimmy Sangster and was filmed at Bray & Shepperton Studios in England and is photographed in Eastman Color. I mention the latter because Eastman Color has a different hue to it, something that makes this movie all the more affecting as a horror piece.

The plot sees three archaeologists (Stephen & John Banning & Joseph Whemple) desecrate the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka. This awakens Kharis, Ananka's blasphemous lover who was buried alive for his unlawful deeds. Taken from the tomb to London by Egyptian priest Mehemet Bey (George Pastell), the three archaeologists find they are being hunted down by the vengeful Kharis. The only salvation may come in the form of Isobel Banning who bears a striking resemblance to Princess Ananka.

This Mummy is adroitly directed by Fisher, his choreography for the action scenes is stunning. Lee's incarnation as the mouldy bandaged one is swifter than most, thus Fisher has him stalking around Victorian England one minute, then the next he's crashing thru doors or windows with brute strength - with murder his (its) only goal. It's a top performance from Lee as he really throws himself into the role, with his dead eyes ominously peering out from gauze swathed sockets sending those little shivers running down the spine. Technically the film belies the budget restrictions that was a staple of Hammer productions. The sets are very impressive with the Egyptian tomb set original and authentic looking, and the swamp based set-up nicely constructed. The latter of which provides two genuine horror classic moments, as first we see the Mummy for the first time as he rises from a foul bubbling bog, and then for the dramatic swampy finale. It's also atmospherically filmed by Fisher, with Jack Asher's photography utilising the Eastman Color to give off a weird elegiac beauty.

This is not about gore, Fisher and the makers wanted to thrive on atmospherics and implication, something they achieve with great rewards. The Mummy would prove to be very successful in Britain and abroad, thus ensuring Hammer would dig up more Mummy's for further screen outings, none of which came close to capturing the look and feel of this first makeover. Crisply put together and with another in the line of great Christopher Lee monster characterisations, this Mummy is essential viewing for the creature feature horror fan. 8/10

England's Hammer Studios existed primarily as a distributor--until the low budget 1955 THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT suddenly put the studio on the map. Sensing an untapped market, Hammer began to develop similar titles and by the early 1960s developed a style that mixed Victorian sets and costumes with bouffant hairstyles, bared breasts, and lots of blood. The films were largely responsible for jolting the horror genre back to life on both sides of the Atlantic, as popular in the United States as they were in England.

Released in 1959, THE MUMMY was among Hammer's earliest color films and helped lay out the visual style that come to dominate "Hammer Horror" for more than a decade. Drawing from Universal's 1932 THE MUMMY and 1940 THE MUMMY'S HAND, it opens with a band of Victorian-era archaeologists in Egypt, where they discover the lost tomb of Princess Ananka--and in the process unleash a mummy cursed to guard her throughout eternity. It is a curse that follows the men back to England, where they are stalked to their deaths one by one.

Director Terence Fisher and cinematographer Jack Asher worked a number of Hammer films, including the earlier HORROR OF Dracula and REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Although some of the lighting may give you pause--judging from all the backlighting and colored filters it would seem the ancient Egyptians had mood lighting installed in their tombs--their efforts result in a series of truly arresting visuals; in their hands, bright color is no obstacle to moodiness. The cast plays it out extremely well, with the lovely Yvonne Furneaux a classic Hammer beauty, Peter Cushing as her archaeologist husband, and (yes, the posture and bearing really is unmistakable) Christopher Lee under wraps for the title role.

The DVD contains no extras beyond the original trailer, and although the transfer is not pristine it is nonetheless very good indeed. Hammer Horror may not save the world, but it is often a lot of fun--and THE MUMMY is easily among the studio's best. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Archeologists seeking lost tomb of Egyptian princess when a mummy is revived after thousand of years . An ancient Egyptian mummy is awakened from his centuries-old sleep when a royal tomb is desecrated . The very deadly mummy (Christopher Lee) takes avenge on some archaeologist (Felix Aylmer and his son played by Peter Cushing) who desecrated the tomb of his beloved princess (Ivonne Furneaux in double role ) . They go back to England and those consequences , to everyone's regret . The mummy slipping into English swamps where soon strangling people , meanwhile a Police Inspector(Eddie Byrnes) is investigating the strange deeds . However , the mummy attacks and suddenly stops when believes Furneaux is reincarnation of ancient sweet heart .

Horror Hammer classic with effective atmosphere , sense of awe and wonder along with fine performances . Entertaining blend of thrills , chills , drama and action . Remarkable makeup and eerie scenes make it chilling and frightening . Peter Cushing is terrifying as obstinate archaeologist who is attacked by the mummy incarnated by Christopher Lee holding a heavy makeup. Colorful and atmospheric cinematography by usual Hammer cameraman Jack Asher . The motion picture is well directed by Terence Fisher . Rating : Better than average , it's high-power entertaining . Superb atmosphere , flavorful music , make this one of the best terror movies from Hammer , using intelligence and interesting dialogue rather than guts and blood to horrify its audience . In spite of its age this all time classic has lost none of its qualities. It's followed by ¨Mummy's shroud¨(1967) also produced by Hammer Films, directed by John Gilling with Andre Morell and Elizabeth Sellars.

Other pictures about Mummy character are the following : the Universal classic (1933)¨The mummy¨ by Karl Freund with Boris Karloff and David Manners , that ahead many follow-ups as sequels as ¨¨Mummy's hand (1940) with Dick Foran and Cecil Kallaway . And modern updating full of computer generator FX as ¨The mummy¨(1999) by Stephen Sommers with Brendan Fraser , Rachel Weisz , John Hanna and ¨Mummy returns¨with similar players.