Le fantôme de la momie

"The Mummy's Ghost" is a sequel to "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942). In that film Kharis the Mummy (Lon Chaney) perished in a house fire. Also the old high priest (George Zucco) dies of old age while handing over his powers to a new high priest. In this film we find out that not only did Kharis survive the fire unscathed but the old high priest turns up alive and shaking.

This entry has the High Priest Yousef Bey (John Carradine) being assigned the task of going to America to retrieve the mummies of Kharis and his queen Ananka. Hero Tom Hervey (Robert Lowery) is courting a beautiful Egyptian by the name of Amina Mansouri (Ramsay Ames). Meanwhile Yousef Bey sets about arranging to take the two mummies back to Egypt. To this end he unleashes Kharis upon the community to murder anyone who stands in their way.

At the same time Amina starts to experience blackouts as she is being gradually taken over by the spirit of Ananka (the "ghost" of the title) to become the re-incarnation of Queen Ananka. This suddenly becomes a point of issue between Kharis and Yousef Bey until......

Becoming a "B" movie second feature series, the films did nonetheless benefit from Universal's expertise in making this kind of film. Although it features a "B" list cast and runs a scant 61 minutes, it is still an entertaining way to spend an hour.

Lon Chaney would continue in the role of the Mummy in "The Mummy's Curse" (1944) the final film in the series.

This mummy film is one of a series of four produced by Universal Pictures in the 1940s--well after their original film starring Boris Karloff. While none of these films opened up a lot of new ground, they were good escapist fun--for kids and adults willing to suspend reality and have a good time. I personally LOVE these old Universal horror films--even the lesser ones like this film. This one's plot isn't so special (except once again the mummy somehow makes it to America), but it stands out due to the acting of George Zucco and John Carradine--two wonderful veteran horror actors who played up the campiness of the film and made it far more entertaining.

The film looks a lot less impressive than the newest mummy films from Hollywood, but they still managed to be fun. Plus, the newer films, in my opinion, lack fun because they are so special effects-driven. See this film and have a good old fashioned time.

The Mummy's Ghost is the third of four movies in the original "The Mummy" franchise.

It follows on from the previous film and yet another high priest has risen our mummy (Played again by Lon Chaney Jr). Once again he is after the reincarnation of his original love. Trouble is this is the third time we've seen the same plot.

I'm not saying The Mummy's Ghost is any worse than the rest, it's just the same thing.

What it does have however is a very shocking and surprising finale that I found very entertaining. Movies from this time tended to be very predictable so this came as a surprise.

For fans this will entertain, but it could easily have been a stand alone movie.

The Good:

Fantastic finale

Well enough made

The Bad:

Some very hammy acting

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Fainting was a big thing for women in the 1940's

Mummy tantrums are hilarious

Ancient egyptian bandages were bullet proof

Third in the Universal Kharis series, continuing after THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1942). Despite the increasingly familiar nature of these Mummy sequels, this one still has enough to make it brisk and enjoyable. A significant boost is added in casting John Carradine as the newest high priest who keeps Kharis (Lon Chaney) well fed and back on the march - this time with a new angle in trying to reunite the mummy with his princess Ananka, who is now reincarnated into the form of a sexy modern woman (Ramsay Ames).

For some lucky reason, Chaney thankfully invests some character into Kharis this time, allowing him to become visibly angered, frustrated, and even saddened during the course of the movie. The biggest drawback for this chapter is that Robert Lowery and Ramsay Ames are pretty lousy as the two leading lovers. Universal stock music is used to great effect in many sequences, and there is an offbeat ending that may be the best one of the series.

*** out of ****

The Universal mummy series takes a step down with each entry but they're all fun. This time high priest George Zucco sends John Carradine after the infidels. Lon Chaney, Jr.'s back as the mummy, despite seemingly dying in the last film (we never saw an actual death, to be fair). Carradine tries to get the mummy of Princess Ananka but discovers her soul has been reincarnated in the body of a young woman (Ramsay Ames). Robert Lowery plays the leading man and Barton MacLane plays a cop. Ramsay Ames is a beautiful leading lady. It's easy to see why Lowery, Carradine, and even Kharis are crazy about her. Maybe these sequels are a little repetitive, but they're good times for me. I love Universal horror films. The Mummy series are short, fun escapist adventures with horror and some romance added to the mix. This one isn't the best but it's entertaining. Surprising ending too!