The Mummy Lives

I can only agree with most of the negative reviews on many levels, however I found it strangely compelling for all the wrong reasons.

There were elements I enjoyed, but after reading one reviewer state with apparent seriousness, that this film is superior to the Hammer Classic in 1959, that in itself is probably one of the greatest pieces of comedy I have read in years.

Tony Curtis was totally miscast, comparing his casting to the casting of Christopher Lee is plainly ludicrous.

Christopher Lee was often cast as Foreigners due to his imposing height and darker looks, especially in Swashbuckling roles before he achieved fame in the Hammer Horror films.

Tony Curtis looks like an Italian Restaurant owner at a fancy dress party, but don't get me wrong because I normally like him in most films.

In the Hammer Classic, Christopher Lee was able to add pathos to the character with astonishing effectiveness, just with skilfull use of his eyes.

He was able to project the eternal sadness of a man who died for his love, he wasn't just some lumbering soulless monster.

The only advantage this movie has over the Hammer Classic are the location shots, but describing the sets of the Hammer film as 'lame' shows no appreciation for the Excellent job done by the Hammer team or Art direction.

With low budgets, Hammer did wonders with set design, cinematography atmosphere , music and a stable of actors that The Mummy Lives could have benefited from.

The Mummy Lives can't even hold a candle to the Hammer Mummy sequels, let alone the Universal movies.

However I found it strangely watchable and enjoyable in a B-Movie way.

It has its moments and with better casting, direction and music, could have actually been quite memorable.

"The Mummy Lives" is an utterly worthless horror film that is so bad that I almost turned it off after 20 minutes of its projection time.Usually remarkable actor Tony Curtis is completely wasted as Aziru,an Egyptian high priest of the god Zoth,who come back to life as the mummy.He is looking for his long-lost love named Kia and swearing vengeance on the archaeologists,who excavated his tomb."The Mummy Lives" is a total waste of time.The plot is hackneyed and highly unoriginal and the acting is painfully bad.This is also one of the most annoyingly dull horror films I have suffered through.The action moves at snail's pace and there is absolutely no tension.Avoid this crappy howler like the plague.2 out of 10.

It's definitely lacking, with the costumes, lighting and acting. Nediocre direction, and Tony Curtis is definitely miscast.

However, had they been given a better script, and bigger budget, it could have actually been something really good.

Since I'm only familiar with the first Boris Karloff movie, as well as the newer series of course, I'm not quite sure how the Mummy movies work.

But I found it really interesting that the girl who the Mummy's after keeps getting these dreams and hallucinations as if she were mad.

It's a horrible film. It has plenty of potential. However, the fact that it's untapped makes it seem worse than it really is.

"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)

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.