La mummia

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

Director Terence Fisher and crew at Hammer Films revives life in the MUMMY. Horrific color and a much livelier and threatening wrapped menace is the modern slant on the 1930's original.

Boris Karloff was almost mystic in the title role decades ago. Stealing some of his thunder is Christopher Lee. Lee is down right wicked and relentless. And in his own way, just as scary as Karloff.

Peter Cushing brings a double whammy to this movie. More shakes and shivers. Also in the cast are Yvonne Furneaux, George Pastell, Raymond Huntley, David Browning and Michael Ripper.

What a way to spend a rainy night. Curl up with this and the original. Yikes!

Egyptian Mummies are fascinating creatures - yet I am sure that I'm not standing alone with the opinion that their representation in Horror cinema is a bit weak compared to other Horror creatures. And I don't mean to say that there were too few Mummy films made, but that great Mummy films are quite rare. The only Mummy film that I would really consider an absolute masterpiece is Karl Freund's brilliant "The Mummy" of 1932 starring Boris Karloff. While no other Mummy film has ever come close to the brilliance of the Karloff film, Hammer's 1959 re-telling of the story is easily my second-favorite of all Mummy films I've seen. After the success of "The Curse Of Frankenstein" (1957) and "Horror Of Dracula" (1958), two true Classics which revolutionized British Horror cinema, Hammer's dream-team, Horror-icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster and director Terence Fisher reunited for "The Mummy" (aka. "Terror Of The Mummy") in 1959. And while this is not quite as brilliant as the two aforementioned films, in my opinion, "The Mummy" is definitely a great and wonderfully picturesque Horror film that can easily be considered a Hammer Classic.

When British archaeologists, one of them John Banning (Peter Cushing) discover an ancient Egyptian tomb, they open the grave of a priestess who died 4000 years earlier. The desecration of the grave of the priestess unleashes a curse, which awakes the vengeful guard Kharis (Christopher Lee) who had been buried with the priestess... And what could be more entertaining for a lover of Gothic greatness than seeing a vengeful Egyptian Mummy haunt a Hammer-style Victorian England, even more so if this vengeful Mummy is played by none other than the all-mighty Christopher Lee? Lee himself once stated that this was his personal favorite of his Hammer films. It is hard to say why, as the role that initially earned him his status as one of Horror's all-time greatest was certainly that of Dracula; my guess is that he must have gotten tired of the Dracula role after a while. Yet it is more than understandable that Lee was fond of this film. "The Mummy" has a unique elegance in settings and colors, and some of the scenes, which I won't give away, are truly immortal moments of Gothic greatness. The equally great Peter Cushing is, as usual, brilliant in the role of the scientist John Banning. Director Fisher once again delivers the great trade-mark Hammer elements (foggy grounds, eerily luscious colors,...) in a particularly beautiful manner and Franz Reizenstein's score intensifies the gloomy atmosphere. All things considered out of Hammer's three original re-tellings of stories that had already been told in Universal Pictures in the 30s, "The Mummy" is not quite as essential as "Curse Of Frankenstein" and "Horror Of Dracula". It is, however, nonetheless a highly atmospheric, haunting, beautiful and downright great Gothic classic that no Horror fan can afford to miss!

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.

The Mummy is the Rodney Dangerfield of classic monsters -- he gets no respect. But Hammer's sumptuous, beautifully filmed and acted treatment is as good as your going to find. It is also the most detailed mummy film around, with the recreation of its Egyptian tomb gorgeous and authentic. Christopher Lee is little short of brilliant in the thankless title role, actually managing to giving a compelling and at times touching performance through only his eyes and body language. Peter Cushing is superb as always (and was it a deliberate decision to make his character's lameness a wry twist on the fact that Kharis the mummy was always lame in the old Universal movies?), as is Hammer semi-regular George Pastell in the stereotypical mummy-controller-in-the-fez part. The supporting cast is also classier than usual for Hammer: Sir Felix Aylmer as Cushing's father is wonderful, aging amazingly convincingly and establishing himself as one of the great gibberers of the cinema; while Raymond Huntley is solid as Cushing's sensible uncle (and as London's first stage Dracula, one wonders what conversations he must have had on the set with Lee). Hammer regular Michael Ripper also has one of his best parts as a sodden eyewitness to the mummy's activities. Director Terrence Fisher (another Rodney Dangerfield) contributes many memorable touches, though probably none so effective as the agonizing sloooooooowwwwness with which the stone door of the secret chamber concealing the cursed Kharis closes, which emphasizes the horrific agony of living burial. Everything in this film works, and some elements, such as the photography and the excellent music score, exceed even Hammer's usually high standards. "The Mummy" might be the British studio's best film. It is certainly one of their best.