La Malédiction des pharaons

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!

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.

When Hammer started making horror movies in the 1950s that were inspired by some of the classic Universal movies of the 1930s they had to tread carefully. Universal threatened legal action if they copied the makeup of their Frankenstein's monster for example, which is the reason the Monster (played by Christopher Lee) looked quite different to Karloff's in Hammer's 'Curse Of Frankenstein'(1957). By the time they made 'The Mummy' two years later some kind of understanding had been entered into and this movie, though it isn't credited as such, and the characters names have been changed, is pretty much a remake of the 1932 Universal classic which starred Boris Karloff. Once again Lee plays the Karloff role, except a second character played by George Castell has been created for this version, so we don't get to see Lee without his bandages, apart from a brief flashback sequence. Peter Cushing plays the leading man role, an archaeologist who is initially sceptical but soon must accept the existence of the Mummy. Yvonne Furneaux plays Cushing's devoted wife who is also a dead ringer for Princess Ananka, the woman the Mummy loved centuries earlier. Furneaux is probably best remembered for playing Catherine Deneuve's sister in Polanski's classic 'Repulsion', and also appeared in another sixties art film classic Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita'. Cushing gives a terrific performance as usual. I've yet to see a Hammer movie where he didn't. Lee makes a menacing Mummy, even more powerful and threatening than Karloff's. Though I still love the original version of 'The Mummy' this one is almost as good. In fact it's very difficult to choose one over the other. Both come with my highest recommendations and wipe the floor with the recent tongue in cheek versions starring Brendan Fraser et al. It's a pity that Hammer didn't make more Mummy movies starring Cushing and Lee. I do however highly recommend Hammer's 'Blood From The Mummy's Tomb', even though it has no connection to 'The Mummy' and doesn't feature either actor.

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