Director: Christy Cabanne
Year: 1940
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Mummy
Plot:
Entering an archaeology expedition, a pair of amateur diggers discover the long-lost tomb of an ancient Egyptian mummy instead of their intended target princess and must try to stop the now-revived mummy who's awakened to punish the intruders.
Review:
While it's impossible to come anywhere close to the original, this one is actually surprisingly watchable. One of the better features here is the fact that it manages to get quite a lot out of its rather frenetic pace which really moves it along very well. The opening burial scene, told in flashback style, is quite effectively done and manages to create a real air of suspense not only with the action of him desecrating the tomb and being mummified while the overlaid narration of the fates depicted to everyone and the atmosphere that the other sequels rarely achieved. As well, the excavation is nicely played out, giving some really enjoyable moments playing into the curse amongst the locals while setting up the actual setup of the discovery later on.
Even the small attempts at humor early are a nice change of tone from the first one and are a welcome change in the beginning as they wander around the bizarre which brings them into the main storyline, which nicely gets dropped later on once at the actual dig site. Still, the film's best overall feature is that when considering the clichés of the mummy movie that became a staple of the sub-genre, this is the starting point for all the misconceptions about the genre, and it deserves some props for that. This film is where it all starts, from the concept of the slowly shuffling, bandage-wrapped title figure, Tana leaves, reincarnated princesses, mummification as punishment for forbidden love, and secretive Ancient Egyptian cults all come from here rather than the original. Along with the post-production magic where the mummy's eyes were scribbled out, giving Kharis here an eerie intensity missing from the remaining sequels these here all manage to make for a rather enjoyable time.
One of the few minor problems here is the fact that the differing tone from the first one is likely to not sit well with some, as it's now a knock-off of the Abbott and Costello films that would later actually become reality. Some of the jokes aren't even that funny and that might wear some out quite readily here as there are plenty of goofy scenes with the bumbling pair of friends and then the clumsy magician involved in the proceedings. As well, there's also the fact despite the short running time, there are several instances where stock footage has been inserted into the movie, and while it's not a great crime, the scenes that were selected are since they're not all that important to the film as a whole which results in some rather jarring scenes throughout here. Otherwise, this one here isn't all that bad.
Overview: ***.5/5
Surprisingly a lot of fun if slightly flawed, that there are not a lot of genuine flaws and still maintaining quite a lot to like about it will offer this as one of the better entries in the series. Those who appreciate the approach taken here, are fans of this particular period of the genre, or aren't bothered by the flaws could find this one rather enjoyable while only those turned off by these factors should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment