Mummy Movie Monday 2: The Mummy (1959).


 I've postponed the Universal Mummy again, delayed gratification.  Today, I'm looking at the next best thing: 1959's The Mummy from Hammer Films.

While this film borrows the title of the 1932 film, it practically strip mines the subsequent Universal films in the series, The Mummy's Hand, -Tomb and -Ghost (I'll be getting to them eventually).

Kharis, priest of Karnak (a who here, rather than a where)  violates the tomb of Ananka in order to bring her back to life.  This doesn't go as planned and he's discovered and mummified alive to be her protector through eternity.  He's played by Christopher Lee, and is just as effective in the wrappings and silent as he is all priestly.

In 1898, Kharis is reawaken by a British expedition that includes Peter Cushing.  And because of the way these things go, Cushings's wife looks JUST! LIKE! ANANKA!

There's the standard British archeological grave robbing because of course there is, and while they take Ananka, Kharis is left to be brought to England by a follower of Karnak.

There he wreaks vengeance on those who defiled Ananka's tomb.

This is all in Technicolor so it's quite lurid, as Hammer films tend to be. 

Unlike Dawn of the Mummy, this film is good for multiple viewings, especially with the "wait, what?" bad Egyptology.   Ananka's funeral procession is a highlight.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mummy Movie Monday 11: The Curse of King Tut's Tomb

Image
 After watching the NBC The Curse of King Tut's Tomb, I thought I could give the Casper Van Dien movie a try. I stopped at five minutes, forty-five seconds. I did try.  Really.   Despite being skeptical because it was a Hallmark production... the opening segment was... promising. CGI Ancient Egypt, with Tutankhamun there... Ok... And he was sent by Ra to defend the world from evil.   By evil, they mean CGI Set and his minions. By defend, they mean Tut has a buff bod and golden steampunk angel wings and flies out to slay the minions with his sword.   This is all under expository narration by Caspar (Omega Code*) Van Dien.   So Tut smashes the Emerald Tablet, forcing Set to return to his nether dimension and... Cut to dogsled in the Arctic.  Ol' Casper is an Indiana Jones class archeologist searching for the pieces of the Emerald Tablet, two previous pieces having been stolen from him by the Hellfire Council.  They show up as he's freed a third from some ice in a glacier cave
Read more

Let's Go Shopping!

Image
 This is inspired by a post in a Facebook group I'm in: someone was asking for gift suggestions for his wife.  I realized Museum gift shops would be the place to look. I have to apologize for the American centricness of the list.  If you have some suggestions, please include them in the comments.   My primary criteria is specifically a Museum shop with LOTS of Ancient Egyptian themed merchandise. Two exceptions: the Metropolitan Opera, thanks to their productions of Akhnaten and Aida, and what I can only imagine is the distributor to most of the American museums- but I suggest trying the actual museums first as they derive a lot of their funding from sales. Here we go: The Metropolitan Museum  in New York City The Getty Museum in Los Angeles The Field Museum in Chicago The de Young Museum in San Francisco The Louvre in Paris The British Museum in London The Egyptian Museum in Turin The Metropolitan Opera Shop for Akhnaten  and Aida The Museum Store Also- the links are pre-sor
Read more

Tutankhamun Thursday's: The Curse of King Tut's Tomb

Image
After last weeks post, I rented The Curse of King Tut's Tomb .. and I can see why nine year old me found it fascinating. Unfortunately, I am not nine anymore. There's a lot to unpack here, both good and bad. I watched the 2016 Miniseries Tutankhamun and that covered the same ground, but because of technology and budget was a superior production.  This has it's retro- charm though. Productiin: Location! Exteriors were filmed partially in Egypt.  And and and! Because it was Lord Carnarvon, they filmed scenes at Highclaire Cstle.  Like the weirdest episode of Downtown Abbey. A seance in the saloon (yes, that's whats it's called- think Christmas tree at Downton Abbey).  The library.  In fact, because we've watched entirely too much Downton Abbey, Perry was able to identify a piece of furniture. (Reuphoistered since this was filmed). Cast: Howard Carter was played by Robin Ellis, lead in the 70s Poldatk, but the first billed was Eva Marie Sait, playing a fictional jo
Read more