THE MUMMY'S CURSE (1944)
Huzzah, this is Universal Pictures' final Mummy film. Well, final until ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955) and Stephen Sommers' Indiana Jones-inflected revival of the franchise in 1999. But this is, at least, Universal's last classic non-comedic Mummy film, and none too soon given the evident lack of inspiration.[1]
When we last saw Kharis, he was sinking into a swamp in New England in 1944 with the reincarnated Princess Ananka in his dead arms. In this almost plotless sequel, it is still 1944 but somehow 25 years later and Kharis and Ananka are at the bottom of a swamp in a Louisiana bayou. That's magic for you. The swamp has to be drained by the government and Kharis' body is recovered by one of those nefarious High Priests[2] complete with an intact and continuity-impaired set of sarcophagusus.[3] Ananka digs herself separately out of the earth, and after a bath, turns into a normal-looking pretty young girl with immaculate makeup, perfectly styled hair, and pert bosoms à la Bettie Page. Kharis must chase her around, killing off several innocent bystanders, before once again carrying her off in her nightgown.
Not one person in this film is bright enough to discern that the most effective defense against the Mummy would be to walk briskly away from the whole shambling montrosity. Which is what Universal did, after this picture.
Horror audiences discovered they could do without the hoary Egyptian revenge angle, but at bottom the Mummy pictures are based on the idea of a monster as a relentless, inarticulate killing machine, a trope which has recurred frequently in the horror genre, and which has perhaps proven to be a more reliable formula than that presented by the more respectable Dracula and Frankenstein franchises.
Universal Classic Horror Blog Series Rating:
4 - For everyone
3 - For horror fans only
2 - For classic horror fans only
1 - For Pete's sake
0 - Paging MST3K
[1] The British firm Hammer Film Productions produced a film called THE MUMMY in 1959 starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as part of its series of licensed remakes of the Universal Horror monster franchises. All together Hammer Horror produced seven Frankenstein and nine Dracula films, but only one Mummy picture.
[2] I figure I should mention somewhere how the fact that in the Mummy sequels the one ethnic Muslim guy in town is always a religious fanatic devoted to mass murder has uncomfortable echoes in modern day fears about Al Queda operatives. Not so in the original THE MUMMY (1932), in which Boris Karloff's Imhotep was a free agent with no High Priest handler (also the setting was Egypt, not the United States). I would like to say that the racial prejudice angle really dates the film, but...
[3] Sarcophagi? "I want a sarcophagus for Christmas / Only a sarcophagus will do...."
When we last saw Kharis, he was sinking into a swamp in New England in 1944 with the reincarnated Princess Ananka in his dead arms. In this almost plotless sequel, it is still 1944 but somehow 25 years later and Kharis and Ananka are at the bottom of a swamp in a Louisiana bayou. That's magic for you. The swamp has to be drained by the government and Kharis' body is recovered by one of those nefarious High Priests[2] complete with an intact and continuity-impaired set of sarcophagusus.[3] Ananka digs herself separately out of the earth, and after a bath, turns into a normal-looking pretty young girl with immaculate makeup, perfectly styled hair, and pert bosoms à la Bettie Page. Kharis must chase her around, killing off several innocent bystanders, before once again carrying her off in her nightgown.
Not one person in this film is bright enough to discern that the most effective defense against the Mummy would be to walk briskly away from the whole shambling montrosity. Which is what Universal did, after this picture.
Horror audiences discovered they could do without the hoary Egyptian revenge angle, but at bottom the Mummy pictures are based on the idea of a monster as a relentless, inarticulate killing machine, a trope which has recurred frequently in the horror genre, and which has perhaps proven to be a more reliable formula than that presented by the more respectable Dracula and Frankenstein franchises.
Universal Classic Horror Blog Series Rating:
4 - For everyone
3 - For horror fans only
2 - For classic horror fans only
1 - For Pete's sake
0 - Paging MST3K
[1] The British firm Hammer Film Productions produced a film called THE MUMMY in 1959 starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as part of its series of licensed remakes of the Universal Horror monster franchises. All together Hammer Horror produced seven Frankenstein and nine Dracula films, but only one Mummy picture.
[2] I figure I should mention somewhere how the fact that in the Mummy sequels the one ethnic Muslim guy in town is always a religious fanatic devoted to mass murder has uncomfortable echoes in modern day fears about Al Queda operatives. Not so in the original THE MUMMY (1932), in which Boris Karloff's Imhotep was a free agent with no High Priest handler (also the setting was Egypt, not the United States). I would like to say that the racial prejudice angle really dates the film, but...
[3] Sarcophagi? "I want a sarcophagus for Christmas / Only a sarcophagus will do...."