MY REVIEW OF 'THE MUMMY'!!

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THE MUMMY(1959)
(Directed by Terence Fisher)

Plot: Archeologists uncover an ancient tomb, only to awaken a dangerous Mummy who has been ordered to destroy the intruders. Also known as “Terror of the Mummy”.

Review:

“The Mummy” is one of those Hammer horror flicks we all know and love so much. Why do we watch them? Because we love seeing Christopher Lee as some terrifying monster, Peter Cushing as the logical hero/anti-hero, and Fisher bringing in his usual dose of atmosphere to the proceedings. We also need to give credit to screen-writer Jimmy Sangster, whose intelligent scripts with crisp dialogue are every much important as the other three men. Together, they make THE HAMMER SQUAD. It’s with this in mind, that “The Mummy” actually feels like a let down compared to “The Curse of Frankenstein” and “Horror of Dracula”. It’s a good movie, but it lacks the strong narrative that the other films had.

The film starts off in Egypt, where my first criticism arises. I don’t want to say that the Egypt scenes look horrible, but they do look really artificial. Couldn’t they have actually shot some scenes in Egypt? Even Lucio Fulci’s “Manhattan Baby” did that and that one is far worse than this. Oh well…..Anyway, we meet archeologists Stephen Banning(Aylmer) and his brother Joseph(Huntley) as they find evidence that they may have found the lost tomb of Princess Ananka. Stephen enthusiastically brings this news to his son, John(Cushing), who’s also an archeologist. John has injured his leg so can’t go into the tomb when they finally do discover it. Stephen and Joseph enter but are warned by Mehemet Bey(Pastell). He tells them if they go into the tomb, they will surely die. Stephen brushes this off and enters the tomb, which looks way too clean. When Joseph goes to tell John, they hear a blood curdling scream from Stephen. When they find him, he’s gone mad, mumbling in fear. Thankfully, the Egypt scenes end here. Although we do get a scene of Mehemet claiming that the desecrators of the tomb will be punished.

Three years later in London, Stephen finally comes out of it. However, he keeps ranting about some Mummy he unlocked when he read from the scroll of life. Of course, John dismisses this as nonsense(he is Peter Cushing after all). Soon, we learn that Mehemet has arrived in London and has brought something with him. Soon, we learn that it is the Mummy(Lee), and Mehemet sends him to kill John, Stephen and Joseph. Stephen is the first to go in a surprisingly scary scene. John quickly deduces that it must be the Mummy, which I had difficulty buying. I’d presume that someone was probably pretending to be a Mummy. But then again, the killer had bent bars to get to Stephen. Strangely, no one seems to have noted this. So when debating on the issue, John explains to Joseph about the tragic story of Ananka and Kharis(who would eventually become the Mummy), which sort of kills the pacing, but is nicely staged. After that, the Mummy comes after them again, and it’s up to John to take care of business.

I’ve basically gone through all my criticisms of the film. The flashback was for expositions sake and the Egyptian recreation looks weak. I’ve seen worse, but as I said, it’s artificial. There are plenty of other holes and contrivances as well. I mean what are the odds that John’s fiancé Isobel(Furneaux) looks identical to Ananka? Also, one character is killed and I didn’t buy the reaction to his death. So yeah, there are a lot of problems.

Luckily, while “The Mummy” does a lot wrong, it also does a lot right. The film is full of suspense, atmospheric lighting and effective locations. Fisher really does a good job with staging his scenes. The camera work is just as good as anything else he’s ever done. But most of all, the attack scenes are full of intensity. The suspense is pretty good too. So while “The Mummy” had many flaws, it also has the strengths of it’s companion horror films.

What keeps the movie together is, as expected, the characters as they’re portrayed by their actors. It’s nice to see Cushing playing as a genuine good guy who’s also the center of the story. His Frankenstein was if anything, more of a monster than the actual monster. His Van Hellsing was a good guy, but he was never Dracula’s intended victim so it’s hard to call him the center of the story. Here, he’s a nice guy who loves his father and his wife. Sure, he’s still logical, but he’s also not closed minded. He’s the type of guy we’re willing to root for and Mehemet is his perfect opposite. He’s a villain, and we can’t bring ourselves to forgive him, but he’s sympathetic all the same. The debate between him and John is arguably the best scene in the movie because both sides make sense. What about the Mummy himself? Well, he’s really damn scary! The muddy bandages mixed in with his rotting face makes him unsettling, while his giant size and vicious determination makes him downright scary. Sure, he’s pretty stiff but he’s fast enough to catch people before they can do anything and strong enough to bust down doors. Finally, while the role of Isobel is small and tacked on, she’s also one of the few Hammer girls who actually ends up useful for once. Good for her!

Peter Cushing(John Banning) is always great. I also liked how he does his own stunts. He must’ve worked very hard on this. George Pastell(Mehemet) is marvelous as the villain. His scene with Cushing is pure gold. Eddie Byrne(Inspector Mulrooney) doesn’t have much of a role, but he does it well. Yvonne Furneaux(Isobel) is cute and plays her limited role to a T. Christopher Lee(Kharis/The Mummy) works in both roles, turning in a terrifying, but also tragic performance.

“The Mummy” is a must see. It has all the strengths of the previous hammer horror films, the crisp dialogue of “Quatermass and the Pit”, and some genuine scares. But it also has many problems of its own, notably some weak settings and a flawed narrative. But it works all the same, and I strongly recommend that you give it a try.

Violence: There is some, and the film was controversial in its day for it. But it could probably get away with a PG-13 rating today.

Nudity: None.

Overall: Watch the previous Hammer Horror flicks first, and then give this one a shot.

3/4 Stars

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