Masterful Movie

Excellent but underrated film

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

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.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 it's 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 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 therefore deserves some props for that. This film s 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 mummies eyes were scribbled out, giving Kharis here has 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's 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.Today's Rating/PG: Some implied violence.

1940's "The Mummy's Hand" was not a sequel to Karloff's 1932 "The Mummy," but a reworking of certain elements, creating the enduring image of the murderous mummy stalking victims on a bad leg, and strangling them with its one good hand. By far superior to its three followups, we begin with the introduction of George Zucco's Prof. Andoheb, secret High Priest of Karnak, whose duty is to protect the resting place of the Princess Ananka by maintaining the existence of the 3000 year old mummy Kharis, through a serum brewed with a specific amount of now extinct tana leaves. There are two basic reasons why none of the sequels measured up, first that this title was set in Egypt, utilizing stock footage from the 1932 original (which only reappears in the last, "The Mummy's Curse"), and second that Tom Tyler's mummy is actually scary, his eyes and mouth effectively blacked out in chilling closeups (poor Lon Chaney always wore a mask). George Zucco enjoys his most indelible role, repeated briefly in the following two entries, and veteran Charles Trowbridge endures the series' best remembered murder, unable to escape the grasp of the death dealing monster. With all the mayhem, the upbeat spirit never flags, with Dick Foran and Wallace Ford repeating their roles in the direct sequel "The Mummy's Tomb," set 30 years later. Included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s, "The Mummy's Hand" made five appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- Feb 12 1966 (following 1955's "Bride of the Monster"), Mar 1 1975 (last of a rare triple bill, following 1966's "Cyborg 2087" and 1945's "Captain Mephisto and the Transformation Machine"), July 24 1976 (following 1969's "Daughter of the Mind"), July 29 1978 (following 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein"), and Jan 22 1983 (solo).

The first in Universal's fun Kharis the mummy series. The plot is about a couple of archaeologists (Dick Foran and comic relief Wallace Ford) teaming with a magician and his daughter (Cecil Kellaway, Peggy Moran) to search for the tomb of the Egyptian princess Ananka. But George Zucco is entrusted to guard the tombs of Egypt and uses the living mummy Kharis (Tom Tyler) to try and stop the outsiders. Often referred to as a sequel to The Mummy, it's really not despite the use of stock footage from that film. The mummy character and his lost love are given different names in this one. Instead of Imhotep we now have Kharis and instead of Ankh-es-en-amon we have Ananka. Also, now instead of the mummy himself being in control of his actions, he's now controlled by George Zucco through use of tana leaves.The cast is great, with Foran and Ford surprisingly likable heroes. I say surprisingly because both men were hit or miss with me in some of their earlier work in the 1930s. Cecil Kellaway is always enjoyable. Peggy Moran is lovely and has a badass moment or two before becoming the damsel in distress. Tom Tyler is no Boris Karloff but the role really requires very little that a stuntman couldn't do. Tyler would go on to be in the Captain Marvel and Phantom serials, which are great fun. The real star of the film is horror legend George Zucco. He's one of those great old stars that made movies better just by his presence. He's awesome in this.While none of the Kharis series ever matched the original Mummy's quality, they do bring more action and humor to the table. Oh, and more mummy as well since Karloff's bandaged mummy only appears briefly in that film. In this series, the mummy is front and center throughout. This first film in the series is the best. It's a fantastic, old-fashioned horror-adventure film that young and old alike can enjoy. If you're a fan of Universal horror films like me, movies like this are a real treat and have immense rewatchability.

During the 1940's, Universal took their classic movie monsters and stuck them into lame formulaic sequels intended to make as quick a cheap buck as possible.This movie is unrelated to the classy, atmospheric Karlof film of 1933, but that didn't stop them from taking footage from the Karlof film and re-editing it with the new Mummy Tom Tyler (later replaced by Lon Chaney, Jr.) Still, this was the strongest of the four films, with interesting characters and concepts. George Zucco is a priest in charge of keeping folks away from this tomb, and he uses the Mummy of Kharis to do it. But the whole film is done on the cheap, barely above the action serials produced at the time.Dick FOran and Wallace Ford are a great pairing as the heroes (and are cheaply killed off in the sequel, for no good reason.)