The Mummy (1959)

With the global success of Horror of Dracula (1958) and Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Hammer pictures made a co-production agreement with Universal International. Finally Hammer were able to take advantage of the multitude of classic horror titles owned by the American company. Phantom of the Opera (1961) was to follow, but first came The Mummy.

Egypt, 1895; Stephen Banning, his son John (Peter Cushing) and Joseph Whemple are digging for the tomb of Princess Ananka. Eventually they find it but tragedy strikes - left alone in the tomb for a moment, Stephen Banning sees something that sends him insane.
Three years later and back in the UK, Stephen (committed to a nursing home since the events of the prologue) attempts to convince his son that a mummy is after him, but fails. However he is right; Mehemet Bay, a dedicated servant of the god Karnak has brought Kharis (Christopher Lee) a living mummy from Egypt, to reek revenge on the three men who desecrated the tomb of Ananka. Kharis breaks into Stephen Banning's room and brutally kills him. Recalling the legend behind Ananka's burial and the burying alive of Kharis - cursed to protect the tomb of Ananka for all time - John realises that there is a mummy out there, and it has been ordered to kill him...

Based on the five films in the Universal horror series Jimmy Sangster's script takes the revenge seeking Kharis from The Mummy's Hand (1940) while borrowing the forbidden love from The Mummy (1932). With all this taken into account, the plot is pretty straight forward and is easy to follow - allowing Cushing and Lee some good screentime - and with a rather wicked sense of humour running throughout. Like many of the Hammer films, much of the violence in the scripts was toned down prior to filming, Sangster had a way with words and the violent deaths due to many of the cast were enough to rile the censors.

Terence Fisher is directing the duo for the fourth time in the period horror setting that he had become very accustomed too, and the film has his usual mix of long tracking shots but pretty standard camera angles. The lighting hues, with their mixture of reds and greens bring to mind the Italian directors Mario Bava and Dario Argento - the scenes in Ananka's tomb are very good examples. The production design is highly impressive, an Egyptologist was brought in to ensure that all the details were totally accurate, the highlight being a lengthy funeral procession. The British sets also look solid. Franz Reizenstein gives a very big and impressive score that manages to outdo even the elaborate Universal scores of the 1930s.

After a brief chance to play a normal man opposite Peter Cushing in Hammer's less sucessful Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Christopher Lee returns to the role of the monster. Inbetween his Dracula - an unsympathetic, evil character - and Frankenstein's creation, a deeply tragic character, Lee gives the Mummy a sense of determination, but also of emotion in later scenes. An extended flashback to 2000 BC gives Lee a chance to play Kharis prior to mummification, just as Boris Karloff was afforded in the 1932 film. Peter Cushing brings his usual charm and attention to detail to his role, and some nice lively action to the fight scenes. The rest of the cast similarly pull their weight and the usual Hammer regulars are on hand in the background, Michael Ripper and George Woodbridge should be instantly recognisable.

An impressive film, and although not Hammer's best, it stands out as one of their better entries and comes highly recommended for Hammer film fans. Those new to the company may wish to check out Curse of Frankenstein (1957) or Horror of Dracula (1958) first.

Anyone famous in it?	Christopher Lee - Hammer Horror mainstay, and recently, everything from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars. Peter Cushing - Hammer's frequent leading man, also star of Star Wars (1977).
Directed by anyone interesting?	Terence Fisher - Hammer's main man at the time. Directed Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Horror of Dracula (1958) as well as most of the Frankenstein sequels.
Is it scary?	No, although creepy at times.
Any gore?	The Mummy takes several gunshots, and there are several brutal but bloodless fistfights.
Any sex?	No.
Who is it for?	Certainly for fans of Hammer Horror, and Mummy films.
Good soundtrack?	Big orchestral score, fits well.

Visuals	Original Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1 widescreen (although titles and first shot are in 1.66:1). Anamorphically enhanced. Colour. The image looks great, some very light grain and speckles, but nothing noticable.
Audio	English language mono. French and German mono dubs.
Subtitles	English, English HOH, German, German HOH, French, Swedish, Danish, Turkish, Greek, Arabic
Runtime	Main Feature: 1hr 24m 16s
Extras	The disc includes: The original theatrical trailer - 1.66:1 anamorphic - (2m 18s)
Packing	Standard Amray case.
Region	Region 2 (UK) - PAL
Other regions?	R1 USA, R2 France or R4 Australian releases - identical.
Cuts?	The film is fully uncut. English language print.

The Film

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