“Did it ever occur to you that beneath the superficial you’ve learned about, there could be a great and passionate devotion to this god?”
When it comes to The Mummy, few films have delivered anything close to Universal’s original 1932 film with Boris Karloff in the role of Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian mummy who was killed for attempting to resurrect his dead lover, Ankhesenamun. That’s a sad fact when you think of how many film versions there are featuring mummies; however, Hammer Studios came the closest to topping the original film with their slightly more macabre turn at Egyptian fantasy.
That was in 1959 and Hammer Studios would soon be at the very trippy top of their horror game thanks to the usual players of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Terence Fisher, Jack Asher, and Bernard Robinson. These fellows brought it all to the House of Hammer and, even in a contemporary setting, their work lays waste to all other competitors.
The film opens in Egypt and is set in 1895 as an archaeological dig is about to reveal the final resting place of a high priestess of the god Karnak. John Banning (Cushing), his father Stephen (Felix Aylmer) and his uncle Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley) are mere moments away from the unveiling, but they are warned against it by an Egyptian madman who pleads that the tomb remain undisturbed . . . and for good reason. Something unholy is located within and it is just waiting for the right moment to make its presence known.
It just needs the right words spoken. With those words, and aided by a masterful score from composer Franz Reizenstein, the monster hiding in the shadows gets exactly that with which to live again.
Okay, so maybe The Mummy is not as soul-stirring as other Hammer productions (but it does feature a semi-nude embalming scene featuring the lovely lady lumps of Yvonne Furneaux!!!) thanks to its historical bent, which may explain it got made in the first place. Maybe it’s because Cushing is side-lined for much of the story thanks to a leg which doesn’t heal as it should. Or maybe it simply stands in the shadow of the original 2 releases from the studio. That’s probably more likely the case because Lee, who gives one hell of an emotive performance beneath the make-up and wraps, simply kills as the monster. He’s fully in command here and delivers the spectacle and the supernatural flex needed for the role as he steals Cushing’s wife and tries to take her to the eternal swampy mud baths on a dark night.
But there are still issues with the final edit of Terence Fisher’s horror film. Most of that comes from the pacing of the movie as this is a film which probably spends too much time dwindling in the past, as Princess Ananka, the high priestess of the god Karnak is attempted to be resurrected by her lover, Kharis, and is punished for it with mummification and eternal life. It seems simple enough, but we spend a whole lot of time complicating this political move thanks to some extended flashbacks after Kharris is reanimated by archaeologist Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmer) who reads the Scroll of Life once inside the unearthed tomb.
Expertly photographed by cinematographer Jack Asher and acutely staged by Bernard Robinson, The Mummy stars Cushing, Lee, and Yvonne Furneaux as the woman at the center of this nightmare tale of resurrection. She’s in dual roles as both Princess Ananka and as Isobel Banning, Cushing’s wife. And this causes Kharis all sorts of grief as he, guided by an Egyptian named Mehemet Bey (George Pastell), is ordered to kill all those responsible for desecrating Princess Ananka’s tomb in 1895.
And, as usual, this updated take on The Mummy is based on Jimmy Sangstar’s screenplay. This time, though, he was prepared for Hammer’s surprise of pre-marketing the film with an excellent poster which showcases a shaft of light piercing the bandaged body of Kharis, the mummified high priest of Karnak. It’s a work of art which gave Cushing an idea on how to eventually stab and defeat the monster at the center of this tale which Sangster then worked into the final draft.
The Mummy, in spite of some additional weight due to a compounded backstory, remains a classic for Hammer Studios. Unfortunately, the blu-ray release from Warner Brothers Archive Collection is currently out of print and becoming hard to find.
Home Video Distributor: Warner Bros.
Available on Blu-ray - October 6, 2015
Screen Formats: 1.75:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Japanese, Spanish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono; French: Dolby Digital Mono; Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono; Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
In the 1890s a team of British archaeologists discover the untouched tomb of Princess Ananka but accidentally bring the mummified body of her High Priest back to life. Three years later back in England a follower of the same Egyptian religion unleashes the mummy to exact grisly revenge on the despoilers of the sacred past. Christopher Lee wraps on the moldy gauze bandages to become the tormented Kharis, an avenger stalking the hills of Victorian England to track down desecrators of his beloved’s Egyptian tomb.
Video
Scanned at 2k from an IP for this 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, the results are noticeably different from the previous blu-ray releases from Hammer by Warner Bros. Things are entirely too soft. Outside of that, the technicolor processing looks vibrant and the wardrobe looks great thanks to the pop in visuals.
Audio
The dialogue and the score is presented in a fine lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0 audio track.
Supplements:
While short on extras, the commentary is just a plethora of film history talking about everything from Whale to the actors to Pre-Code history and much more. It more than compliments the film well.
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
There is a trailer and that is it.
- Theatrical Trailer
| Movie |  |
|
| Video | |
|
| Audio |  |
|
| Extras |  |
|
|
Composite Blu-ray Grade
|
||
MPAA Rating: unrated.
Runtime: 88 mins
Director: Terence Fisher
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
Cast: Peter Cushing; Christopher Lee; Yvonne Furneaux
Genre: Horror | Sci-fi
Tagline: Nerve Shattering Shock
Memorable Movie Quote: "He who robs the graves of Egypt, dies!"
Theatrical Distributor: Hammer Films
Official Site:
Release Date: December 16, 1959
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: October 15, 2015
Synopsis: In 1895, British archaeologists find and open the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka with nefarious consequences.
