1930's in Canada // Entertainment

The Mummy Review

The Mummy, directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff, is an exciting piece of suspense, tension and horror.  Once again, Karloff scores with another deeply disturbing performance.

The movie starts out in Egypt, where a team of archaeologists are unearthing an old tomb.  They uncover a sarcophagus complete with a mummy.  However, there are unusual marks in the coffin, which leads the archaeologists to deduce that the mummy, Im-Ho-Tep (Karloff), was buried alive.  As a result of Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher) reading aloud from the Scroll of Thoth, the mummy Im-Ho-Tep comes back to life.  The three archaeologists promptly leave Egypt and return to England.

Several years later, one of the archaeologists’ son, Frank Whemple (David Manners), returns to Egypt.  Im-Ho-Tep, who is using the name Ardeth Bey (an anagram for ‘Death by Ra’ – Ra is an Egyptian god) and Frank are soon looking for another tomb – the one of Im-Ho-Tep’s beloved Anckesen-Amon.  Anckesen-Amon is unearthed and placed in a museum.

Another woman comes into the story then, Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann).  She has past relations with Im-Ho-Tep and, due to his power, falls in love with him.  Im-Ho-Tep returns the affections, which forms a love triangle between Helen, Im-Ho-Tep and Anckesen-Amon.  But then, to complicate the matters, Frank develops a tendre for Helen.  The love triangle develops another side.

Far more than just a monster flick, The Mummy provides a story full of depth, mystery and romance.  The film work is simply astounding and the atmosphere is satisfyingly creepy.  Freund proves to be as adapt as a director as he is a cinematographer.