The Mummy Lives!

 

 (the moviedb.org)

THE MUMMY-1959-Steve Banning (Felix Aylmer), his brother John (Peter Cushing) and their uncle Joseph (Raymond Huntley) are digging around ruins in Egypt. After finding princess Ananka, Steve accidentally calls forth her mummy guardian and goes crazy. Years later, an Egyptian brings the mummy to Steve (now in an asylum) in England. A flashback reveals how it all came about. How when the princess died and high priest Kharis tried to bring her back to life, was caught and buried alive. The now mummified Kharis (Christopher Lee) goes for revenge, killing Steve and Joseph. His killing of John fails when he notices that John's wife Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux) resembles the princess. A disbelieving police inspector (Eddie Byrne) helps set up Kharis in the finale. 

Another great Hammer horror picture directed by Terence Fisher, a remake of the 1933 Boris Karloff film.

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Shot On Location!

 

 

 (imdb)

DAWN OF THE MUMMY-1981-In ancient Egypt, a mummy is entombed with a curse placed on it to whoever tries to break in. In the modern day, a group of photographers and models go to the desert for a shoot while some grave-robbers look for an ancient treasure. After a lot of talk the mummy comes back to life and brings some other mummies with him. They turn out to be cannibals too. Later the mummy horde invades a wedding, killing and eating guests and the bride and groom. 

This was shot mainly in Egypt with too much talking, dark scenes and actors bellowing when scared. The director Frank Agrama also made QUEEN KONG (1976) and later was involved with the US production of the Japanese anime ROBOTECH.

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Karloff's Ghoul

 

 (imdb)

THE GHOUL-1933-0n his deathbed Prof. Morlant (Boris Karloff) prays to the Egyptian God Anubis and gives instructions to his servant Laing (Ernest Thesiger). It seems Morlant had a sacred jewel "The Eternal Light" in his possession. His lawyer (Cedric Hardwick) seems to want it. He tries to dissuade Morlant's nephew and heir Ralph (Anthony Bushell) from visiting the estate. Ralph hooks up with his cousin, Morlant's niece Betty (Dorothy Hyson) and they investigate along with Betty's comic relief roommate Miss Kaney (Kathleen Harrison). At the place they meet the lawyer and the servant and a bike riding priest (Ralph Richardson). They are also visited by Aga Ben Dragore (Howard Huth), former owner of the jewel and the knife wielding Mamoud (D, A. Clarke-Smith) who becomes the professor's first victim when he comes back to life. Laing is next as he stole the diamond not believing his master would be back. After Morant dies again, there's a couple of twists in the finale and the cousins get trapped in the burning tomb. It also seems the whole premise was not really supernatural. 

This Gaumont British UK production is dark, quirky and dated. It was the first film Karloff made in his homeland in 20 years and did well in England but failed at the US box office. It's also the only film Karloff made after his brief departure from Universal Pictures (he later signed a new contract with them). 

The film was thought lost for many years. In the late '60's William K. Everson discovered a battered and cut version of the film in a vault in Czechoslovakia (with Czech subtitles). Much later a negative of the film was found and restored. Director T. Hayes Hunter retired soon after making it. A year after THE GHOUL, Karloff had two highly acclaimed non-horror roles in THE LOST PATROL and THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD and would get back into the horror swing of things in Edgar Ulmer's classic THE BLACK CAT (with Lugosi).

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Blood Drinking Mummy

 

PHARAOH'S CURSE-1957-In 1910 Cairo British army Sgt. Storm (Mark Dana) leads a small party to an ancient tomb. Along with him is Sylvia Quentin (Diane Brewster) whose husband is at the site. While camping they meet the mysterious Simira (Ziva Rohann; billed here as Ziva Shapir) who wants to guide them so they'll get to the tomb quicker. Suddenly their food and water starts to disappear. When Sylvia is bitten by a scorpion they find their medical kit gone as well but Storm saves her. Meanwhile Sylvia's hus-⁹band Robert (George N. Niese) decides to open the tomb despite the warnings of his colleague (Ben Wright). They discover a mummy but when Storm gets to the site he finds the tomb sealed, the mummy has vanished and strange footprints are found. Their guide (Simira's brother) starts to turn into a mummy! He later drains the blood from a donkey. The next day while everyone is exploring, the full fledged mummy kills a soldier and drinks his blood. 

A dead pharaoh has actually transferred his spirit into the guide and made him a wrinkled up blood drinking mummy. While the main group searches for the tomb their translator (Kurt Katch) is killed. Storm tries to stop the mummy but only gets its arm. Simira scares Sylvia who runs into a cave but she is rescued by a soldier. Quentin is killed in a cave in while following the mummy (who also seems to die). Simira was probably a cat goddess and it's decided the group won't tell the outside world about the discovery. 

Despite it's low budget PHAROAH'S CURSE has some creepy scenes thanks to director Lee Sholem who'd directed SUPERMAN VS. THE MOLE MEN, TOBOR THE GREAT and a few in the Jungle Jim saga. Like a lot of fast but competent low budget filmmakers he went into TV. 

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More Weissmuller

JUNGLE MOON MEN-1955-Johnny Weissmuller plays Johnny Weissmuller who bares a strong resemblance to Jungle Jim in this low budget adventure (it's because the studio lost the rights to the JJ character). He helps a woman writer (Jean Bryon) try and find the source of life but instead runs into a tribe of “little men” (lead by Billy Curtis). Myron Healey is a trouble making guide looking for diamonds. The small safari captures the little leader and ties him to a tree. At night the rest of the tribe (Angelo Rossetto is there) disguises themselves as trees to save their leader. They also kidnap Bryon's macho boyfriend Bob (Bill Henry) and tie him to a tree. It turns out the tribe is working for “the moon goddess Oma (Helen Stanton from THE PHAN-TOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES the same year)) a blond haired white woman with ties to ancient Egypt! She wants to make Bob her high priest. In the end runaway lions ruin her empire and “Ra, the sun god” turns Oma into dust. 

This typical Sam Katzman Columbia production seems to choose the most un-African sets it can find (this was filmed on stuntman Crash Corrigan's ranch). JUNGLE MOON MEN is one of only a handful of movies Charles S. Gould directed as he was a busy assistant or second unit director.

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Chan Again!

CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT-1935-The unflappable (phony) Asian detective (Warner Oland) goes to Egypt to find a missing archaeology professor. Thanks to an x-ray machine they find him bandaged up in a sarcophagus instead of a real mummy! Chan tries to help the professor's daughter (Pat Paterson) and her injured brother (James Eagles) but winds up just getting blamed for all the bad things that happen. Her boyfriend Tom (Thomas Back) assists Chan who while investigating a tomb seems to be attacked by an Egyptian goddess! It's a little talky but builds up to a nice climax. Frank Reicher is a doctor and Rita Casino (later Hayworth) has a small role. Worst part: Stepin Fetchit as a frightened servant name Snowshoes.

 

 Director Louis King began in silent films and later made several Bulldog Drummond mysteries and the tearjerker THE WAY OF ALL FLESH (1940). One of the few entries in the series where Chan is not assisted by a son.

 

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Oblivious

SANDS OF OBLIVION (2007) is a pretty crappy TV movie that debuted on SYFY channel. It's actually based on a real event when Cecil B. DeMille finished making THE TEN COMMANDMENTS in 1923. The obsessed director had created a huge "city of the Pharaohs" in The Guadalupe desert around 170 miles north of L.A.  When filming was over he had the whole thing bulldozed and buried beneath the sand. Eventually artifacts began to appear and the place became known as "the lost city of DeMille". This boring production proposes that DeMille (played here briefly by THE SIMPSONS' Don Castellaneta) was a Mason and he buried some lost relic, (an "inverted pyramid") in the sands and some kind of jackal monster kills people. A giant cobra made of sand, an attack of locusts and a dune buggy car chase are the highlights and Academy Award winner George Kennedy has a small role as the guy kind of responsible for the mayhem. The initial plot is good but as usual it's undermined by bad acting, long stretches of talk and mediocre SFX. Director David Flores also made BOA VS. PYTHON and LAKE PLACID 2.

Two of the stars Adam Baldwin (as an archaeologist who overacts ("The Master has come for us!")) and  Morena Baccarin (as his ex-wife, also an archaeologist) had starred in the 2002 series FIREFLY. A TV actor Victor Webster is the hero who says things like "weapon up" and "walking meat puppet" and has to fight cardboard cutout ancient Egyptians!

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Hash

SINISTER HARVEST-1930-This is an early exploitation short added as a bonus feature on the Alpha Video DVD of MONDO BALORDO. It's suppose to be an examination of drug smuggling in Egypt. It shows how healthy strong Egyptians males become hashish junkies. They are shown in opium dens, smoking then getting caught. Some victims go through cold turkey while others are beggars and outcasts. Some are sent to “the pit”. The narrator's ever bombastic voice mentions that all this could happen in America with the repeal of the 18^th amendment (prohibition)! And just three years later it would be repealed! This version is called SINISTER MENACE (a re-release from 1934) and is presented by Dwain Esper. (MANIAC, MARIHUANA). It's very bleak...

 

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More Hammer Mummies

BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB-1971-In this Hammer "mummy" entry, a dead (but amazingly preserved) Egyptian queen named Tera (Valerie Leon) is brought back to England by Prof. Fuchs (Andrew Keir; Quartermass in 5 MILLION MILES TO EARTH). Unfortunately it's at the exact same time his wife gives birth to their daughter. Several years later when the daughter Margaret (also played by Leon) is an adult and the result of the expedition is still a mystery Tera takes control of Margaret and she slashes several throats.

James Villiers is a weirdo scientist who thinks he can control Tera with "the scroll of life". George Coulouris plays a fellow scientist confined to an asylum. It's a nice little horror movie with good flashback scenes, some bloody deaths and an interesting, unexpected climax.

The production was shrouded by some bad luck. Peter Cushing was the original Fuchs but left early when his wife passed away. Director Seth Holt (who had made THE NANNY and SCREAM OF FEAR earlier for Hammer) died before completing the film and it was finished by studio head Michael Carreras.

Unfortunately the very hot Valerie Leon never really had another role like this but strangely made appearances in two movies featuring James Bond (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME with Roger Moore and NEVER SAY NEVER with Sean Connery). It's based on a story "Jewell of The Seven Stars" by Bram Stoker and there's a character in the film named Tod Browning!

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