The Mummy, The Mummy's Hand and it's sequels.......

[zombiehorror]

Just finished with The Mummy's Curse and thought I'd share some comments/thoughts on the whole affair!

The Mummy; Just what the hell was Imhotep/Ardeth Bey up to for 10 years in between the time he "went for a little walk" and when he proposes the dig for Ankhesenamon's tomb to the archeologists?  That might make for an interesting piece of fan fiction!

The Mummy's Hand; 40 min to get to some Mummy action in a movie that is only 66 min long?  The blacked out eyes are a cool touch.  In the beginning of the film the High Priest of Karnak warns Adoheb that, "Should Kharis obtain a large amount of the fluid, he would become an uncontrollable *monster*, a soulless demon with the desire to kill and kill. " and yet after he is given more than 3 tana leaves we never see this uncontrollable monster?!?  Although he is presented here like some kind of drug addict out for his precious tana leaf fluid but he is always controlled by Adoheb.

The Mummy's Tomb; 10min of recap from The Mummy's Hand (in a film that is only 61 min) from the previous film which had only been released 2 years prior?  Why the heck did Andoheb wait 30 years to pass on the secret and avenge the defiling of Princess Ananka's tomb?!  The 9 tana leave uncontrollable monster here is amended in that 9 tana leaves are said to be needed to give Kharis movement.

The Mummy's Ghost; What Adoheb!?!  Didn't he die in The Mummy's Tomb!?   And if so then why the heck do these guys need to use Kharis just send Adoheb the immortal after the infidels!  And wait didn't he give that medallion to Mehemet Bey in the last film as well!?!  What do they do, get them things out of a box of Cracker Jacks?  Since Kharis already lives I suppose that Adoheb doesn't feel he needs to tell Mehemet Bey that to keep Kharis in a state of animation only 3 tana leaves are required, since he only tells him about brewing 9.  How is Kharis still able to function for the undisclosed amount of time without his 9 tana leaf tea!??  If he could go for such an extended period without it then why the urgency to kill for it in The Mummy's Hand and even in this film?  Kharis finally gets to use that lame right arm (something that he was told he'd have use of if he got enough tana brew in The Mummy's Hand), even if it was just for the time he was carrying Amina.  One of the most amazing things about this entry is that the girl is not only not saved but she also suffers a gruesome fate in the end.

Although the back story of these sequels (Hand thru Curse) is the same as The Mummy the love between Kharis and Ananka is pretty much put aside until the end of The Mummy's Ghost where we see him carry off his lost love; This continues to be the plotpoint in The Mummy's Curse where Kharis is no longer avenging  the defiling of Anaka's tomb but is hell bent on reuniting with her.

The Mummy's Curse; The obvious WTF in this flick is why did Universal go for the swamp/location being moved from New England to Florida!!?!  The time frame of this series is all over the map; You have The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb/Curse 30 years later and now The Mummy's Curse 25 years later from that (At least that's what Cajun Jo tells the folks at the cafe.)!?!?  So even if you can place Hand in the 1920's, Tomb/Curse would be 1950 and Curse would be 1970's!??  Unless of course Cajun Joe was lying about the events being 25 years ago.  On the other hand in order for Curse to take place in its modern filming time of 1944, Tomb/Curse would have had to be around 1919 and Hand in 1889.  Again unless Cajun Jo was just lying about the 25 year span, even still in order for this tale to take place in 1944, Hand would have had to be set in 1914 and that is only if the events in Curse happened immediately after those in Ghost; Though consistency of time period was never a strong point of the Universal Monster series.  Not sure either how Amina/Ananka came back from the dead since she was never given any tana leaf brew!?  She has also been restored to her younger self....I guess chillin' in a mud bath for a few years will restore anyone's youth?!

There is an open ended-ending here where both Amina/Ananka and Kharis are to be sent back to the Scripps Museum meaning that it will only take 9 tana leaves to begin the terror anew!

Although all the latter movies do a decent job on the Mummy's facial make up (though Karloff had the best/gauntest face for it) they fail miserably at the bandaging that was so incredibly done (and unfortunately hardly seen) by Jack Pierce for Karloff in The Mummy.  Kharis always looks like he's wearing a bandage suit instead of actual wrappings.  Also Ardeth Bey may not have been your typical mummy but he definitely would have made Kharis his bitch since Kharis had no free will of his own.

Lastly all these sequels could really use some TLC from Universal the prints of these on this legacy set are dreadful...watchable...but dreadful!

[Haunted hearse]

The original Mummy was a classic, the rest are so-so.  Getting Karloff out of the wrappings early, made for a much more interesting character, and his make up in the rest of the film, is subtle but effective.  Somehow, the idea of a lumbering guy who looks like he escaped from an ER, and goes after people so slowly, they have to stand like an idiot, so he can catch up to the victim, just doesn't work for me.  Outside of the Karloff Mummy, I find the "Mummy series" to be my least favorite of the classic Universal Horror films.

[Count_Zirock]

Other than the Karloff original, the rest of The Mummy series are just B-picture time-wasters. The sloppy continuity, ridiculous straying from previously established Mummy lore, time period/location jumping, and Chaney's stupified performances, just all add up to some of Universal's worst horror efforts.

[BaronLatos35]

But Ramsay Ames is FINE in Ghost, making it the only Kharis film I watch.

ZH, your idea about the fan fiction is a great one.

[RedKing]

I actually really enjoy the Kharis films a lot. The original Karloff film I always found slow but still wonderful for Karloff's understated performance and the gorgeous Zita Johan! The time periods of the Kharis films never bothered me. In the Universal horror world, the 40s styles never ended. This is true in many other film series such as the Return of the Fly which takes place 15 or 20 years after the original film but it still looks like the 50s and the Friday the 13th series with some films taking place years after the previous one, especially the time span between 4 and 6, yet it is always the 80s. however, the inexplicable change of locales was a horrible idea. Why they did that I'll never know! I actually never saw the Kharis films until I was in my 20s as they were among the few Universals my local UHF didn't have s a kid. They did used to show the Karloff Mummy and the hammer Chris Lee Mummy as  double feature alot. I think Kharis is  good character that deserved better films. I think Chaney did what he could with the role, but considering their wasn't much characterization and the fact that Chaney hated the role and was trying to act through bandages and  mask in terrible heat, well, what are you going to do? Kharis seems to have an almost Frankenstein level of strength too, especially in the last film when he plows though the stone wall. Universal should have done Frankenstein Meets the Mummy at some point.

[Rich]

I have to admit, when I watch the Mummy films I do not over think it like that. I just enjoy them at face value for being cool walking dead mummy movies. I prefer the Lon Chaney Mummy movies to the Brendan Fraiser ones. The Karloff film is a different movie entirely, but I really like the Chaney ones. They are fun.

[zombiehorror]

.........I do not over think it like that.

Unfortunately for these films there is no "over thinking" to it, it's all right out there in the open.....LOL!  Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed the flicks and especially if you just don't watch them in order, one after another, the plot/timeline flaws wouldn't stand out so much.

[Rich]

You are still over thinking it. These movies were made in the 40s where there was no DVD or even VHS. The writers of the sequels probably didn't remember all that technical story line crap that we (whi can fast foward and rewind a film at will) take for granted today. I don't even pay attention to some of the things you are considering to be flaws. I just watch them and enjoy them as being cool monster movies.

It's just like in House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein when the count is drinking wine!!!

The only flaw I can't get past is Bela Lugosi's reflection in the mirror in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. That is the only one I cannot forgive.

Remember, we take our 2012 mentalities and technology for granted. In the 40s they didn't have what we have. Back then it could be uncommon for a director to not see all the movies that came before theirs unless Universal provided a screening for them.

[Pauspy]

I'll have to side with red King and Rich on this one. i like the Mummy movies despite their numerous continuity flaws, in fact, they tend to be a movie of choice for me when I just want to kick back and unwind from a stressful day.

I think what ultimately limited the Mummy movies after The Mummy's Hand was a lack of any real new direction for the franchise. In The Mummy's Tomb  the characters were transported to New England, but we basically had the same plot as the first two movies....protect the princess. The Mummy's Ghost and The Mummy's Curse tweaked that a bit with the infamous location change in Curse, and some randiness exhibited by the "High Priest du jour", but then it's still "protect the princess". Could Kharis been animated for another purpose? We'll never know.

With the Frankenstein monster, they at least had some sort of story arc with Ygor's brain, etc., before they abandoned that in the "House of..." movies. With Dracula, they tried for a story arc with Dracula's Daughter/ Son of Dracula, then ending with House of Dracula where the Count was obstensively looking for a cure. With the Wolfman....well, ok, Larry Talbot just wanted his curse to end. In the Mummy movies, I think they were just made too late in the Universal monster cycle for the studio to care too much about being original. They knew what they were making and how much money it would produce.

That being said, I still enjoy these movies, especially the cuties they lined up to play the reincarnated Princess Ananka! 

Though I have to disagree with Red King of this one....Zita Johan always creeped me out. 

[Pauspy]

It's just like in House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein when the count is drinking wine!!!

I never thought of that. He did drink wine! Maybe losing half his moustache after the crash in House of Frankenstein made him need a stiff bracer of some kind. 

[Rich]

I don't think they were made too late to be cared about. They were made during the same time as the other sequels.

The interesting thing about the Lon Chaney Mummy movies is that it has been reported that Lon himself hated the Mummy character, but today most people associate mummies with what they created in the Lon movies with the walking dead bandaged creature.

[zombiehorror]

You are still over thinking it. These movies were made in the 40s where there was no DVD or even VHS. The writers of the sequels probably didn't remember all that technical story line crap that we (whi can fast foward and rewind a film at will) take for granted today. I don't even pay attention to some of the things you are considering to be flaws. I just watch them and enjoy them as being cool monster movies.

Thus why I said that if not viewed right away one after another you don't notice most of the stuff I mentioned.

It's just like in House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein when the count is drinking wine!!!

That just proofs that the count in those movies was not the real Count Dracula! 

The only flaw I can't get past is Bela Lugosi's reflection in the mirror in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. That is the only one I cannot forgive.

I've always felt it silly that vampires in films don't cast a reflection at all?!!  Surely their clothes would cast a reflection; There is nothing supernatural about their attire!  So since Dracula was hiding under the guise of Dr. Leighos and being surrounded by humans he merely applied some make-up and put some black dye in his hair....all of which would still cast a reflection!

Remember, we take our 2012 mentalities and technology for granted. In the 40s they didn't have what we have. Back then it could be uncommon for a director to not see all the movies that came before theirs unless Universal provided a screening for them.

The director?!!  They'd have had to start with the writer(s). 

Anyone ever read the book The Mummy Unwrapped: Scenes Left on Universal's Cutting Room Floor http://www.amazon.com/Mummy-Unwrapped-Scenes-Universals-Cutting/dp/0786437340/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326386976&sr=1-9 ?  Apparently it details the production of the Mummy sequels with stuff that was taken out of the scripts; Maybe some of that stuff would have made for more cohesive of a series!?!

[Pauspy]

I've always felt it silly that vampires in films don't cast a reflection at all?!!  Surely their clothes would cast a reflection; There is nothing supernatural about their attire! 

Or was there?? Dracula and his entire wardrobe turned into a bat, then re-appeared when he returned to human form. Without something "supernatural" about his clothes, he would get caught in his own cape when turning into a bat, and re-appear buck naked when resuming human form!

[zombiehorror]

Or was there?? Dracula and his entire wardrobe turned into a bat, then re-appeared when he returned to human form. Without something "supernatural" about his clothes, he would get caught in his own cape when turning into a bat, and re-appear buck naked when resuming human form!

Dammit...I was hoping no one would catch that!  Was his house coat then actually just his Dracula get up transformed?!??

[Pauspy]

maybe it's something to do with the "Dracula crest" n his ring. If it sports the logo, it makes the change. Kind of like "Thing ring, do your thing".