The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
Starring Lon Chaney
A Review by Joshua Taj Bozeman
Dec. 21, 2002 - 7:55 A.M. CT.

warning! spoilers below

First off, I must say I have very little knowledge on the subject of monster movies from the 30's and 40's. Secondly, I must mention that I don't think I have seen the original movie, and I'm not even sure which is which...there seem to be a million mummy movies out there. The Mummy's Tomb is from Universal, but I can't say for sure if it follows the original Mummy or not.

That all being said...without any prior viewing of any mummy movie, this is great entertainment either way. I guess you would have to list it in the horror genre, but being so old, and horror having changed so much in the past half a century, I wouldn't call it horror at all. I think all old horror movies are the same. It's more of remembering yesteryear, spending nearly two hours in what seems like a different world. I don't get a feel of realism from any old black and white films, but that's okay...you still enjoy the movie, and overall, it's nice to go back to the simple things. Little to no blood...violence that isn't really violent at all, characters that are overacted so badly that you just have to laugh every now and then. The Mummy's Tomb fits all of the old movie genre cliches- monsters that aren't scary (a man walking 2 feet an hour in bandages in hardly frightening), and characters who will buy anything with little evidence to back it up (the townspeople seemed all ready to accept that a 3, 000 year old mummy was the one on a killing spree.) In regard to the cliches...who cares, it doesn't affect the movie in the least. It, once again, brings you back to another world when movies were totally different than they are today.

The story of The Mummy's Tomb follows the lives of the guys who originally opened the sacred tomb of Kharis, unleashing an ancient curse. See...a group of high priests have kept Kharis alive by feeding him a mixture of leaves found in Egypt. 3 leaves will keep him alive, 9 leaves will give him movement. I must admit, the start of the movie was a bit confusing. We see a guy (Mr. Banning, I believe?) telling his family about the time he and his colleagues opened the tomb, and how they discovered the mummy inside was a live. Oh, that, and the fact that the mummy arose and started killing off everyone who was involved in the archeaological dig that unearthed his tomb. We see flashbacks, which I guess might be from the original Mummy, and we see present day where Banning and his family are in Massachusetts reliving the tales of old thru the older Banning. Younger Banning and his fiancee are there, as are a few other characters, but to be honest, I wasn't so sure who they were. There was very little in the way of character development, and maybe it's just me but, all the actors looked the same! Anyhow- after we hear the story of the mummy who killed off the people involved with the dig, besides Banning and another man...we see a high priest in Egypt, boarding a ship with the tomb of the very mummy that attacked the men years before. He is keeping him alive with the leaves, and he wants Kharis to kill the remaining men who were part of the dig and their relatives. So, off to America they go. The high priest takes over as caretaker at a cematary, where he lives with Kharis...still in the tomb, but ready to kill. After giving him 9 leaves, the amount needed to give the mummy movement, he sends Kharis off to kill. The mummy starts off with attacking the older Banning, and fleeing. The other family members are shocked, but have no idea who could have done the killing. Kharis goes back to the cemetary, and once again waits for the orders to kill again. This continues for a while, until the high priest himself falls in love with the younger Banning's fiancee...he orders the Mummy to bring the woman to him. Detectives from around the area search for clues, finding a clay substance on the necks of the victims which can only be found in Egypt. It's clear that the killer is indeed the mummy, and they need to find him.

I will leave the story there...as to not spoil the ending. I think this is a really enjoyable movie. It's full of light suspense, a few good laughs, and a nice little look into old- time hollywood filmmaking. The mummy isn't too bad himself. I never understood why people can't get away from him. He walks so slowly, yet they refuse to run past him. Just another part of the 1940's horror movie charm. If you're a fan of any of the Universal Monster Movies, or a fan of any old black and white horror movies in general, you might enjoy this one- I did.

I have The Mummy's Ghost as well, and will be reviewing it next...

NOTES: The flashback clips in the movie are actually from the 1940 movie, The Mummy's Hand, not the original Mummy as I thought.