The Mummy (1932)

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 73 MINS
WRITERS- NINA WILCOX PUTNAM, RICHARD SCHAYER AND JOHN L. BALDERSTON
STARRING- BORIS KARLOFF, ZITA JOHANN AND DAVID MANNERS
DIRECTOR- KARL FREUND





Synopsis taken from IMDb
In 1921 a field expedition in Egypt discovers the mummy of ancient Egyptian prince Im-Ho-Tep, who was condemned to and buried alive for sacrilege. Also found in the tomb is the scroll of Thoth, which can bring the dead back to life. One night a young member of the expedition reads the scroll out loud, and then goes insane, realizing that he has brought Im-Ho-Tep back to life. Ten years later, disguised as a modern Egyptian, the mummy attempts to reunite with his love, an ancient princess who has be reincarnated into a beautiful young woman.



Let me start this one with some respect to a horror legend and icon. A face everyone knows.

BORIS KARLOFF 1887-1969

Grimm Reviewz salutes you, sir.

It is one of my shames to admit that one thing that I have never done, even though I was seriously watching horror films as a child, was finish the Universal Monsters series. The Mummy was one that I never got around to. You gotta remember, I was born in the late 80's so growing up these movies weren't as big to my generation. We had R.L. Stein's Goosebumps series. But it is one thing that I wish was different, I would love to be a kid when this film came out and having the excitement of going to see it and talk about it at school. I was just born a few generations later.

So time came for this one to come to the surface and be watched. I've seen alot of the classics but this was one that slipped through the cracks for far to long.

First of all, the make-up in this movie was insane for it's time. Not that Frankenstein and Creature From The Black Lagoon weren't up to par, The Mummy was just as good. The way they made movies work back then amazes me. Today everything just goes to CGI but back then you had to be creative if you wanted to make a scene work. True movie magic.

I thought that the acting in this movie was over dramatic like all the other Universal Studios Monster movies. It was endearing and appealing.

Ardeth Bey, who was The Mummy 10 years after being brought back from the dead who was also portrayed by Mr. Karloff was such an interesting character. You could see the malevolence in him under the surface, but he wasn't a bad guy. He had only good intentions. Just don't get in his way. He gives a guy a heart attack via mind power for crossing him.

The young female he gets to be his bride is so gorgeous and just radiates beauty. Even though she doesn't live up to today's standard of beauty I find her very attractive and fitting for the part. She did a great job as well.

The ending of the film was great. It was a great time watching this movie and feeling the thrill of seeing a classic horror film of such standard.

What it boils down to is how back when movies were in black and white, the horror was romantic, dramatic and poetic. There was always a reason for the villain to be how he or she is. They weren't ever just evil. They had reasons and more likely than not they were just misunderstood. If only today's horror held such elegance and charm.

THIS FILM GETS 3 REAPERS OUT OF 4