Director: Reginald Le Borg
Writers: Griffin Jay, Henry Sucher
Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Robert Lowery
1 Hour, 1 Minute
Get it from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2zIQRUK
The first Fez Man, Andoheb, from “Hand of the Mummy” is back, and passes the torch yet again to another new Fez-man, now played by John Carradine. This Bey is the brother of the Bey in the previous movie. Once again, he rehashes the story from three thousand years ago and the rules for the tana leaves. He swears that he won’t rest until Ananka and Kharis are returned to Egypt.
We get a flashback explaining how Anaka was brought over to be in a museum, and the Kharis cult brought the monster over to America. The professor explains tana leaves, which are extinct now, but then he says he has some. He explains (in the college classroom) that the mummy was real, and he actually saw it.
Tom talks to his Egyptian girlfriend, Amina. She gets upset every time the topic of Egypt comes up. That night, the professor cooks a bunch of tana leaves because he read the recipe on an ancient chest. The mummy comes shambling in. Amina wakes up and follows him. Kharis kills the professor and drinks the tana leaf juice. Amina sees him and faints.
The next day, the police find Amina asleep outside and question her, but she doesn’t remember anything. The sheriff knows it’s the mummy, and he sets out all the townspeople to patrol the town.
We switch locations to the Scripps Museum, where the curator explains about the Ananka Exhibit. They all move on, but Bey stays behind. He hides out until the museum closes. He calls in Kharis, and when Kharis touches Ananka’s body, it crumbles to dust. Bey says her soul has entered another form. Amina wakes up screaming; could it be her soul is Ananka’s?
The sheriff devises a plan to trap the Mummy; they’re going to dig a big pit and lure him in with tana leaves. Kharis goes out to find Amina. Amina wakes up and meets him in the front yard. She faints again, and he picks her up. Tom’s dog follows them. Her mother sees this and calls Tom. She then runs to the sheriff, and all his men go off looking for them.
The dog leads Tom to Kharis and Bey atop some kind of large elevated abandoned factory. Bey confirms that Ananka has returned. Bey hears the voice of the Mummy’s Ghost, telling him he should marry Ananka. The voice tells him to use the tana leaves on her and himself as well. Kharis comes in and sees all this, and of course, he kills Bey.
The rest of the town shows up. Kharis picks up Ananka/Amina and climbs down the ladder. As Kharis lumbers along toward the swamp, Amina begins to age rapidly, which is never explained. Kharis walks into the swamp and the two of them both sink below the surface, never to be seen again.
Commentary
John Carradine is very good here. He doesn’t look even remotely Egyptian, but he’s creepy and looks good in the role. This is the only movie in the series where Kharis shows any emotion.
Amina was a real girl, who was born and had parents and everything (I assume). Still, her soul was that of Ananka, so we’re supposed to be OK that she died at the end. As far as we know, the real Ananka was not evil, nor have we ever seen her hurt anyone. Her only crime is being loved too much by Kharis.