Director: John Gilling
Writers: John Gilling, Anthony Hinds
Stars: André Morell, John Phillips, David Buck
Run Time: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2Xc37Ky
Synopsis
We get a flashback and voiceover about an ancient Egyptian king who wanted a son. He got the son, but his queen died in childbirth. Eventually, there was a revolt, and the king was killed. The son, however, escaped to the desert. The journey was hard, and the little prince died, but gave the royal seal to his loyal slave, Prem. Credits roll.
Then, 1920, an expedition set out to find his tomb, but they went missing a month ago. Stanley Preston has come to Egypt to see about finding his son, a member of this lost party. He explains that the point of the expedition was to prove that the mummy they have in custody is that of the slave Prem, and not the actual Pharaoh.
Meanwhile, Sir Basil and his “lost” party are holed up during a sandstorm. Clare, who apparently is a fortune teller, predicts doom for them all. The sandstorm blows over, and they find out that they are right on top of the young prince’s tomb. The quickly enter the tomb and start exploring. They run into Hasmid, who warns them about the tomb and that his family has protected the tomb for generations. Sir Basil is soon bitten by a snake and has to be carried out just as Preston comes up with reinforcements.
The excavation begins, and they soon find the body of the young prince. Clare, the language expert, refuses to read the writing on the tomb. Sir Basil winds up in a mental asylum, and Stanley Preston is vague about how he got committed. Sir Basil quickly escapes, and Paul Preston, Stanley’s son, wants to search for him.
Sir Basil runs into the weirdest old fortune teller who explains that he will soon die. “He is dead, but he has the power to move and kill,” she cackles. Meanwhile Her son, Hasmid, recites some magic words in front of the mummy, who then opens his eyes and starts moving. The mummy comes in and kills Sir Basil.
The next night, the mummy comes after Harry, one of the men who entered the mummy’s crypt. He stabs the mummy and throws acids on him, but it doesn’t even slow him down. “Curse of Tomb Finds Next Victim” is the headline in the next morning’s paper.
Stanley is now ready to get on a boat and run, but Paul refuses to try. Paul thinks it really does have something to do with a curse. The police won’t let any of them leave. Longbarrow the servant is killed next, which drives Stanley to make a break for it. Hasmid stalls him until the mummy can arrive.
Clare goes to see the old woman, who tells her to go apologize to the mummy, but Hasim wakes him up at the last minute, and he attacks Clare and Paul. Paul axes the mummy and the police chief shoots him. Out of the blue, we hear that the magic words only work the one who holds the mummy’s shroud. Clare says the words, and the mummy turns to dust. She places the shroud back on the dead prince’s body, and everything is fine now.
Commentary
First a disclaimer: No real Egyptians were used in the making of this film, just a lot of Brits in brown-face.
There’s a lot of narration and voiceover in the beginning of the film. The whole introductory part about ancient Egypt is unnecessary, since it’s all explained again in the main story later.
The final scene where the mummy dies is really good. I’d like to know how they did that effect.