Review of The Mummy's Hand (1940)

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A monster movie jolt from Universal Studios' fright factory, and the film that introduced Kharis the mummy. This foot-dragging monster wrapped in ace bandages became a standard member of Universal's classic monster family. Stalwart Dick Foran and a party of fortune hunters and archaeologists search for the lost tomb of Princess Ananka. The loyal minions of the ancient Egyptian gods, led by George Zucco, seek to thwart their purpose and protect the sacred tomb. Sometime Western actor Tom Tyler makes a one-time appearance as the mummy. As fans of classic horror films know, the mummy has a terrific thirst for tana leaf tea, a lusty 3,000-year-old love affair with Princess Ananka, and strangles everyone that gets in his way. The plot takes some time to really get going. Younger viewers may squirm a little as they await the mummy's first appearance. After the lost tomb is uncovered, however, the story rapidly shifts gears to an exciting suspense mode, and fans of classic horror films rejoice. As the wild jackals howl in the distance and the full moon illumines the Egyptian night, diabolic death holds dominion over those who defiled Ananka's tomb. Some of the exterior scenes of southern California doubling as Egypt are amusing examples of unintended humor. Checkout the primitive special effects of the mummy's glowing eyes. Again, good triumphs over the evil forces of darkness. Relax and enjoy the old-fashioned chills and thrills. ;-)

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In the 40's Universal was busy makin' monster movies! They made some of their best(The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man) and they made some of their worst(The Mummy and Frankenstein sequels). Don't get me wrong, I love all of these movies, but lets be honest, some of these films are down right silly.

'The Mummy's Hand' is a decent film as long as you look at it the right way, it's a fun picture. This "Horror" film plays up the comedy with a "wanna be" Abbott & Costello duo as the leads of this picture. This is a good thing as it makes the film a lot of fun. The Mummy and sets are good and there is some atmosphere in this first of four film series.

Please don't consider these films sequels to the original classic starring Karloff, I know they use footage from the first film, but the names have changed and the story has been altered. I rate this film 3 1/2 Stars for it's fun factor. This was the only film in this series to not use Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy. That honor goes to Tom Tyler. This is available on DVD on the Mummy Legacy collection and on a double bill with The Mummy's Tomb.

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When Universal dusted off the concept of their mummy, they changed the story quite a bit from the original movie with Boris Karloff. Somehow the reincarnated creature was not quite as menacing as Boris was, but these movies are still a great deal of fun to watch.

With egyptian priests, tanna leaves (which by the way, always looked like an ingredient I use when I make soup...bay leaves!) and a moldy ol' mummy, what else could an old monster movie fan want?

By the way, the longer the mummy series went, the more it became apparent to me that the only way Kharis could get you was if he got the drop on you from behind or snuck up on you. With all those bandages and 3,000 year old joints, he hardly moved faster than a snail's pace. I'm not much of a runner, but I know I could out-run him! But that misses the whole point. Anyone faced with a creature such as Kharis would no doubt be petrified with fright and couldn't move!

Recommended, along with the rest of the movies in the series.

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After having rested the saga of the mummy for almost 8 years since the release of the splendid Boris Karloff version Universal launced into a new cycle of Mummy movies to entertain patrons no doubt distracted by the horrors of the fast approaching World War.

On that level "The Mummy's Hand" is a well made and entertaining piece of movie making which never asks you to strain your brain muscles for too long. The saga of the mummy damned to eternal unrest for loving a high priestess and disturbing her burial place provides lots of opportunities for thrills and excitement and this film does not disappoint. While it could never compare with the Karloff classic I still feel it has its merits. Despite being placed in the "B" movie basket "The Mummy's Hand" has some great performers and vivid situations that were used over and over again in later films.

The film can be almost divided into two sections. The first section being almost a comic romp depicting Steve Banning"s (Dick Foran) and Babe's (Wallace Ford) adventures in Cairo and their efforts to set up a team of diggers to find the tomb of the high priestess Anuka. Almost too suddenly it then changes into a chilling drama when the mummy appears and death comes to numerous members of the Banning team. I feel the lead up to this section of the proceedings is too long in coming and really the story does meander too much before the real action around the tomb begins. Nevertheless the second half of the film is a vast improvement and the drama and horror of the proceedings really does involve you totally.

Tom Tyler, a former cowboy star for the first and only time places Kharis (after this film Lon Chaney Jnr took over the role for the remaining 3 films). He is excellent in the role and brings just the right sinister and cruel elements, combined with an almost pathetic longing for the high priestess, to make the character one we can almost feel for in a way. His look as Kharis is also different to Chaney's depiction and I feel he looks the part in a more horrific way. The film certainly benefits from a sterling supporting cast. George Zucco makes his first memorable appearance in this film as the high priest Andoheb. He would return in later films in the mummy series and as always he is most effective playing a sinister character bent on destroying the defilers of Anuka's tomb. His killing of the Dr.Petrie character is in particular very well done with our first sight of Kharis being returned to life with the juice of tanna leaves positively sending chills up one's spine. Peggy Moran makes a suitable heroine for the film and Cecil Kellaway is also on target with his depiction of the great Solvani who gets involved in the expedition to the tomb.

Overraul the look of the film is excellent. Universal had a very unique way of making even their "B" films have an expensive look to them and "The Mummy's Hand" is no exception. It benefits from the reuse of a temple set from an earlier film "Green Hell" which looks effective but unfortunately to the trained eye has Mayan or Aztec decorations rather than ancient Egyptian ones!! Also some of the outdoor locations are obviously Californian and they do have a spoiling effect on the look of the film.

Nevertheless its a good effort and certainly is an entertaining film full of atmosphere and thrills. The next installment in the Kharis/Mummy series "The Mummy's Tomb" which came out in 1942, is in my opinion the best film in the series. Enjoy "The Mummy's Hand" and lap up the old fashioned thrills that it provides.

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Though not on the same level as the romantic original, this semi-sequel is marvelous, kitschy fun, sort of like going to a carnival. The film begins as a cheerful action comedy, but builds to a climax that is as atmospheric and creepy as we have a right to expect. George Zucco is brilliant as the High Priest of Karnak, and the way Universal recycled old sets and music from past horror thrillers is brilliant. It's not Shakespeare(or even Stoker), but it is certianly good clean fun of a kind we just don't see anymore.

Mummy's Tomb (1942) Review

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Universal monsters never perish as Kharis rises from the dead (in Massachusetts, of all places) and kills the surviving characters from "The Mummy's Hand." Despite George Robinson's moody camera work and the sinister presence of Turhan Bey, "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942) takes cost-cutting horror to a new low. Lon Chaney Jr. does his best with the Ace bandages, but cannot overcome Harold Young's bland direction and recycled footage from earlier Universal productions including mismatched shots of the torch-bearing villagers in "Frankenstein." Though Kharis went down in flames, the Mummy Shuffle would continue for two more sequels.

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'The Mummy's Tomb' is a sequel to 'The Mummy's Hand'. The story takes place 30 years after 'The Mummy's Hand' leaves off. Clocking in just over an hour in length, this film spends the first 12 minutes in flash back to 'The Mummy's Hand'! The next 3 minutes in a redundant ritual of the passing of the throne as keeper of the tomb. Even with a quarter of the movie being nothing new, this film is still fun! The Mummy make-up looks good even if Chaney looks a little chunky(;-D)and there is some good atmosphere in this short and sweet romp through mummy-ville.

I rate it 2 3/4 Stars for fun factor...who can resist these silly films? This is available on DVD on the Mummy Legacy collection and on a double bill with The Mummy's Hand.

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Although far from cinematic art, this movie is an entertaining B picture that continues the Kharis saga. In an unlikely development, the setting shifts from Egypt to a Massachusetts village. Lon Chaney, Jr. takes over the moldy ace bandages and drags his foot as he shuffles around town in search of the despoilers of Princess Ananka's tomb. Mysterious Turhan Bey is the high priest of the ancient gods of Egypt. Posing as the caretaker of the local cemetery, he conceals Kharis in the main crypt. According to ancient rite, he nourishes the mummy with tana leaf fluid. As the wild dogs howl in the night and the full moon shines brightly, a shadowy figure brings grim death to those guilty of dread sacrilege. The authorities stand baffled by evidence that points to a supernatural menace of ancient Egypt. Borrowing an idea from the Frankenstein flicks, aroused torch-carrying villagers search for the monster. One imagines that in small town America of the 1940s, they had flashlights or at least lanterns. Anyway, this gives the cost conscious director the opportunity to insert stock footage from the original "Frankenstein" showing angry villagers stalking through the woods and cemetery. There was some story-related method to the madness. The torches portend a fiery fate for the mummy. Never mind that a sappy romantic finale diminishes the shock value. Collectors of classic horror films need this addition to their collection. Good second string stuff. ;-)

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"The Mummy's Tomb", released in 1942 was the second of Universal Studios revived "Mummy", series of films and followed on from 1940's "The Mummy's Hand". These decidely "B", efforts struck a real cord with war time audiences anxious for any kind of escapism that took them away from their day to day worries and there ended up being four films made in a period of little more than four years that revolved around a rampaging Mummy. Despite an excessive use of stock footage from the first film in its first 20 minutes and having an at times unimaginative story to tell "The Mummy's Tomb", is still my personal favourite of these 1940's Mummy films. While most of the performances in the film are standard for these kind of "B" horror efforts, the two villians in this story in the Mummy itself played by Lon Chaney Jr for the first time, and especially the new young sinister High Priest played by a perfectly cast Turhan Bey really make this a most enjoyable effort. The film definately has a low budget however as was often the way with Universal Studios horror efforts they somehow managed to give "The Mummy's Tomb", some rich and very eerie atmosphere that in my belief makes it a standout in the Mummy series of films.

Despite the very pedesterian direction by Harold Young the film's strong points rest solely in it's great atmosphere and the sense of eerieness that it manages to project. The haunting night shots and vivid musical score also help to really give "The Mummy's Tomb", some memorable visuals. I agree totally with past reviewers that there is far too much use of stock footage from "The Mummy's Hand" and from the classic "Frankenstein", however once its own story gets under way it becomes a reasonably chilling tale that of course doesn't offer too many surprises. The main characters of the film are a fairly bland lot and as in most of these types of productions its the "baddies' who are the ones that are of most interest. Dick Foran and Wallace Ford, the two holdovers from the earlier film are quickly dispatched by a rampaging Kharis (Lon Chaney Jnr) so centre stage is taken by John Hubbard in the role of Steve's son John Banning and Elyse Knox as his love interest. Both are not terribly exciting performers and the film is stolen from them in my belief by the perfectly cast Turhan Bey in the role of the new sinister High Priest Mehemet Bey. Instructed by the dying George Zucco to take on the task of ensuring the proper revenge on all members of the Banning expedition responsible for despoiling the tomb of the Princess Anuka, he is the perfect "B" villian and with his deep speaking voice and goodlooking swarthy looks he holds most of the interest in this story. The best parts of the film are his scenes with Kharis and in the climax of the story when he tries to claim Isobel (Elyse Knox) as his own bride.

"The Mummmy's Tomb", despite its small budget, is a very handsome looking production. Universal had a unique way of polishing the look of their second unit productions and "The Mummy's Tomb" is no exception. The eerie scenes in the graveyard, the temple sets and the night scenes with Kharis hunting down his next prey are extremely well done and the windy dark settings for alot of the story really set the scene for an enjoyable mystery. The idea of relocating the action to Mapleton in the USA is a great idea and the story has a logical flow to it as Turhan Bey brings Kharis over in a steam ship to carry out his revenge on the surviving members of the Banning exhibition who had returned to the USA. Bey's dialogue in instructing Kharis of his plans are very well done with alot of Egyptian lore used to make the proceedings that bit more authentic. Lon Chaney Jnr, son of the famed Lon Chaney of the silent era plays here for the first time Kharis, the man condemmned to eternal suffering for loving above his station. He would return in the role for the last two installments in Universal's Mummy sagas, "The Mummy's Ghost" and "The Mummy's Curse" both released in 1944. Given the obvious limitiations of his character Chaney does well in the part even managing to inject the essentially one dimensional character at times with elements of sympathy especially at the stories fiery climax.

While Universal Studio's Mummy films of the 1940's were definately not classic material they served a good purpose for war weary audiences sick of hearing about the real life horrors happening all over the world, these films still have a lasting appeal to old time horror movie addicts like myself. "The Mummy's Tomb" tells its story without the excessive gore and violence that always seems to be present in any modern horror tale s this little effort is a good way to spend 70 minutes. As stated it's my favourite of the Mummy cycle because of the especially enjoyable performance by Turhan Bey's as the chief villian of the story. "The Mummy's Tomb", most definately is old fashioned horror and makes great late night viewing preferably on a dark and windy night with the lights tuned down. Enjoy!

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The Mummy's Tomb was a good sequel to the Mummy's Hand, and Lon Chaney Jr. is great in the role of Kharis, a 3,000-year-old mummy bent on revenge for those who violated Anaka's tomb.

The scene shifts from Egypt to New England America 30 years after the Banning expedition. Kharis is brought there by his new keeper to kill off the surviving members of the expedition and their heirs.

This movie provided some eerie scenes as Chaney lumbers through the cemetery, woods and even through the town inself in search of his victims. He has the strongest left hand in the business, choking the life out of anyone who gets in his path.

I agree with other reviews that there was too much stock footage used from The Mummy's Hand as Banning recounts his story from the first adventure. A lot of the old footage could have been left off as the story is told, and that would have allowed more footage of Chaney, creeping in and out of the shadows around Mapleton. The stock footage was probably used because of budget constraints. After all, there was a war going on at the time, and it is common knowledge that Universal's Mummy movies were hit with worse budget cuts than any of the other top-billed monsters.

Nevertheless, "The Mummy's Tomb" is a must for any horror fan of the 1940s classics and for anyone who is a fan of the son of "The Man of a Thousand Faces."