It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Hammer movies have always been a tad hokey and that's forgivable, some sloppy writing however isn't.This is the second Hammer Horror movie from "The Mummy" franchise and this time the star power has taken quite a dip. No longer did they have the presence of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and that really showed.It tells the story of a rich American who plans on making the opening of a mummy's sarcophagus a tourist event in order to make money but oddly enough things don't go quite as planned.The film looks great, the performances though spotty are mostly passable and the Hammer Horror brand of musical score is present. It's all very colour by numbers stuff, but that's okay.Sadly the writing is inconsistent, some is poor and some is baffling especially when it comes to character development.Passable stuff but again this underlines why though I appreciate Hammer Horror I've never exactly been blown away by it.The Good:Looks greatThe Bad:The absence of the likes of Cushing/Lee is very damagingThe bulletproof bandages have returned!Mummy actually looks worseNo character consistencyAwful cover artThings I Learnt From This Movie:Belly dancing is sexy or awkward, never anything inbetween

This movie takes place at the beginning of the 20th Century in Egypt where an archaeological team led by "Sir Giles Dalrymple" (Jack Gwillim) has discovered the tomb of an ancient Egyptian prince by the name of "Ra-Antef" (Dickie Owen). As it so happens, one of the lead archaeologists named "Professor Eugene Dubois" (Bernard Rebel) is murdered and his body is sent to the other members of the team as a warning about desecrating the tomb and as a fulfillment of an ancient curse. However, this doesn't stop the man who financed the expedition, "Alexander King" (Fred Clark) from shipping the sarcophagus of Prince Ra-Antef back to London where he plans on displaying the mummified corpse to anyone willing to pay a small admission fee. Dismayed about such a low-class endeavor, Sir Giles resigns from the team and is quickly replaced by another archaeologist named "John Bray" (Ronald Howard) who continues to be fascinated with the recent find. Also with him is the daughter of Professor Dubois, "Annette Dubois" (Jeanne Roland) who is romantically attracted to John. But everything changes when a mysterious man by the name of "Adam Beauchamp" (Terence Morgan) enters the picture. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather average "Mummy Movie" which was somewhat limited by the overall lack of horror and suspense. Admittedly, the ending was a little unique but even then it wasn't anything overly dramatic or spectacular. In short, those looking for a movie of this type could probably do worse and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Produced and directed by Hammer executive Michael Carreras, this film opens up in classic low-budget style: footage of camels tearing across a real desert fade into close-ups of blacked-up actors in a studio set, where the elderly father of drippy, fickle-hearted heroine Annette Dubois (Jeanne Roland) is killed and has his hand removed by ruffians. Carreras also wrote this under the pseudonym Henry Younger.'The Curse…' has not found a huge amount of favour from fans over the years, but I really like it. Apart from the opening sequence, it looks to be an expensive production, features a first rate cast, features some gruesome moments – and features Michael Ripper as a wonderful (if unlikely) wide-eyed Arab called Achmed.George Pastell makes an appearance, the second cast member from Hammer's original Mummy film to appear here. Fred Clarke, renowned American comic actor, plays the larger than life Alexander King (who, it seems, invented the term Turkish Delight in this film) arrogantly determined to milk as much money from the Mummy as possible, but lives (or dies) to regret it. Jack Gwillim is very good as pickled, deflated Sir Giles Dalrymple (whose demise is the film's highpoint in my view), whilst underrated actor Terence Morgan excels as villainous and debonair Adam Beauchamp, who is more interesting than stuffy square jawed hero John Bray (Ronald Howard).The Mummy (Dickie Owen) is a curio. He seems slight compared with the usual culprits, and has a clay-like face, giving him a Golem-like aspect. But he is directed very well, and his kills are often accompanied by nothing but the sound of his deep, rhythmical breathing, which makes up for his less than intimidating bearing.It is true to say that the story takes a while to get going, but is a solid telling of typical Mummy revenge, and certainly livens up once the resurrected Ra-Antef begins his killing spree, and remains compelling until the exciting sewer-based finale, in which Beauchamp is also relieved of his hand.

In my review of the Hammer version of THE MUMMY from 1959 I stated that it's a very political horror film centering around the Anglo-Franco debacle in the Suez three years before . CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB the first sequel continues the political subtext right from the opening scene where a hostage is cruelly slaughtered by backward violent Arabs . It's no coincidence that the heroine from the film speaks with a French accent or that we have a brash , dumb , philistine American portrayed in a rather bad light and the first half of the film holds the concentration due to its political subtext Of course no one watches a horror film due to politics and once the eponymous title creature makes its appearance things stop being intelligent and becomes clichéd . As in most horror movies there's a complete lack of credibility involved . Having a monster stalking the streets of London gives the impression that it can teleport a few feet away from its victim then materalise back to its lair . Doesn't any passerby notice an eight feet bandaged monster walking about ? Likewise the monster meets with a contrived fate This is a relatively poorly regarded movie from Hammer and shares many of the problems with the next sequel THE MUMMY'S SHROUD in that the Mummy takes too long to make an appearance . But unlike THE MUMMY'S SHROUD this film has a cerebral subtext to hold a thinking audiences interest