Just perfect...

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Growing up I was always used to the mummy series that stared Brendan Fraisier. Nowadays, when I go back and watch this film, I can see the major similarities. Neat thing about this film is that the Mummy doesn't come to life and wreak havoc in the same day, nor does he simply go around trying to kill everyone in a day. For its time, this must have been a real thriller, because the enemy is not immediately known. It's been nearly a decade since the remains of Imhoptep were "stolen" and an Archaeologist went completely mad. Then all of a sudden, an old and wise Egyptian seems to know exactly where to find the remains of his long dead love. It's definitely a landmark film, beautifully made and casted wonderfully with the famous Boris Karloff. I would watch it again.

I wanted to like this movie a lot. I went into the movie knowing it was supposed to be one of the Universal Classics, right alongside with the 1931 Frankenstein. I especially expected the acting from Boris Karloff to be more present and deeply involved with his character. Unfortunately, for me at least, the movie delivered on neither of these things. The plot seemed like it would be easy to follow and at some times it was, however there were many times throughout the movie that I'd have to rewind and rewatch to understand what was occurring. The powers of the mummy were pretty vague as well, it seemed like he could just choose whatever abilities he wanted and then he could just magically do it. Boris Karloff may not have delivered with the majority of his role in this movie yet there was one thing he did extremely well. He definitely played an extremely believable creepy and eerie historian. The movie seemed like it was just replaying the same few problems over and over again, there was no real plot line except for that they had to keep the scroll hidden and safe. All around it wasn't my favorite movie, but there were enough scenes that I can't say I hated it. It's still worth the watch if you enjoy the 30's monster movies, Many DO regard it as a classic.

A lesser Universal horror film than the other well-known classics from this by-gone era but one that is still entertaining in a lot of ways. It is Karloff who makes the film as the prince brought back to life, and the make up work on him this time is no less impressive than that in FRANKENSTEIN, although not as famous. Karloff's face is a mass of wrinkles and he really does look thousands of years old.Surprisingly, Karloff is only swathed in bandages for a few minutes at the beginning of the film; the image of the bandaged mummy on the rampage is from the film's numerous sequels and Hammer's 1959 remake, among others. Dwight Frye also stars as his usual gibbering maniac, this time repeating "He went for a little walk!" after he has brought Karloff back to (un)life. The film also has some great costumes and a nice Egyptian set, complete with hieroglyphs, which is to be expected really. Karloff gets to deliver a lot of sinister lines and shows us that he is capable of acting as well as wearing make up. Unfortunately most of the film consists of minor characters talking, drawing room talk as it were, and in this area the film is rather dated, much like it's other counterparts of the time, although not quite as dated as the earlier Dracula.Altogether this is an interesting film, enlivened by Karloff's central performance and worth seeing as the film which kicked off a whole sub-genre. Looking back on it, the film may be dated but really it's from a cinematic era which we'll never see again. Look at this and other classics such as THE HAUNTING, and then look at what happened to the horror genre after the mid '70s. No more will we see atmospheric films such as these, instead all we get is blood and gore, which is not necessarily bad but still saddening to see how things have changed.

The Mummy (1932): Dir: Karl Freund / Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron, Edward Van Sloan: Classic horror film about those ancient things that are best left buried. Boris Karloff, fresh after his classic performance as the Frankenstein monster, is back as the mummy come to life after a curse is broken. He aims to resurrect a princess whom he was mummified for attempting to resurrect before. Now he encounters a woman who bears resemblance to her and decides to communicate to her through a mind trance. Directed by Karl Freund with splendid makeup effects on Karloff. The Egypt digging site is well presented within a screenplay that plays on the hokey. Perhaps this film might have been creepier had the mummy been unable to talk. This renders him too approachable thus tarnishing any potential suspense. Karloff still remains a haunting image whether he is the Frankenstein monster or this ancient figure who can draw power just by staring into one's eyes. Zita Johann plays the female whom resembles the ancient princess and falls under the mummy's trance. David Manners plays the son of one of the reseachers, and he becomes smitten with her. Arthur Byron and Edward Van Sloan play two of the researchers who know just how dangerous their discovery is, and the scroll they must conceal and destroy. Corny yet entertaining creature feature about sins best left unearthed. Score: 9 / 10