(1959) ***1/2
The Mummy has always been the poor man's classic monster. Menacing, I suppose, but just never able to compete with Draculas's focused intensity or Frankenstein's freakish size and strength. Even the self-loathing Wolfman would not likely opt to trade places. To top it off, the name itself sounds dangerously close to "mommy". The original Mummy movies from the 30's are harmless fun, but mostly just laughable. The Boris Karloff incarnation would wreak a fair amount of havoc, but he wasn't capable of mustering up a sense of intimidation. He hobbled through his reign of terror looking like a mortally wounded patient on the run from a nursing home.
Recent years have not been kind either. The Mummy sat on the bench while the Frankenstein monster was brought back to life by Deniro, the Wolfman by Nicholson, and vampires by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. I won't get into the recent Mummy endeavors but it looked like the character tried to find relevance by switching genres entirely. Brendan Fraser? The Rock's head on a scorpion's body? What the hell was that? BRENDAN FRASER?!
So it's a relief to know that there is a great Mummy movie out there and that movie is Hammer's 1959 rendition. The story stays the same. A group of archaelogists defy local warnings and remove the ancient Princess Ananka from her tomb to display her to the world. The ancient spirit of Kharis is brought back to life to seek revenge on those who intruded. While the Mummy picks off the infidels one at a time, the tortured backstory of Kharis is slowly revealed. Christopher Lee showcases his horror range and takes the character to new depths, both as the young Kharis and the monster it has become. Peter Cushing plays the last survivor of the expedition and the two of them go at it. No love loss there, Lee and Cushing faced off countless times over the years. The feud continued even after Cushing's death when Lee moved in on his Star Wars turf. Someday soon they'll be duking it out in Hell. Excuse me, I have something in my eye.
8 comments:
What instrument did the Mummy play in the Monster Mash? Probably the keyboards.
They would've let him play the tambourine if he could keep a beat.
How's the rest of the band laid out? I say: Drac on lead, Frank on bass and Wolf on drums. Invisible Man on vocals.
Knowing the ridicule I am inviting, I say now that I actually like both the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies (not the Scorpion King).
They are, however, really not horror movies. It's too bad Stephen Sommers couldn't just think of a different title and keep his grubby paws off of the Universal pantheon. Then maybe we'd get some scary movies with the old crew, instead of Van Helsuck.
The only thing I remember about the secong Frased Mummy flick was that I hated the kid within 5 minutes. Why do they always have to inject an annoying kid into the story? I'm thinking about you, Shortround, Furlong from T2, and black girl from Jurassic Park 2.
MONSTER MASH
I was working in the lab late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise
He did the mash
He did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
He did the mash
It caught on in a flash
He did the mash
He did the monster mash
From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes
They did the mash
They did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They did the mash
It caught on in a flash
They did the mash
They did the monster mash
The zombies were having fun
The party had just begun
The guests included Wolf Man
Dracula and his son
The scene was rockin, all were digging the sounds
Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds
The coffin-bangers were about to arrive
With their vocal group, The Crypt-Kicker Five
They played the mash
They played the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They played the mash
It caught on in a flash
They played the mash
They played the monster mash
Out from his coffin, Dracs voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
He opened the lid and shook his fist
And said, Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?
Its now the mash
Its now the monster mash
The monster mash
And its a graveyard smash
Its now the mash
Its caught on in a flash
Its now the mash
Its now the monster mash
Now everythings cool, Dracs a part of the band
And my monster mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you....
Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash
The monster mash
And do my graveyard smash
Then you can mash
Youll catch on in a flash
Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash
See, no mention of the Mummy whatsoever in the lyrics! He probably wrote the damn thing and got screwed out of royalties.
I bet the other monsters were all like "we called you" and the Mummy said "But I was sleeping the sleep of the ages!" and the other monsters said "yeah, well...we called you."
That's hilarious.
I agree, the newer Mummy movies certainly weren't god awful but they should have named is something else like, say Desert Peril.
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