07 December 2024
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
61 min.
Directed by Harold Young.
With Lon Chaney, Jr., Elyse Knox, John Hubbard, Turhan Bey, Dick Foran, Wallace Ford, George Zucco, Mary Gordon, Frank Reicher, Virginia Brissac.
Another good effort from Universal.

The sequel to The Mummy's Hand (1940), this was the second of Universal's four horror films featuring the mummy Kharis.

It's thirty years after the events in Hand.

High priest Mehemet (Turhan Bey) brings the charred mummy Kharis (Chaney) to America in hopes of continuing his holy war against the Bannings as retribution for their sacrilege of violating the tomb of his beloved Princess Ananka.

There's a lengthy recap of events from Hand - too long, to be sure - but once the new action gets started, it's all solid fun, buoyed by good performances from Knox and a fiery, spirited climax.

Chaney gives a decent performance as the mummy - a role he hated, due no doubt in part to the uncomfortable Jack Pierce makeup.

Look for our mum's unforgiving treatment of old lady Banning (Gordon), previously missing from most prints and recently restored to new digital releases. Ouch, go easy, big fella.

Followed by The Mummy's Ghost (1944).

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