THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB (1964)
Tagline: Out of ancient Pharaoh's tomb stalks a monster-of-monsters with a lust for vengeance and a thirst for terror!
(Horror, Drama, Mummy’s Will Jack You Up) [PG-13]
Note: This movie was never given an MPA rating, but it would have landed a PG-13 rating if it had been released today. On streaming services, it carries a TV-14 rating. It came out theatrically as a double feature with THE GORGON.
He's living in the past! This is 1900, you have to think modern.
In this one, Egyptologists discover the tomb of Ra and end up allowing an American investor and Alexander King to ship Ra’s treasures and sarcophagus to England to make money at 10 cents a view. Meanwhile, Annette Dubois one of the excavation team becomes the target of Adam Beauchamp’s affection in spite of her already having a fiancé, but what are his real intentions? Alexander King and his “sideshow” team meet resistance from those who believe they have consecrated the tomb and they will do anything to awaken Ra to take his revenge, but Ra has a very specific revenge in mind.
First off, this is one of the few Mummy films where Ra is actually the Mummy. Usually, it’s someone else. The attention to detail for the time period and budget is pretty cool in Hammer films. The sarcophagus itself has some outstanding detail.
When it comes to the pacing, this thing is a bit slow. They do a good job of giving us backgrounds and talking about the Ra legend, but it’s overloaded with dialog and what I would say are unnecessary scenes. We don’t see the Mummy move until 53 minutes into the movie. I don’t mind slow burns, but I am saying this to let you know that this thing is not going to jump right off the screen at you from the start. Sir Giles Dalrymple played by Jack Gwillim is probably my favorite character in this with the little screen time he gets. Jack was most famous for playing Poseidon in CLASH OF THE TITANS.
Acting wise Terence Morgan is decent in this and he gets most of the screen time as Adam Beauchamp. He had a pretty accomplished career, but I haven’t seen any of his other films. There is a pretty funny scene in this where he gets slapped to the ground by the Mummy like a rag doll. At least for me, it was funny given the circumstances of the film. Fred Clark is solid as Alexander King. He also had a long career in Hollywood loaded with stuff I never saw. Ronald Howard (WUTHERING HEIGHTS) is decent as the stoic John Bray. He is able to subtly display that he is starting to realize he’s losing Annette. Jeanne Roland plays Annette Dubois, but it’s hard to really tell how her acting was because the voice was dubbed. The voice actress for her was just okay.
The last half hour of this thing is pretty solid. I like the fact that this Mummy is super strong. He tears through Scooby-Doo! traps like it’s no big deal. He can crush your skull with his foot. That kind of stuff. There is a pretty crazy reveal in this, that I wasn’t expecting. The score is decent and works when it needs to. I did like the look of the Mummy a bit better in this than in some other Mummy films, but It’s not great. I prefer the mummies that can open their mouths.
Overall this is a 4 out of 7. The ending left a bit to be desired.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF HAMMER FILMS AND MEDIA ARTS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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