After a succession of masterful gothic horrors (Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, Hound of the Baskervilles), Hammer Studios next turned their attention to the infamous Mummy.

In my opinion, this lacks the brilliance of Hammer's earlier genre offerings, but is most notable for several unforgettable images that remain imprinted on the mind long after the film is over. Apart from the striking visuals, this is a solid, but fairly standard slice of Hammer horror.

This is probably the best Hammer movie ever made. The original Karloff version was too derivative of Dracula. Starting with the first, and the later versions, the mummy could hardly move. Christopher Lee, a mediocre actor, was truely an athletic one, and it was put to good use in this movie. Jack Asher's color cinematography bordered on the expressionistic. But it wasn't the black and white expressionism of German silent movies, or the classic Universal studios. This was the expressionism of German painters. However, I prefer the ending in the original version, where the heroine had to rescue herself, while the heroes looked on helplessly.

fact number 1:in order to be "enhanced for 16:9" the picture "has" to be 16:9-that works out to 1:78 aspect ratio.

fact number 2:fisher was working with 35mm film stock wich was then matted at 1:66 , the most popular format all over europe.

fact number 3:the north american standard for non-scope films was 1:85 witch is the full 35mm aspect ratio.

fact number 4:warner is not in the habit of taking inferior euro-transfers (4% too fast as a half-assed way of synchronising
celluloid with video)ex:the mummy on pal video is 85 mins insted of 88(correct running time for both celluloid & NTSC).

fact number 5:there is always a little more picture on the film stock then will ever be seen in theaters or video.otherwise the number of goofs reported would astronomical.

so in conclusion don't be alarmed by naysaywers bitching about aspect ratios , 9 times out of 10 they know less than you.

OK color production by Hammer of the mummy motif. Good acting and rather elegant period sets give the film a spooky feel but when Christopher Lee enters as the title creature things really liven up. He's an interesting mummy--jerky and spasmodically stomping around like a wind-up robot gone berserk. Peter Cushing seems right at home in his role. The beautiful Yvonne Furneaux (as Cushing's wife and a dead ringer for the mummy's lost love) comes in near the end of the film to get carried off into the swamp. Why her character has to enter so late is a mystery. She would have at least brought something more into the movie. For discerning adults it's rather juvenile but for kids it's fine. It's a good way to introduce younger audiences to classy horror films.

Really, The Mummy was a bit of a limited character. When Karloff played the role in the 30's under Karl Freud's direction, he spent very little time under wraps. That film, although atmospheric, is as dull as can be. Even as a kid I thought it lacked any sort of spark or excitement. Universal revived The Mummy in the 40's with a sucession of actors "playing" the role. These guys were all wrapped up in themselves. The character was played as a mindless brute and the stories were routine.

Terry Fisher's The Mummy was a marked improvement over the Universal films. First and foremost is the way the action sequences were staged. Fisher and Jack Asher do a great job with these sequences despite budget limitations. Asher's photography is stunning. The DVD remains pretty true to the best presentations I've seen of The Mummy. While there are versions with brighter more vivid color, they also suffer from a lack of detail (particularly the VHS and Laserdisc versions).

This time they actually put an actor under the bandages. Christopher Lee does his best to emote under tons of make up and manages to reach the audience with his eyes. They are expressive and display a wide range of emotions for the character. He's still something of a mindless brute but, well, at least he has some emotions now! Cushing is, as always, great in his role. Cushing brings makes the character energetic and his acting is extra crispy (we all know the extra crispy KFC is better than the original receipe, right?).

The support cast is drawn from a stable of Hammer regulars and all are up to the task. It's not quite as stylish or sophisticated as Horror of Dracula (where Jimmy Sangster essentially just adapted some very basic plot elements from Stoker and embelished them), Curse of Frankenstein (with its marvelous portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein as a sociopath) or Revenge of Frankenstein but it has its moments.

I can't comment on the widescreen presentation as I don't currently have the other versions to compare this to. I do believe (from my memory) that the color and detail is sharper in this DVD. I can't comment on the foreign edition as I don't know if the copy that was used to make the DVD was this one.

Yes, it should have all sorts of extras. There's only the trailer. This film is fairly short so Warner could have included the full screen and wide screen versions as well as some sort of audio commentary. That's Warner for you. I keep hoping that Rhino will take an interest in the Hammer films and reissue them like the Warner/Atlantic music releases.