The Mummy (1932)
I have often said that I knew the names Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney long before I knew who the president was (Ford at the time). This movie is one of those reasons.
Boris Karloff gave us some fantastic performances during the era of the Universal Monsters, but few were as good as his turn as Ardath Bey / Imhotep the Mummy. So good that this movie was the blueprint for every Mummy movie to follow.
It falls under the horror sub-trope of "The Immortal Beloved." Something they are always trying to shoehorn Dracula into (see "Bram Stoker's Dracula" as a prime example) but actually works best here. In this case Imhotep finds the reincarnated Ankh-es-en-Amon and tries to make her into his immortal bride. It's a formula that is repeated in the 1959 version and the 1999 versions.
The Mummy (1959)
Not to be outdone, Hammer did their own version. Like the Universal 1932 version, this one also has a former Van Helsing in the cast. Edward van Sloan in 1932 and Peter Cushing for the 1959 version.
This one follows the Universal one in general plot, it is actually much closer to the Universal The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, and The Mummy's Ghost. The notion of the resurrected love is still there.
In this movie the Mummy, aka Kharis, played by Christopher Lee is in love with Princess Ananka. Lee is always great, and his Dracula is still one of horror's best, but he is under-utilized here as a mummy.
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
Here is good drinking game. Every time someone tells Annette Dubois (Jeanne Roland) to "stay put" or keep her from seeing something take a drink. You'll be dead by the end of the movie.
The plot here is familiar. British Egyptologists dig up a mummy against the protests of the locals. There is a curse, and the mummy walks again.
While my love for Hammer is never-ending, this one is rather predictable, to be honest.
Featured Monster: Mummy
The mummy of the Monster Manual is beyond a doubt influenced by these movies. Granted, the pulpy fantasy the creators of D&D were fond of and had plenty of tombs and dungeons to rob, so a mummy seems like a no-brainer.
Couple this with the Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death which actually has Imhotep as a mummy, then the influences are are even more apparent.
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Are You my Mummy? |
There are a few items in these movies that resemble the AD&D Lich phylactery. The Scroll of Thoth/Life, the amulet of life. These are central to these movies, but not so much the AD&D monster mummy. They are central to the Lich though.
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