Hammer takes another swing (heh) at a classic horror monster with their 1959 version of The Mummy!
Peter Cushing is Brit archaeologist John Banning, who along with his dear old Dad (Felix Aylmer) discovers the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka. While Cush rests his wounded leg (I wonder if he uses a Peter Cushion), Dad explores solo where he finds a scroll and reads it aloud (SERIOUSLY PEOPLE STOP DOING THAT) and low and behold the Mummy, this time a priest named Kharis (Christoper Lee) who had the hots for Ananka, arises from his slumber and Dad goes crazy when he sees him. Like totally babbling crazy.
Eventually the story moves back to England. Dad is in a mental hospital, Cushing has long since moved on from his Egyptian tomb adventures, but Cairo local Mehemet Bey (George Pastell) is (rightly) pissed about the Brits stealing Egyptian artefacts, and plans to unleash The Mummy on jolly old England as revenge.
And ever so coincidentally, Cushing’s wife Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux) is the EXACT spitting image of Ananka, so there is that whole complication to deal with also.
This one hasn’t aged super well, primarily because Mehemet Bey has some super valid points about colonial thievery and Cushing refutes them all with out and out racism. Also the flashback scenes have Christoper Lee in brown face. Yikes. Lee as the Mummy is pretty scary, all 6’5” inches of him, lumbering around like a trussed up ninja. That scenes where he breaks through the asylum window is badass!
Hammer takes another swing (heh) at a classic horror monster with their 1959 version of The Mummy!
Peter Cushing is Brit archaeologist John Banning, who along with his dear old Dad (Felix Aylmer) discovers the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka. While Cush rests his wounded leg (I wonder if he uses a Peter Cushion), Dad explores solo where he finds a scroll and reads it aloud (SERIOUSLY PEOPLE STOP DOING THAT) and low and behold the Mummy, this time a priest named Kharis (Christoper Lee) who had the hots for Ananka, arises from his slumber and Dad goes crazy when he sees him. Like totally babbling crazy.
Eventually the story moves back to England. Dad is in a mental hospital, Cushing has long since moved on from his Egyptian tomb adventures, but Cairo local Mehemet Bey (George Pastell) is (rightly) pissed about the Brits stealing Egyptian artefacts, and plans to unleash The Mummy on jolly old England as revenge.
And ever so coincidentally, Cushing’s wife Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux) is the EXACT spitting image of Ananka, so there is that whole complication to deal with also.
This one hasn’t aged super well, primarily because Mehemet Bey has some super valid points about colonial thievery and Cushing refutes them all with out and out racism. Also the flashback scenes have Christoper Lee in brown face. Yikes. Lee as the Mummy is pretty scary, all 6’5” inches of him, lumbering around like a trussed up ninja. That scenes where he breaks through the asylum window is badass!
