Product Description

Boris Karloff's legendary performance has become a landmark in the annals of screen history. As the mummy, Im-Ho-Tep, he is accidentally revived after 3,700 years by a team of British archaeologists. It is revealed in a flashback that he was a high priest, embalmed alive for trying to revive the vestal virgin whom he loved, after she had been sacrificed. Alive again, he sets out to find his lost love. Today, over 50 years after The Mummy was first released, this brooding dream-like film remains a masterpiece not only of the genre, but for all time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14565 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 1999-09-28
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 73 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
You have to hand it to the walking dead. What they lack in speed and agility, they more than make up for in sheer single-minded determination. Im-Ho-Tep is a case in point. He's an ancient Egyptian priest, cursed for his terrible crimes against the gods. A team of British archaeologists digs up his sarcophagus, along with a box inscribed with a warning that opening it will unleash death and destruction. You'll never guess what they do. Once freed, Im-Ho-Tep takes on the appropriately evil alias Ardath Bey and gets to the task of resurrecting his ancient lover--which will, of course, require a living human surrogate. While the premise may sound formulaic, The Mummy in fact turns out to be bracingly weird, relying on atmospheric creepiness rather than on jump-out-and-scare-you effects. Boris Karloff gives a terrific performance as Im-Ho-Tep. He has all the malevolence the film requires, but also manages subtler touches; the expression in his eyes as he is wrapped in preparation for being buried alive is absolutely chilling. Instead of forcing him to do all the tedious shambling around that so many mummies resort to, the filmmakers have wisely given Im-Ho-Tep/Ardath Bey a nearly living appearance once he's cleaned up and has a few psychic powers to boot, making him a potent adversary. Stock up on ace bandages and prepare for a good spooky evening. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

Yet another release of the 1932 classic horror film
If you prefer your horror the old-fashioned way with atmosphere, implication, and imagination versus explicit special effects, this is your kind of movie. Everyone already knows the tale, and everyone has already seen the movie. It is worth ownng though. It was made in the precode era when horror movies could still have a dash of the shocking. Plus movies were still learning to talk, so much experimentation could go on. The director of "The Mummy", Karl Freund, had worked with Fritz Lang and so hints of German expressionism can be seen in this film as well. The year before, "Frankenstein" had made Boris Karloff a star at age 44. It is here Karloff gets to use the power of speech to add to his presence in horror films.

DISC 1:
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
Feature Commentary by Film Historian Paul M. Jenson
Feature Commentary by Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman, Bob Burns, and Brent Armstrong**
Posters & Stills**
Trailer Gallery
DISC 2
He Who Made Monsters: Life and Legacy of Jack Pierce**
Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy**
Universal Horror Documentary**

**New Bonus Features not on previous releases.
Note that "Production Notes" and "Cast and Filmmakers" were bonus Features in the 2007 single disc release. "The Mummy Archives" was in the 2004 release "The Mummy: The Legacy Collection". These may or may not be encompassed in the new release. Thus is the chaos that is the Universal Classic DVD department.

"I shall awaken memories of love and crime and death ..."
With these words, the viewer is once again seduced by Boris Karloff's amazing ability to bring to life, so to speak, characters that have been long dead. By 1932, when "The Mummy" was released, Universal was the leading Hollywood horror studio. "The Mummy" was ... ahem ... one more nail in a very successful sarcophagus, providing Universal with more acclaim and Karloff with another notch in his already-outstanding cinematic resume.

Now released on DVD as part of the Universal Classic Monster Collection series, "The Mummy" reflects the rampant interest in America at the time in all things Egyptian, brought about mainly by the discovery of King Tut's tomb by Howard Carter some 10 years prior. The supposed curse that was to have been visited upon anyone who disturbed the boy king was even worked into the script of "The Mummy" which was, originally, not an Egyptian movie at all but which was based on an historical Italian alchemist/hypnotist who claimed to have lived for centuries.

In the film, the mummy, Im-Ho-Tep (pronounced "M-Ho-Tep") is accidentally revived after 3,700 years by a team of British archaeologists. He was once a priest, buried alive for attempting to revive the vestial virgin whom he loved following her sacrifice. Alive once more, and now calling himself Ardath Bey, he is looking for his lost love ... and of course, he'll need a living stand-in ...

The "making-of" documentary included in "The Mummy", entitled "Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed", is, like all the other documentaries in this series, a delight. One special feature of this particular documentary details the process used by make-up king Jack Pierce to turn Karloff - who in life was quite a handsome man - into a dried-out corpse. When one considers - both in the Frankenstein films and "The Mummy" - the physical rigors which Karloff endured to bring his gallery of monsters to life, this dedication to craft alone is truly amazing. From enduring layers of make-up often combined with foul-smelling chemicals, to wearing padded clothing weighing 30 pounds or more, to being wrapped in bandages and accidentally not given a fly through which the actor could relieve himself throughout the day, "Karloff The Uncanny" endured all and, as a result, gave us performances unmatched by any actor living today.

The double performance of Zita Johann as both the Egyptian princess and her modern-day character is nuanced and blends perfectly with Karloff's measured emotion, which evokes a romantic aura in his character that makes him seem more sympathetic than evil.

Feature Commentary by film historian Paul Jensen provides a treasure chest of trivia for horror film buffs and Karloff devotees, as do the original trailers and cast and filmmaker's biographies included in the DVD's extra goodies.

Get lost in the world of "The Mummy" and you'll never want to leave.

The Most Subtle of Universal Studios Horror Classics
Although frequently reinterpreted, the original 1932 THE MUMMY remains the most intriguing film version of a story inspired by both 1920s archeological finds and the 1931 Bela Lugosi DRACULA: when an over-eager archeologist reads an incantation from an ancient scroll, he unexpectedly reanimates a mysterious mummy--who then seeks reunion with the princess for whom he died thousands of years earlier and ultimately finds his ancient love reincarnated in modern-day Egypt.

Less a typical horror film than a gothic romance with an Egyptian setting, THE MUMMY has few special effects of any kind and relies primarily upon atmosphere for impact--and this it has in abundance: although leisurely told, the film possesses a darkly romantic, dreamlike quality that lingers in mind long after the film is over. With one or two exceptions, the cast plays with remarkable restraint, with Boris Karloff as the resurrected mummy and Zita Johann (a uniquely beautifully actress) standouts in the film. The sets are quite remarkable, and the scenes in which Karloff permits his reincarnated lover to relive the ancient past are particularly effective.

Kids raised on wham-bam action and special effects films will probably find the original THE MUMMY slow and uninteresting, but the film's high quality and disquieting atmosphere will command the respect of both fans of 1930s horror film and the more discerning viewer. Of all the 1930s Universal Studio horror films, THE MUMMY is the most subtle--and the one to which I personally return most often.