Review of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) by Eric R — 07 Aug 2009

It was bound to happen. Hammer already had successful sequels to both The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula so we all knew a sequel to The Mummy was to come. A sequel did show up in 1964 but with one big difference...it's a completely different Mummy.

Yes this sequel features a different mummy than the first film (eagle eyed viewers will recall that Christopher Lee as the bandaged being got blasted to a pulp) and no returning characters from the original. Other than that fact the plot is almost exactly like the first Mummy film. So much in fact the viewer might have a case of deja vu.

Like the original the plot follows the basic mummy protocol of entering a cursed tomb, taking the mummy back to England, the mummy awakens for revenge. Against the diggers wishes the financier of the dig plans to take the mummy that was found on a road show in order top make a fortune. The mummy has different plans however.

The acting is solid for the most part the film definitely lacks power leads like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the original. The lead actress is beautiful and exotic but her character is a little weak for my taste. Like the original there's a nifty flashback scene and the production values are top notch as usual for early Hammer productions.

I also found the film to be a little more violent compared to the first film. The film opens with a man having man stabbed and his hand cut off. In another scene the Mummy crushes a man's head under foot like a grape (off screen of course). I found the added violence helped keep my attention more focused on the redundant plot.

Hammer fans will definitely like and so will fans of Mummy movies but other movie goers will find the plot just too derivative to hold interest.

On a side note this film was unavailable for years. It was never released on video and debuted on DVD in a four film collection entitled Hammer Films: Icons of Horror.