Review of The Mummy (1959) by John K — 30 Jul 2011
Hammer Film's version of The Mummy is much more a traditional monster movie than the Universal original. Peter Cushing stars as John Banning, son of an archeologist who opens the tomb and pisses off the wrong Egyptian.
The Egyptian then follows John, his father, and his assistant back to England where the mummy is set loose to get revenge. Long scenes of backstory and flashbacks feel like a misstep in this one as it slows down the action.
It takes about an hour for the mummy to show up and that is a major misstep for a film of this type. Once the monster is on screen however, the film kicks into gear. Christopher Lee is perhaps misused as the monster because you cannot tell it is him, but that's because the makeup is fantastic and Hammer Film's workhorse director Terence Fisher was not afraid to show tight close ups in full light.
The effects team made an impressive monster and Fisher does an excellent job of making the mummy seem huge and imposing. Despite a few stumbles and a rather boring 2nd act, this ends up being a decent Hammer flick.
The mummy treatment alone makes it worth seeing and no film staring Peter Cushing can be a bad film, he's just so damn cool.
This review of The Mummy (1959) was written by John K on 30 Jul 2011.
The Mummy has generally received positive reviews.
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