Review of The Mummy's Tomb (1942) by Mannie L — 01 Aug 2008

In the third Universal Mummy outing Dick Foran and Wallace Ford reprise there roles as Banning and 'Babe' (although Hanson instead of Jenson this time - huh?), but with 30 years added to their ages.

In The Mummy's Tomb the general plot scheme of The Mummy's Hand is rehashed but in this case the new High Priest (played quite well by someone who actually looks Middle Eastern) is given the task of taking Kharis - now, and thereafter, played by Lon Chaney Jr - to American to kill the Banning archeology party and all those associated with it.

Thus the Mummy series moves west - this saves considerably on costs for sets as one only needs contemporary American village sets (in The Mummy's Tomb , Banning resides in New England ) and Universal recycled scenes (directly) from The Mummy's Hand such that nearly ALL Egyptian action comes from the previous movie.

Not much new in this Mummy movie except locale. The acting is acceptable but not stellar. The Mummy's Tomb (and all subsequent Mummy movies) has a bit of American Western feel, both in set designs and cast actions.

The latter is illustrated by the use of posse-vigilantly gangs to chase down the killer (Kharis). I found little in this movie to applaud loudly although this is not to say it is horrible. Taken for what it is - low budget 40's, WWII, Universal horror, it's a 3 star movie worth watching if you're interested in the genre.