MISFITS Video Picks for February 13, 2000

Eric Heideman picks some films related to The Mummy (1999)

You've seen THE MUMMY (1999). Now see:

THE MUMMY(1932). Cinematographer Karl Freund directed this story of the original Im-Ho-Tep (Boris Karloff). It's a better film than either the 1931 DRACULA (with Bela Lugosi) or 1931 FRANKENSTEIN (with Karloff). Karloff is mesmerizing as Im-Ho-Tep, who suffered a living death for 3,700 years for love of Princess Anckesenamon (Zita Johan). Johan is an unusually strong heroine. A poetic, measured and stately (but also very economical), creepy film.

THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940). The first of Universal Studio's several films about a mummy named Kharis (cowboy star Tom Tyler in this film), who longs for a princess named Ananka. Those names and the title aside, the 1999 MUMMY is more a remake of THE MUMMY'S HAND than a remake of the Karloff film. THE MUMMY'S HAND, like the 1999 MUMMY, combines humor, adventure, and horror, and features a heroic comedy/adventure trio consisting of two men (including Wallace Ford) and a woman. Good fun.

THE MUMMY (1959). The first and best of Hammer Studios' (Great Britain) mummy films. This version of THE MUMMY combines elements of all six Universal mummy films. I saw a preview of it as a little kid, which gave me the most vivid nightmare of my life. Peter Cushing is (as always) fine as an archaeologist on the expedition that uncovers Kharis the mummy, played by Cushing's many-time film partner, Christopher Lee. Lee's dynamic and expressive performance is all the more impressive because the character is mute and Lee's face is covered except for his eyes.