The Mummy

The Mummy

One of the best aspects of the DVD format is rediscovering classic movies. If you are a regular visitor of the SGM pages and these review's, then you might have noticed I have a great respect for the classic style of Horror Film. Don't get me wrong, I love all aspects of the genre, but it is fun to rediscover these classics.

As a kid I greatly enjoyed watching these movies late at night, and then later on in the years, in the afternoon. But one of the classic films I never watched were The Mummy movies. They bored me. Slow monster, no real action. Yawn.

Then in the past few years Universal Studios released the old classics to video in the Classic Monster line. I bought a bunch of them, one of the last being the 1932 film "The Mummy" starring Boris Karloff. I took it home, watched it and fell in love.

What had I been ignoring all of these years!?! How could I have let this movie get past me?

So when this DVD came out, it went onto my list of "must have, priority buys". Boy, am I glad it went onto that list.

The movie starts with a team of archaeologists in the burial grounds of Im-Ho-Tep. The dead guy wakes up, steals a scroll and runs away. Many years later he returns in the form of Ardath Bey. His goal is to bring his dead lover back to life. Murder! Death! Mayhem! Creepy Eyes! And so much more!

Let's just cut to the chase here kids, I think I am a Universal Monsters slut. They can do no wrong by me. One of the things that works for Universal is the simple fact that they had Boris Karloff. Nobody was better in the day. We can argue over Bela and Boris, but it is almost impossible to deny Karloff as the better actor of film. Lugosi may have been better on the stage, but we can't say since we have no proof.

The quality of the DVD is very good. I have read other reviewers complaining that the picture is not as good as previous video versions of the film. I haven't been able to tell. The picture has its weak spots, but as a whole, this is a very good presentation. I can't complain. I loved it.

The sound is not as clear as "Frankenstein". It does have a fair share of pop and hiss at time, but not so much as to be distracting. One needs to remember that this film is 68 years old. Just because they were able to save "Frankenstein" doesn't mean that all of the films will be in as good of shape.

This DVD comes with all of the same bells and whistles as the other Universal Classics.

The documentary is once again produced and written by David J. Skal. Mr. Skal along with William Lustig are two of the most important people in the Horror industry right now with the exceptional work they have done on some of these projects. This documentary is no exception. It is continually interesting with humor thrown in at just the right moments.

The commentary track by film historian Paul M. Jensen is another great track. These things are all similar and one has to wonder if Universal isn't giving the o.k. to these and making sure they live up to a certain code. None of the tracks have the glaring blank spots that appear on other DVD commentaries and they all cover facts, behind the scenes and rumours.

The trailer is listed as the 1932 theatrical trailer, but I have heard that it is a re-release trailer. It doesn't play like an original trailer.

The archives are another treat of Posters, Lobby Cards, stills and behind the scenes photos. Done just as well as all of the other Universal Classics.

The only problem I am having with these DVD's is that once you get one, you know what to expect with all of the others. While they are all brilliantly done, I know what I am getting on each purchase, no surprises. But that is such a minor complaint, and not even a valid complaint really. Buy this movie just to treasure the brilliant performance by one of the greatest actors of all time. Then buy it for the wonderful stuff that comes with it. But by all means, buy this DVD!


 
Directed by Karl Freund
Released by Universal
Region 1 - Not Rated
Running time - approx 74 mins
Ratio - 1.33:1
Audio - Dolby Digital Mono (English and French)
Subtitles - English and French
Extras :
Commentary by Paul M Jensen
'Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed' Documentary by David J. Skal
Production notes
Cast and Crew Bios
Theatrical trailers
The Mummy Archives
Web Links
Reveiw by Carl R Isonhart
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