Medium: Movie
Runtime: 1hr, 13 Minutes
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
I said I was going to try and watch some classic horror, and by God, I intended to keep that promise. Maybe I didn't watch as much as I'd planned, but I did get around to at least one movie that's long been on my list:
*shuffles around*
The year is 1921, and our story begins on an archaeological dig, with two men from the British Museum talking over the day's events. Sir Joseph, an older chap and the head of the expedition, is more interested in what could be learned from what they've dug up than his younger (unnamed?) companion, who dreams of the acclaim and medals to be gained from the momentous find they've made. The two have discovered a fully-intact mummy in a sarcophagus- one Imhotep, high priest of the Temple of the Sun at Karnak- who seems to have been buried alive and the hieroglyphic spells in his sarcophagus desecrated as a way of preventing him from reaching the afterlife. Additionally, there was a box buried with him- a casket inscribed with a threat of a terrible curse, on whomever opens it. The doctor examining Imhotep's corpse steps out with a stern warning never to open the casket, and Sir Joseph follows him out with orders to his fellow archaeologist to leave well enough alone and finish cataloging their finds until he gets back ("We'll open it later").
No points for guessing what happens next.
Fast forward to 1932, where a new team has replaced the old. Sir Joseph's son Frank has taken up lead of the dig, which in recent years has fallen on hard luck. With several other museums throwing their hats into the ring after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, any actual finds have become too scarce to continue justifying the cost. He's called the whole thing off and is in the process of packing up camp when a mysterious Egyptian man comes to their door, bearing one last lead: a shard of pottery from a princess' grave site...
So, some points of interest: firstly, of all the things I expected this to start with, "Swan Lake" wasn't one of them. I also knew that the 90's Mummy was far removed from this one, but I was surprised by how despite shooting for a more action-oriented storyline, parallels can still be drawn between the two (and it sort of makes me wonder if it was meant to be a straight-up remake at some point). And thirdly: unlike the Imhotep of the 90's blockbuster, Karloff's mummy's main superpower seems to be charisma.
Yes.
I'm not just saying that because he's a big deal as a classic actor, either. He (in no particular order) hypnotizes the female main lead, manipulates both male leads into doing his bidding, and makes Sir Joseph's manservant his new slave before just sort of casually strolling inside to meet with the reincarnation of his beloved.
So then, I guess the next question is, does it hold up?
Well... in creep factor, no. Maybe I'm spoiled by the bigger and more impressive scares that our current technology is capable of, but there's nothing that really stood out to me here. And even conceptually, there's nothing that makes my brain recoil from the sheer wrong-ness of it (much like The Grudge did). My last criteria for these sorts of things is tension level (see: Silent Hill, and IT (2017)), and... yeah, it's really tame.
While I'm knocking it, let's break from my 'no spoilers' rule a bit to talk about that ending. Imhotep is stopped, Frank rushes over to make sure that Helen is herself again, and- THE END. Thanks for coming to the theater, everyone!
........okay? So what happened? Did Helen's soul return to her body? Is the princess resting in the underworld once more? What about the servant guy who was helping prepare the ritual? He just sort of buggered off, and he was accessory to attempted murder- did they catch him? Did anything happen to him as a result, or did they hush it up? Did the production run out of money to film an epilogue or something? The ending hit so fast, I nearly got whiplash.
You know what, though? It's not too bad a film. I actually kind like villains like 1930s Imhotep. Even if he doesn't quite come off as sinister anymore, he's still stupidly clever. There are few things that happen after he escapes from his sarcophagus that he didn't orchestrate (or at least take advantage of). Also, there are a couple impressive (if cheap-looking) effects toward the end. I hesitate to say that a little more music here or there could have complimented the movie well- that would probably be heresy from any purist's point of view- but some scenes were very noticeably silent, and I think the tension might have been held up a little better by some quiet strings or the like. At the very least, it could have helped lend credence to how sinister Imhotep felt like he was supposed to be.
It now occurs to me that it has been a very long time since I have watched anything in black and white, and I have no idea what movie conventions were at that period of time. Maybe this is one of those cases where 'nothing' was meant to be scarier?
TL;DR: It's an interesting look at how horror movies used to be made, but it just isn't scary anymore. Hooray for classics, though!
VIRTUES: Makeup, set design, special effects.
SINS: Closure? What closure?
GRADE: C+
Runtime: 1hr, 13 Minutes
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
I said I was going to try and watch some classic horror, and by God, I intended to keep that promise. Maybe I didn't watch as much as I'd planned, but I did get around to at least one movie that's long been on my list:
 |
| No, wait- that's not it. Wrong poster, gimme just a- |
*crashing and banging*
*swearing*
AHA!
 |
| There we go! That's better. |
The year is 1921, and our story begins on an archaeological dig, with two men from the British Museum talking over the day's events. Sir Joseph, an older chap and the head of the expedition, is more interested in what could be learned from what they've dug up than his younger (unnamed?) companion, who dreams of the acclaim and medals to be gained from the momentous find they've made. The two have discovered a fully-intact mummy in a sarcophagus- one Imhotep, high priest of the Temple of the Sun at Karnak- who seems to have been buried alive and the hieroglyphic spells in his sarcophagus desecrated as a way of preventing him from reaching the afterlife. Additionally, there was a box buried with him- a casket inscribed with a threat of a terrible curse, on whomever opens it. The doctor examining Imhotep's corpse steps out with a stern warning never to open the casket, and Sir Joseph follows him out with orders to his fellow archaeologist to leave well enough alone and finish cataloging their finds until he gets back ("We'll open it later").
No points for guessing what happens next.
Fast forward to 1932, where a new team has replaced the old. Sir Joseph's son Frank has taken up lead of the dig, which in recent years has fallen on hard luck. With several other museums throwing their hats into the ring after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, any actual finds have become too scarce to continue justifying the cost. He's called the whole thing off and is in the process of packing up camp when a mysterious Egyptian man comes to their door, bearing one last lead: a shard of pottery from a princess' grave site...
So, some points of interest: firstly, of all the things I expected this to start with, "Swan Lake" wasn't one of them. I also knew that the 90's Mummy was far removed from this one, but I was surprised by how despite shooting for a more action-oriented storyline, parallels can still be drawn between the two (and it sort of makes me wonder if it was meant to be a straight-up remake at some point). And thirdly: unlike the Imhotep of the 90's blockbuster, Karloff's mummy's main superpower seems to be charisma.
Yes.
I'm not just saying that because he's a big deal as a classic actor, either. He (in no particular order) hypnotizes the female main lead, manipulates both male leads into doing his bidding, and makes Sir Joseph's manservant his new slave before just sort of casually strolling inside to meet with the reincarnation of his beloved.
So then, I guess the next question is, does it hold up?
Well... in creep factor, no. Maybe I'm spoiled by the bigger and more impressive scares that our current technology is capable of, but there's nothing that really stood out to me here. And even conceptually, there's nothing that makes my brain recoil from the sheer wrong-ness of it (much like The Grudge did). My last criteria for these sorts of things is tension level (see: Silent Hill, and IT (2017)), and... yeah, it's really tame.
While I'm knocking it, let's break from my 'no spoilers' rule a bit to talk about that ending. Imhotep is stopped, Frank rushes over to make sure that Helen is herself again, and- THE END. Thanks for coming to the theater, everyone!
........okay? So what happened? Did Helen's soul return to her body? Is the princess resting in the underworld once more? What about the servant guy who was helping prepare the ritual? He just sort of buggered off, and he was accessory to attempted murder- did they catch him? Did anything happen to him as a result, or did they hush it up? Did the production run out of money to film an epilogue or something? The ending hit so fast, I nearly got whiplash.
You know what, though? It's not too bad a film. I actually kind like villains like 1930s Imhotep. Even if he doesn't quite come off as sinister anymore, he's still stupidly clever. There are few things that happen after he escapes from his sarcophagus that he didn't orchestrate (or at least take advantage of). Also, there are a couple impressive (if cheap-looking) effects toward the end. I hesitate to say that a little more music here or there could have complimented the movie well- that would probably be heresy from any purist's point of view- but some scenes were very noticeably silent, and I think the tension might have been held up a little better by some quiet strings or the like. At the very least, it could have helped lend credence to how sinister Imhotep felt like he was supposed to be.
It now occurs to me that it has been a very long time since I have watched anything in black and white, and I have no idea what movie conventions were at that period of time. Maybe this is one of those cases where 'nothing' was meant to be scarier?
TL;DR: It's an interesting look at how horror movies used to be made, but it just isn't scary anymore. Hooray for classics, though!
VIRTUES: Makeup, set design, special effects.
SINS: Closure? What closure?
GRADE: C+
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