The Mummy
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.68 You Save: $3.29 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Mummy
Movie Review: Maybe Hammer's finest hour
Summary: 4 Stars
The Mummy has always been the Rodney Dangerfield of classic monsters: it doesn't matter the year or the studio, he just doesn't get any respect. But Hammer's 1959 version, starring the incomparable team of Peter Cushing (as the hero) and Christopher Lee (as the monster), might be the best treatment of the ancient Egyptian living dead on film, as well as Hammer's best film. At any rate, the best looking (and sounding) to come from the tiny English studio. Jimmy Sangster's script scrambles up themes (and even character names) from several Universal Mummy films of the 1930s and 40s, but in the process he comes up with the most literate and historically accurate treatment of theme on record. Particularly clever is the decision to make the hero, Cushing, an agile adversary with a bum leg, turning upside-down the convention from the old Universal Kharis films which presented a lame, shuffling mummy who still managed to catch up with his furiously running victims (though for the record, some have claimed that Cushing was really injured at the time of filming, and his limp merely incorporated into the story). The direction of Terence Fisher is atmospherically assured as usual without being obtrusive, but Jack Asher's photography is really something to behold: in particular, the scenes of ancient Egypt are stunningly beautiful. The supporting cast is one of Hammer's best, with Sir Felix Aylmer and Raymond Huntley joining such studio regulars as the great Michael Ripper and George Pastell, but the acting honors go without question to Christopher Lee, who excells in a role that has defeated lesser actors -- the silent, bandaged mummy -- and makes it not only frightening, but heart-wrenchingly tragic, simply through body language and his expressive eyes. If you're into mummy films, this one is a must.Movie Review: A Hammer Classic
Summary: 4 Stars
Although not as atmospheric as the 1932 classic, starring Boris Karloff, this version is nonetheless a fine film, starring the incomparable Hammer horror duo, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Like most Hammer films, "The Mummy" takes place in Victorian England, and features such trademarks as foggy swamps, luxurious interior sets, and lavish costumes, all filmed in glorious color! Lee is great as the mummy, brought back to life by the reading of a sacred scroll, and now controlled by a mysterious Egyptian who directs the mummy to go out and kill those responsible for desecrating the tomb of an Egyptian woman whom Lee loved in ancient Egypt. One of the "desecrators" is, of course, Peter Cushing, who in one scene, attempts to blow away the bandaged beast with a shotgun (to no avail, of course!) Although not a particularly scary film, "The Mummy" still entertains. The picture itself is crystal clear with great sound and will surely delight horror fans of all ages!Movie Review: reviewers who think they know something about aspect ratios
Summary: 4 Stars
fact number 1:in order to be "enhanced for 16:9" the picture "has" to be 16:9-that works out to 1:78 aspect ratio.fact number 2:fisher was working with 35mm film stock wich was then matted at 1:66 , the most popular format all over europe.
fact number 3:the north american standard for non-scope films was 1:85 witch is the full 35mm aspect ratio.
fact number 4:warner is not in the habit of taking inferior euro-transfers (4% too fast as a half-assed way of synchronising
celluloid with video)ex:the mummy on pal video is 85 mins insted of 88(correct running time for both celluloid & NTSC).
fact number 5:there is always a little more picture on the film stock then will ever be seen in theaters or video.otherwise the number of goofs reported would astronomical.
so in conclusion don't be alarmed by naysaywers bitching about aspect ratios , 9 times out of 10 they know less than you.
Movie Review: OK Hammer take on the mummy....
Summary: 4 Stars
OK color production by Hammer of the mummy motif. Good acting and rather elegant period sets give the film a spooky feel but when Christopher Lee enters as the title creature things really liven up. He's an interesting mummy--jerky and spasmodically stomping around like a wind-up robot gone berserk. Peter Cushing seems right at home in his role. The beautiful Yvonne Furneaux (as Cushing's wife and a dead ringer for the mummy's lost love) comes in near the end of the film to get carried off into the swamp. Why her character has to enter so late is a mystery. She would have at least brought something more into the movie. For discerning adults it's rather juvenile but for kids it's fine. It's a good way to introduce younger audiences to classy horror films.Movie Review: Torn From the Tomb... to Terrify!!
Summary: 4 Stars
In this, 1959's third installment from Hammer Studios, Christopher Lee dons the moldy bandages for a vengeful rampage across the Victorian countryside. Lee plays Kharis, an Egyptian priest returned from the afterlife, searching for archaeologist John Banning (Peter Cushing) and his expedition, to exact revenge on Banning and his team, for desecrating his beloved Princess Ananka's tomb. Directed by Terrence Fisher, this film has good lighting and music score, as well as costumes and make-up, which brings that classic element of horror to the screen, that we all know and love. This is a definite keeper for the Hammer fan, (the price is certainly right,) but I think we can all agree, that Karloff will be best known for owning the role of 'The Mummy'.