ShangLuda Admirable film.

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Scott LeBrun Hammer remakes Universals' "Kharis" series of 1940s mummy movies, with engaging results, in standard tale of "profaners of the tomb" and the consequences that they must face. In the late 19th century, elderly Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmer), his brother Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley), and Stephens' son John (Peter Cushing) lead an expedition that discovers the Egyptian tomb of the Princess Ananka. The mummy watching over things is Kharis (Sir Christopher Lee), who is brought back to England three years later to dispatch Joseph and the Bannings."The Mummy" is not as thickly atmospheric as the best Hammer films, and those Egyptian scenes do look pretty artificial, but it still delivers quite a bit of fun. Lee carries on the tradition of a shambling, stumbling automaton in high style, and his character has the appropriate amount of true physical menace. Plus, Lee is allowed to express a fair amount of emotion through his eyes, the only part of his body not covered by Roy Ashtons' excellent makeup. It's great fun to watch him and his old friend Cushing tussling in action scenes. The very gorgeous Yvonne Furneaux doesn't show up until around the one hour mark, but as the wife of Cushings' character, she does play a rather important role, since Mrs. Banning coincidentally bears a resemblance to the Princess.Aylmer and Huntley are joined by other top British character players like Eddie Byrne (as the police inspector), George Pastell (a Hammer repertory player who often specialized in ethnic roles), the ubiquitous Michael Ripper (in a funny comedy relief role as a drunken, frequently frightened poacher), George Woodbridge (as a police constable), and Willoughby Gray (as Dr. Reilly). Cushing is a delight, as always.Accompanied by ominous music composed by Franz Reizenstein, "The Mummy" is just as colourful and pleasing to look at previous Hammer Gothic favourites "The Curse of Frankenstein" and "Dracula". Definitely recommended.Seven out of 10.

Rainey Dawn A pretty good mummy movie about John Banning (Peter Cushing) and Kharis (Christopher Lee) - fun to watch.This is NOT a remake of Universal's The Mummy 1932 with Boris Karloff. Karloff's mummy was Imhotep NOT Kharis. There was bits and pieces of this film that were reminiscent of the Karloff classic but NOT a remake of it. This film is NOT a remake of Universal's Mummy Kharis series either. Tom Tyler played Kharis in The Mummy's Hand followed by Lon Chaney Jr. in 3 of the Universal Mummy films (Tomb, Ghost, Curse). The film is almost a mixture of all of the Universal mummy movie stories rolled into one - not exactly but almost.I would have rated this one higher if the ending made more since. John Banning shot Kharis in shoulder and looked like close to the stomach but the mummy Kharis survived. The ending Kharis was shot and went down in swampy waters. I'm guessing Banning didn't hit a vital organ but the other shooters at the end did hit a vital organ. Also the movie ended abruptly - seems like just a bit more at the end with John Banning and the other guys "summing things up" would have really been nice.7/10

Wuchak Hammer Films' "The Mummy" was released in 1959 and stars Christopher Lee in the eponymous role stalking an archaeologist, played by Peter Cushing, because he was part of the party that desecrated the Egyptian tomb of his beloved, Ananka.If you're a fan of Hammer's horror line, like I am, you'll naturally want to see (or own) this one, but it's definitely one of their lesser films. On the positive side, Lee is very intimidating as the towering mummy and Cushing always makes for a worthy protagonist. In addition George Pastell is effective as the offended Egyptian and Yvonne Furneaux as Isobel/Ananka is stunning, although they don't do enough with her; in fact, her role is limited to portions of the last act.So what's the problem? For one, the entire first act takes place in Egypt, but it's an indoor set in England and looks like it. Remember those cheesy studio sets of the original Star Trek TV series? The Egyptian sets in this movie aren't much better -- the "outside" sets, that is; the tomb sets are actually good. Speaking of the tomb sets, how is it that there's proper lighting in a tomb that's been shut for 3000 years? It's never explained. Roll-your-eyes factors like this don't make for good movies. Thankfully, the locations switch to England in the second act.Secondly, there's just too much Egyptian ritual and citation of sacred scrolls. Some of this is understandable, of course, but there's so much in the movie that it feels like it's padded by at least 12 minutes. Lastly, it doesn't make sense that the Egyptian guy is adamant about having the mummy slay Cushing's character because he was laid-up in a tent when the tomb of Ananka was desecrated. He justifies it on the grounds that Cushing was a member of the party that broke into the crypt, but it just doesn't seem like he has a good enough reason to go through all the trouble when Cushing wasn't even near the tomb. Also, why not go after all the workers that helped the team break into the forbidden crypt? Why just go after the white dudes?The film runs 86 minutes and was shot in England.GRADE: C

TheLittleSongbird Anything that stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and with them together, plus with Terrence Fisher as director always promises a lot, and The Mummy sure doesn't disappoint. I do agree that the flashback is too talky and goes on for too long, otherwise The Mummy is excellent, for a Hammer film(one of their best in my opinion along with 1958's Dracula) and as a film in general. And from personal view it, although the Boris Karloff film from Universal is great and the 1999 film was enjoyable, is the best of "The Mummy" films.It looks great for starters. It may have been low-budget and done on studio sets but they don't show, the film is shot absolutely beautifully and the colours used are sumptuous but also eerie, the sets are handsome and much is done to make the film as atmospheric as possible like with the foggy grounds. The music score is wonderfully ominous and fits the mood perfectly while never being too obvious and although wordy the script is intelligent and fun with padding thankfully kept at minimum, the flashback excepted. The story is paced well on the whole and is nothing short of enthralling, it doesn't feel too long, it doesn't feel like it's over stretching itself and it doesn't try to do too much. Even better is the atmosphere created, the film is beautifully moody, but the scares that any scene with the Mummy creates makes one's hairs stand up on the back of their necks even from a young adult perspective.Peter Cushing plays his mild-mannered role with marvellous crispness, Yvonne Furneaux is beauty personified and George Pastell is a cool "villain" without falling into cartoon territory(for a character that was in danger of doing so). But Christopher Lee walks away with the film, he oozes with imposing authority as the high priest and is just terrifying as the Mummy, even the look of him freaks you out, a brilliant performance that ranks among his best in a Hammer horror. Terrence Fisher directs adroitly. To conclude, an excellent Hammer horror that has Lee as the main selling point. 9/10 Bethany Cox