"The devil's on the loose and he's dancin' with the Mummy!"
--The Mummy's Curse (1944)



On the night when the moon is high in the heavens, the mummy and his princess, they walk!


Bayou monastery structural ruins.

The plot is shit (I gave up on the illogic that follows Chaney's dragging foot and disabled arm, until needed for use, in the consecutive mummy films that followed the superior '32 and '40 films), but there's plenty of "Bayou swamp forest" atmosphere, which does offer a fresh location much in the same vein as "Son of Dracula" and its Dark Oats plantation, Virginia Christine as the exotic Ananka (supposedly Amina, but Christine looks nothing like Ramsay Ames) rising from the earth and looking might pretty after a dip in the lake (amazing how a good swim can make you look like a Hollywood star out of the makeup room!), and a vile Martin Kosleck as Ragheb, working undercover for high priest of Arkham, Ilzor Zandaab (Peter Coe) who is also carrying on a facade as Egyptian scholar, colleage of Scripps Museum scientist, Dr. James Halsey (Dennis Moore). Halsey has a mild bit of romance with secretary, Betty (Kay Harding, charming and a kidder), but their roles are rather underwritten. At least this go-around, Ilzor doesn't betray Kharis, actually disposed of unflatteringly by Ragheb when his back's turned. Love the monastery set that has some cool matte work as well. Again, the formula of the last two films (Tomb & Ghost) rears its head here: body count horror Universal style has Kharis strangling helpless (or is that hapless?) victims who don't have the fucking good sense to RUN when the mummy drags towards them slowly. Pierce's mummy makeup is still boss, and those darkened shots of Kharis moving with that hand extended are effective. The plot moving from New England college town to Bayou has been documented over and over. Those who arranged these plots just took what they wanted from the previous film and added their own material, not particularly worrying about continuity. You take that or leave it, I guess.

Ragheb and Ilzor
Betty and Ananka

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