After a needlessly elaborate prologue narrated by (I think) Peter Cushing this opens in 1920 Egypt--although everybody dresses in 1960s clothes and fashions. The plot is a boring by-the-numbers number about people desecrating the tomb of some Egyptian king (or something) and the mummy coming to life to kill them. A minor twist is that someone must have the mummy's shroud in hand and say a particular phase to animate him and send him out to kill. This is just barely a horror film--the mummy doesn't even start moving until 45 minutes in! It's mostly a dull drama of people standing around and discussing why people are being killed and by who. All the attack scenes are short and distressingly non-bloody (except for two) and the mummy looks pretty silly (even though it was based on how actual mummies look).
Some good acting saves this from being a total disaster. David Buck is good as Paul and Maggie Kimberly is just OK as the love interest Claire. John Phillips is terrible as the main villain Stanley but Elizabeth Sellars seems very amused as his wife. Also Hammer regular Michael Ripper is excellent and Catherine Lacey chews the scenery as Haiti. Also there's a thundering music score to keep you awake. A deadly dull Hammer film with nothing new to offer. The third and probably the worst of the four mummy films they did. A 2--mostly for the acting.
Some good acting saves this from being a total disaster. David Buck is good as Paul and Maggie Kimberly is just OK as the love interest Claire. John Phillips is terrible as the main villain Stanley but Elizabeth Sellars seems very amused as his wife. Also Hammer regular Michael Ripper is excellent and Catherine Lacey chews the scenery as Haiti. Also there's a thundering music score to keep you awake. A deadly dull Hammer film with nothing new to offer. The third and probably the worst of the four mummy films they did. A 2--mostly for the acting.