The Mummy [VHS]

The Blu-ray edition of the 1932 version of "The Mummy" features re-mastered, high-resolution video, and is probably the best way to currently watch this classic movie.Following Universal Studios' very successful "Dracula" and "Frankenstein," "The Mummy" brought together director Karl Freund, actor Boris Karloff, and makeup artist Jack Pierce to create a movie that was superior in many ways to its predecessors. Director Karl Freund mostly worked as a cinematographer, and had a career which stretched from silent films to "I Love Lucy," where he created the sitcom camera configuration used today. Freund was a master of visuals, and with "The Mummy" creates an atmospheric masterpiece, with beautifully filmed scenes of ancient and modern (1932) Egypt. Sets and costumes are top-notch. You can almost feel the dust in the air.Boris Karloff and Jack Pierce again team up to create a classic monster. Karloff only appears briefly in full mummy makeup, but those moments are wonderful and quite effective. It is as modern (1932) incarnation Ardath Bey, that Karloff and Pierce reach their peak. Made up to look two thousand years old, Karloff combines evil and pathos as lovelorn monster, Ardath Bey. Stage actress Zita Johann makes a beautiful counterpoint to Karloff, as the intended object of Bey's affection.I'll be the first one to say that old movies aren't for everybody. This movie is from the dawn of the sound era and has some ridiculous overacting by lesser players, and some stagey moments that slow the pace of the film. However, if you are willing to let yourself be taken in by the dream-like aura of this movie, you will find that "The Mummy" well deserves its place in the Pantheon of classic horror movies.I've owned "The Mummy" in most of its different media incarnations: VHS, DVD, iPad, and now Blu-ray, This version has been remastered, and is clearly the best visually. The sound quality is similar to that of the DVD. One is stuck with the quality from the original sound track, which is from the early days of movie sound recording. The Blu-ray has a number of features, most of which were also available on the DVD, as well as a number of commentaries.If you are a fan of old movies, "The Mummy" is a worthwhile addition to your Blu-ray library. If you already have the DVD, this Blu-ray will offer an improved picture and a few extra features and commentaries at a pretty reasonable price. If you like well-composed, beautifully lit, artfully designed (and completely artificial) sets, this movie will deliver. But if you aren't a fan of classic films from the early sound period, you will probably want to stay away.

Great

Woody Allen wisely fought against the ghastly practice of colorizing original black/white film, and rightly so.Hollywood (back then) understood how to use the monochrome medium to its best effect and convincingly derive both brooding and bright atmospheric sceneries and achieve the desired emotional response from the viewer.The plots and acting may be cliché and hokey by todays standards, but Edward van Sloan is as immortal as Mr. Muller or Prof. van Helsing as Bela Lugosi was to Dracula.The scene of Ardath Bey's temple and the enchanted pool is priceless, along with his monologue describing the details of his ghastly past.I'll take this any day to the CGI saturated Stephen Sommers, Mummy franchise that spans the years 1999 - 2008. Aside from being box office block-busters, these films are admittedly entertaining and have their moments, but like most successful modern franchises, they run their course and become silly and tiresome.

Long before CGI (which I despise more and more) films of this nature had to have a damn good story and damn good actors. The Mummy is it. Incredible makeup for Karloff and Zita Johann as the heroine and David Manners as the hero. No quippy lines whatsoever - which poor writers substitute for a tight good story. I hate quippy lines. Same for CGI. In my opinion it's vastly overused. The Mummy. The original is the one to watch. I love it. LOVE. IT.

I liked the Universal Legacy edition of "Dracula" so much, I got the same issue of "The Mummy" as well. The packaging on my copy is slightly improved with the DVD content info printed on the back cover rather than on a sheet glued to the cover. Although I am still impressed by all the extras on this edition, the extras are not as good as the ones on "Dracula," so I am dropping a star. The two films are actually quite similar. From the identical opening music to the almost parallel storyline. Edward Van Sloan and David Manners are in both films and play the same type of roles (Manners playing the romantic love interest who falls for the woman who is under the spell of the "monster" and Van Sloan as the professor who observes and understands what is going on and confronts the "monster"). One difference in "The Mummy" is that, though Dracula is evil on all accounts, Imhotep is a rather sentimental figure. He is a murderer, but his brutality is a means to reuniting with the woman for whom he sacrificed his life 1,000s of years earlier. He was just a mummy in love (Karloff, in his scenes with Zita Johann, definitely plays the role as such).I will focus on the extras offered on this 2-DVD set, as most people who are interested in this release have already seen the film. Like with the "Dracula" issue, You can watch "The Mummy" with two different commentaries. The first commentary includes Rick Baker (makeup man), Scott Essman (horror film researcher), Steve Haberman (screenwriter, film historian), Bob Burns (film buff), and Brent Armstrong (sculptor). Baker speaks by himself in a separate commentary during the famous mummy awakening scene. He finds a lot of inconsistencies in the film and admits to not liking it much, although he is a fan of the makeup techniques used. The others talk together in a more conversational style. This group does not always follow the scenes. They talk about other films and heap praise on the players. I find it the most interesting when they discuss scenes and the film itself. Armstrong points out Imhotep's wrinkled face and theorizes that the intent was to show that the bandages had replaced his skin. Another thing I would not have noticed was the rear projection used in the cab scene. I thought the Universal horror films as a metaphor for the Great Depression idea was a bit stretching it, though. At the end of the commentary, they go off praising this and that. I found this commentary interesting but, with all the people involved, it could have been better.The second commentary is by film historian Paul M. Jensen. Like Steve Haberman's commentary for "Dracula," Jensen reads through prepared notes. Sometimes he's describing scenes and other times he is giving backgrounds of the players and crew. At one point, he describes Putnam's Cagliostro. He gives intriguing information on the discarded scenes. While I liked this commentary, neither ones on this set are as good as David Skal's on "Dracula."Also on the first disc are a collection of lobby cards and stills (including some from discarded scenes) and a trailer gallery of the many Mummy sequels. "Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed" is a documentary on the making of the film. I like the photos of Karloff having his makeup applied. There is a lot of info on Zita Johann, who clashed with director Karl Freund, and her occultist beliefs. It compares the film to "Dracula" and talks about the other mummy films. It runs 30 minutes.On the second disc are three documentaries. The first is "He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce." This documentary discusses Pierce's work on the films "Frakenstein," "The Mummy," "The Black Cat," "Bride of Frakenstein," "Son of Frakenstein," and "The Wolf Man." I found it very interesting how Frakenstein evolved through the films and the revelation on how one side of his face caved in. I wished they discussed Pierce's techniques for "The Man Who Laughs." I've wondered how they kept Conrad Veidt's mouth curled up. It looks very painful. The documentary concludes with the sad way Pierce was let go from Universal, how he lived the rest of his life in relative obscurity, and his legacy. It is 25 minutes long. "Unraveling the Legacy of the Mummy" is a bunch of action scenes from the Brendan Fraser films with interview clips from the cast and crew (8 minutes). "Universal Horror" is the same documentary that was on the "Dracula" DVD set (probably on "Frakenstein," too). It is excellent, though. The rather lengthy documentary covers many of the scary films put out by Universal in the 1920s and 1930s and includes freaky scenes from such films as "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Man Who Laughs," "The Black Cat," etc. I liked the inclusion of scenes from early silents. It also reveals secrets to special effects found in "King Kong," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," and "The Invisible Man." Film historians who were kids back in the day talk about what these films meant to them and the reactions of audiences at the time. Bela Lugosi Jr. talks about his famous father in several clips in this documentary. I've seen it three times and will probably watch it again.