The Mummy (1932) Review

The Mummy (1932) Review

The classic Universal monster movies from the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s are staples for any horror fan. Films like Frankenstein and Dracula and The Wolf Man have stood the test of time, and the monsters have returned in many remakes and re-imaginings since the originals. The Mummy is no exception. 

The original Mummy came out a year after Frankenstein. Frankenstein featured Boris Karloff in the now-famous role as “The Monster”, and though he was menacing, he didn’t get to say much. In 1932’s The Mummy, he plays Imhotep, an Egyptian priest who is brought back to life when some archeologists unwittingly read from a scroll after discovering his mummified body. He masquerades as a modern Egyptian for years afterwards, in search of a woman whom he thinks is the reincarnation of the princess he fell in love with centuries earlier. 

It’s amazing how well The Mummy holds up today. Karloff is excellent as Imhotep, this time able to use that deep, haunting voice of his to bring the character to life. Though obviously slow-paced by today’s standards, it’s still atmospheric and unnerving. Even simple things like seeing bandages dragged along the floor or the famous shot of Imhotep staring straight at the camera with lit-up eyes are surprisingly effective. It’s no wonder The Mummy spawned such a long-lived franchise…and yet, for all the reboots and re-imaginings, there hasn’t been a single one that’s a true remake of this one. 

Universal released four subsequent Mummy films in the 1940’s, but none of them were direct sequels, nor were they remakes. The Mummy’s Hand was a reimagining of the first film, this time following different characters and a different mummy, Kharis. Hammer Studios started their own mummy franchise with The Mummy in 1959, but it was more of an amalgamation of all the Universal Mummy films. 

The closest thing we’ve got is 1999’s The Mummy, which was produced by Universal, features a mummy named Imhotep, and is even set in the 1930’s like the original. And yet it still isn’t really a remake, because even though the plot is similar, it veers quite far from the original story, and none of the characters are the same. The ’99 film is more like Indiana Jones, anyway, and then there’s 2017’s The Mummy, which again, features a different mummy and is not a remake of the 1932 film. 

I don’t think any of these subsequent films have quite been able to recapture the horror and ambience of the original. Boris Karloff is the definitive mummy monster (even though he only appears as a traditional bandaged mummy for one scene), the musical score is classic and haunting (even though it’s quite minimal, and there are many scenes without any music, or barely any sound), and the story is quite innovative (for its time).  

I’ve been wanting to talk about the original The Mummy ever since the latest "remake" came out. I recommend you skip that one and give the original a try instead. Here’s one last incentive: the film clocks in at a mere 73 minutes, meaning it doesn’t even eat up much of your time. Among the library of classic Universal monster movies, The Mummy ranks very high.