The Mummy's Hand (1940)

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A classic horror film. That is really very scary. It not a sequel to The Mummy. Not really. But it very scary. The Mummy's Tomb is scarier. The Mummy's ghost is also scarier. The Mummy's Cures is also scarier. This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. 6.1 is a good ratting. But this is such a great movie that 6.1 it underrating. This is a 9. See this movie. It this movie does not scary no movie will. Christy Cabanne was a great director. This is one of his best movies. See it. This is is scarier then The Shining and this not easy to do.

To get one thing out of the way up front, this movie scored as well as it did because the cast is so likable. Yes, the characters they play are idiots, but the actors do a fine job of inhabiting their roles and all the "good guys" mean well and try to do well. And George Zucco gives one of his best performances as the evil priest who wants the secret of the Mummy kept secret. Alas, the movie's attempt to mix comic relief with horror didn't work for me. Half the time I felt as if I was watching "Abbott and Costello" instead of an actual horror film. If I wanted light hearted tributes to the old Universal horror icon's I would seek it out - here it is unwelcome, at least to me. Not a bad movie by any means - but not one I really want to watch again.

The Mummy's Hand (1940)*** (out of 4) Universal decided to reboot the 1932 film with entry, which started the series from scratch. This time out, Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and his buddy Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) lead an expedition in search of the tomb to an Egyptian princess but instead they find the body of the mummy Kharis (Tom Tyler). Soon the mummy is brought back to life by a professor (George Zucco) who plans to use him for evil reasons.In my opinion THE MUMMY'S HAND is the best mummy film the studio ever made. Whereas the original with Boris Karloff might have been better made, it's was also rather boring in spots and there's no doubt that it left you wanting more of the mummy. That's certainly not the case here as we're given an excellent cast, some great locations and best of all is that the mummy is used quite often and to great effect. Tyler certainly has the right build for the part and he manages to make for a very effective mummy. The costume itself is extremely good but the highlight has to be his pitch black eyes.The film has some nice comedy running throughout but it also works well as an adventure tale and a horror film. The horror elements are extremely good with an effective music score, some great locations and the before mentioned mummy. It also doesn't hurt that we're given a terrific cast with both Foran and Ford doing fine work in their parts and Peggy Moran is good as well. Cecil Kellaway is also nice in his bit and there's no question that Zucco owned his role.THE MUMMY'S HAND kick-started the series and while future films were entertaining, there's no question that they dropped a bit into "B" movies. This one here was certainly the best the studio ever made and remains a solid picture.

The first in Universal's fun Kharis the mummy series. The plot is about a couple of archaeologists (Dick Foran and comic relief Wallace Ford) teaming with a magician and his daughter (Cecil Kellaway, Peggy Moran) to search for the tomb of the Egyptian princess Ananka. But George Zucco is entrusted to guard the tombs of Egypt and uses the living mummy Kharis (Tom Tyler) to try and stop the outsiders. Often referred to as a sequel to The Mummy, it's really not despite the use of stock footage from that film. The mummy character and his lost love are given different names in this one. Instead of Imhotep we now have Kharis and instead of Ankh-es-en-amon we have Ananka. Also, now instead of the mummy himself being in control of his actions, he's now controlled by George Zucco through use of tana leaves.The cast is great, with Foran and Ford surprisingly likable heroes. I say surprisingly because both men were hit or miss with me in some of their earlier work in the 1930s. Cecil Kellaway is always enjoyable. Peggy Moran is lovely and has a badass moment or two before becoming the damsel in distress. Tom Tyler is no Boris Karloff but the role really requires very little that a stuntman couldn't do. Tyler would go on to be in the Captain Marvel and Phantom serials, which are great fun. The real star of the film is horror legend George Zucco. He's one of those great old stars that made movies better just by his presence. He's awesome in this.While none of the Kharis series ever matched the original Mummy's quality, they do bring more action and humor to the table. Oh, and more mummy as well since Karloff's bandaged mummy only appears briefly in that film. In this series, the mummy is front and center throughout. This first film in the series is the best. It's a fantastic, old-fashioned horror-adventure film that young and old alike can enjoy. If you're a fan of Universal horror films like me, movies like this are a real treat and have immense rewatchability.