The Mummy's Ghost

"The Mummy's Ghost" is a sequel to "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942). In that film Kharis the Mummy (Lon Chaney) perished in a house fire. Also the old high priest (George Zucco) dies of old age while handing over his powers to a new high priest. In this film we find out that not only did Kharis survive the fire unscathed but the old high priest turns up alive and shaking.

This entry has the High Priest Yousef Bey (John Carradine) being assigned the task of going to America to retrieve the mummies of Kharis and his queen Ananka. Hero Tom Hervey (Robert Lowery) is courting a beautiful Egyptian by the name of Amina Mansouri (Ramsay Ames). Meanwhile Yousef Bey sets about arranging to take the two mummies back to Egypt. To this end he unleashes Kharis upon the community to murder anyone who stands in their way.

At the same time Amina starts to experience blackouts as she is being gradually taken over by the spirit of Ananka (the "ghost" of the title) to become the re-incarnation of Queen Ananka. This suddenly becomes a point of issue between Kharis and Yousef Bey until......

Becoming a "B" movie second feature series, the films did nonetheless benefit from Universal's expertise in making this kind of film. Although it features a "B" list cast and runs a scant 61 minutes, it is still an entertaining way to spend an hour.

Lon Chaney would continue in the role of the Mummy in "The Mummy's Curse" (1944) the final film in the series.

None of the four Universal Kharis films are particularly great, and to me The Mummy's Hand is the only one that is near-good. This said, neither of them are bad either, and of the sequels to The Mummy's Hand my vote for the best of them goes to this, The Mummy's Ghost.

What makes The Mummy's Ghost the best of the sequels(if not exactly by much) is that it is the only one that tried to do something different. Even if the basic plot is still very flawed and formulaic, The Mummy's Ghost contains by far the boldest and most shocking ending of the four(and in a very good way, it's the highlight of the film), and is the only one to have almost non-existent stock footage material. The Mummy's Ghost does contain some campy fun with John Carradine and a few scenes with Kharis have some creepiness(others however just read of repetitive running around).

There are some attractively made sets, some atmospheric lighting and Ramsey Ames' costumes are to die for, though on the most-part The Mummy's Ghost is not one of Universal's most accomplished-looking films. Three performances register quite well. Best of all is John Carradine, who is deliciously diabolical and although he doesn't feature in much of the film he is still very memorable. George Zucco's role is also brief, but nonetheless played with sinister authority. Lastly, Lon Chaney Jnr's performance as Kharis is more consistent this time round, he intimidates much more and lumbers less, there even was glimpses of effort at giving Kharis a human side despite not having much to work with.

However, apparently The Mummy's Ghost was made very quickly and it does show in some shoddy editing, some terribly staged close-ups of Kharis and Kharis basically looks like a man very poorly wrapped up in bandages. While Chaney, Zucco and Carradine fare well, the rest of the cast on the other hand are bad. Ramsey Ames' alluring appearance and beautiful costuming are not enough to make up for how she spends her whole screen time looking bewildered and on edge, while Robert Lowery is hopelessly wooden to the point he veers on irritating. The chemistry between the two of them is non-descript.

The story does try to do things differently, but still manages to be on the paper-thin and formulaic side, with much of the plot reading of a series of familiar plot devices routinely handled. It also takes too long to get going, with an incredibly dull first third to the extent that the final fifteen minutes feels like a real relief, and is let down even further by tediously padded out college scenes(that are poorly played and add very little to the storytelling) and a sickeningly saccharine and passionless romantic subplot that seemed to only be there for the sake of it. The college and romantic scenes also suffered from the worst of the film's erratic(mostly lethargic) pacing and incredibly trite dialogue. The direction shows little care and style, with occasional glimpses of atmosphere that stops it from falling into ineptitude, and the characters are even more thinly written than the story, and some like Lowery and his friends are annoying.

All in all, has a lot lacking but has just enough to make it watchable. 5/10 Bethany Cox

MORD39 RATING: **1/2 (of ****)

This third film in the "Kharis" series is one of the better efforts, thanks to a new storyline centering on the reincarnation of the mummy's lover into the body of a modern-day woman.

John Carradine is on hand as the high priest who revives Kharis (Lon Chaney for a second time) and supplies him with tana fluid to keep him stalking. This chapter also features Chaney's best performance as Kharis, and you can definitely see his looks of sadness, frustration, and anger in key scenes.

Ramsay Ames and Robert Lowery are weak as the leads, and they bring the evaluation of the movie down a notch.

An easy 60 minutes of classic fun from Universal.

"The Mummy's Ghost" is haunting and unforgettable thanks to the appearance of probably the most ravishing starlet to ever grace the screen: Ramsey Ames. She portrays the doomed Princess Ananka/Amina Monsouri heroine with a brooding, tremulous quality and when she sinks into the quicksand at the end with the mummy, you're shocked by watching her age into a 1000 mummy's bride. John Carradine is in great form as the high priest of arkham. Robert Lowery is unusually surly as the boyfriend. Reginald LeBorg directed this l944 classic. He originally wanted Acquanetta as the heroine but this sultry starlet fell and injured her shoulder on the first day of shooting. Ames was criminally ill-used by Universal but looked great in a short bob for the Republic serial, "G-Men Never Forget" in l947. Before she died two years ago from throat cancer, she remembered that Lon Chaney, who played the mummy, created many problems but she wouldn't specify. Other reports have it that Chaney was usually drunk by 12 noon. Ames was terrified he would stumble with her on the long, steep boardwalk to the remote shed and also into the swamp.wonderful atmosphere, classic musical scoring (originally from "Son of Frankenstein). Vera West does brilliant job in designing Ames beautiful white silk gowns.

This mummy film is one of a series of four produced by Universal Pictures in the 1940s--well after their original film starring Boris Karloff. While none of these films opened up a lot of new ground, they were good escapist fun--for kids and adults willing to suspend reality and have a good time. I personally LOVE these old Universal horror films--even the lesser ones like this film. This one's plot isn't so special (except once again the mummy somehow makes it to America), but it stands out due to the acting of George Zucco and John Carradine--two wonderful veteran horror actors who played up the campiness of the film and made it far more entertaining.

The film looks a lot less impressive than the newest mummy films from Hollywood, but they still managed to be fun. Plus, the newer films, in my opinion, lack fun because they are so special effects-driven. See this film and have a good old fashioned time.