This movie takes place at the beginning of the 20th Century in Egypt where an archaeological team led by "Sir Giles Dalrymple" (Jack Gwillim) has discovered the tomb of an ancient Egyptian prince by the name of "Ra-Antef" (Dickie Owen). As it so happens, one of the lead archaeologists named "Professor Eugene Dubois" (Bernard Rebel) is murdered and his body is sent to the other members of the team as a warning about desecrating the tomb and as a fulfillment of an ancient curse. However, this doesn't stop the man who financed the expedition, "Alexander King" (Fred Clark) from shipping the sarcophagus of Prince Ra-Antef back to London where he plans on displaying the mummified corpse to anyone willing to pay a small admission fee. Dismayed about such a low-class endeavor, Sir Giles resigns from the team and is quickly replaced by another archaeologist named "John Bray" (Ronald Howard) who continues to be fascinated with the recent find. Also with him is the daughter of Professor Dubois, "Annette Dubois" (Jeanne Roland) who is romantically attracted to John. But everything changes when a mysterious man by the name of "Adam Beauchamp" (Terence Morgan) enters the picture. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather average "Mummy Movie" which was somewhat limited by the overall lack of horror and suspense. Admittedly, the ending was a little unique but even then it wasn't anything overly dramatic or spectacular. In short, those looking for a movie of this type could probably do worse and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Even lower-end Hammer films tend to be worth a watch, and this follow up to THE MUMMY is no exception. Despite the extraordinarily slow pacing (the first hour of the film does nothing except to set up the various characters and their relationships), the production values – even in a film relatively cheap by Hammer standards – are top drawer, the costumes and sets are fun (love those Egyptian backlots), and there's even a smattering of graphic gore for those who enjoy that kind of thing. Imagine the year this film was made. Now watch the film complete with multiple hand-choppings, bludgeoning, beating and – most graphic of all – an offscreen but horrific (thanks to the sound effects guy) head-crushing underfoot – and you can imagine that the film must have been considered pretty terrible when it was first released. Sure, today it seems tame, but I still get a kick out of gruesomeness that is readily achieved WITHOUT excessive bloodshed and through imagination more than anything else.The storyline is very predictable and doesn't need re-telling here, other than it contains the usual themes of cursed siblings (one good, one evil), the mummy falling in love with a beautiful girl, immortality and the bumping off of those who first defiled the Egyptian tomb. The leading characters all seem pretty stuffy but the actors do manage to put in more than adequate performances (aside from Jeanne Roland, who's pretty but hopelessly miscast). Terence Morgan is devilishly evil as the slick bad guy; Ronald Howard more than acceptable as the decent hero; Fred Clark steals the show as a P.T. Barnum-style sideshow hustler who wants to get the mummy working for HIM. Then there's a trio of great supporting performances from George Pastell, Michael Ripper (killed all too early), and Jack Gwillim.The mummy makeup is imposing but not necessarily all that scary, and an interesting touch has the mummy heavy breathing as he goes about his business, kind of like a prototype Darth Vader! After the slow first hour, things pick up for the climax, throwing in some genuinely nasty shocks (one death scene is one of the juiciest in the whole Hammer repertoire) and a climax that must have seemed good on paper but doesn't work all so well. Would sewers really collapse that easily? Still, despite the ambiguity of the climax, this is a fun enough ride for genre fans content to happily sit through well-done ripe dialogue and costume drama to get to the good gruesomeness.

The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is out of Hammer Film Productions and written and directed by Michael Carreras. It stars Terence Morgan, Ronald Howard, Fred Clark & Jeanne Roland. Music is by Carlo Martelli and cinematography Otto Heller. It's shot in Technicolor using the Techniscope format. Plot sees three British Egyptologists discover the tomb of Prince Ra and under guidance from their showman benefactor bring their discovery back to London. Once in London the Mummified body of Ra starts killing people, it seems someone has the know-how to resurrect the creature for evil doings.It doesn't actually feel like a Hammer Horror movie, except for Roland's cleavage that is. The cast are largely unfamiliar Hammer performers and you sense that the casting is a deliberate attempt to detract from a very salient point. As a story and how it's strung together, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is pretty much an uncredited remake of Hammer's own, excellent, first foray into Mummy world in 1959. Once mooted as that film's sequel, it has since been distanced as such because of the similarities. Which means to judge it as a standalone or a remake (which makes it a lazy cash in then) is the question. Fact is, tho, is that either way it's a distinctly average film from a narrative view point. The acting is fine enough, tho Roland really is only there for said cleavage, and the sets and vibrant colour make it very pleasing to the eye. But it takes an age to get going and the unoriginality of the script only hastens the feeling of, well, boredom setting in.Wrapping up (bad pun I know), it's watchable and better looking than the other Mummy film's that Hammer released after it. But really it all feels lazy and pales in comparison to the first film in 1959. 5/10

The key problem with this handsomely mounted, but extremely pedestrian picture is that it quite simply takes too long to get going and start cooking the way that it should from the get go. Writer/director Michael Carreras alas allows the opening half to plod by at a leisurely clip and crucially fails to build any tension or momentum that would sped things along better. It doesn't help that the story is totally routine: Once again a lethal shambling mummy springs to angry life in order to avenge itself on several people who are foolish enough to desecrate its tomb. Fortunately, the movie finally begins humming and delivers a few effectively rousing mounts after the mummy awakens. Dickie Owen as the mummy makes for an impressively fierce and fearsome monster. The violence is shockingly brutal and gruesome stuff. Plus there's a nice unexpected plot twist involving one of the central characters. The game cast do their best with the mediocre material, with especially stand-out contributions by Terence Morgan as the charming Adam Beauchamp, Ronald Howard as the huffy John Bray, Fred Clark as the blithely crass P.T. Barnumesque American showman Alexander King, Jeanne Roland as the fetching, sensitive Annette Dubois, George Pastell as the helpful Hashmi Bey, and Jack Gwillim as the hearty, morally upright Sir Giles Dalrymple. Both Otto Heller's sumptuous widescreen cinematography and Carlo Martelli's robust, stirring score are up to par. But overall this film is way too bland and meandering to be anything more than a merely watchable and acceptable time-waster.