This B Universal horror film is pretty forgettable, in fact so much that when they did a sequel ("The Mummy's Tomb"), they had to give a prologue to indicate what had happened in the previous film to the characters played by Dick Foran, Peggy Moran and Wallace Ford. What they forgot was that the modern setting of the first film had a span of some thirty years going by into the second film, so the suspense of disbelief here and in the sequels is great. What is great about this film is the prologue where we are told about the history of Kharis, an Egyptian prince so in love with Princess Ananka that when she suddenly dies, he defies the gods of Egypt in trying to bring her back to life. This leads to his doom to spend eternity as a mummy, an undead soul with no rest. Suddenly, the blast of an Egyptian desert mountain opens his crypt, with the discovery of Kharis's tomb. Warnings from high priest Andoheb (George Zucco) puts them on the alert that their sins of blasting open Kharis's tomb will certainly spell their doom.This is an acceptable but inconsequential Universal horror film, entertaining for what it is, but something you'll instantly forget about once it is over. This will never be a replacement for the memory of the original "Mummy", so much more chilling than any of this series which continued on for three more films. A funny scene has the elderly Eduardo Cianelli as Zucco's father passing on the guardianship of Kharis to him, ironic because Zucco seems nearly as old as Cianelli's character. Ford provides some wise-cracking comedy, and the rhyming couple of Foran and Moran are the hero and heroine, destined to be star-crossed due to Moran's being put in peril when the mummy's revenge strikes. A few amusing moments with Sig Arno as a beggar are fun. But this is a second rate scare-fest at best, never convincing, and filled with a lot of plot holes. When the film is open, all plot threads seem to be tied up, so the idea of a sequel seems absolutely unnecessary.

Universal's "Mummy" programmers from the early 1940s are a highly entertaining quartet of movies that continue to delight more than 75 years later. Of course, when viewed through a jaundiced eye, they can also be seen as ridiculous, childish, and technically laughable attempts to scare children. All four "Mummy" films contain the goofy idiosyncrasies that make them so endearing: silly scripts, bad editing and dubbing, recycled music from other Universal films, abundant use of stock footage (including cannibalizing themselves as the series got rolling), lackluster juvenile leads, painful comic relief, star turns by iconic genre actors, and a blatant disregard for continuity from one installment to the next. Personally I have always been entertained by these films and love them as much now as when I first viewed them as a kid many, many years ago.The 1940 classic "The Mummy's Hand" is a reboot of the franchise and has no connection to the original 1932 Boris Karloff classic other than some stock footage spliced into this new feature to pad out the running time. In watching Stephen Sommers' "Mummy" Trilogy it is clear he used the blueprint of this film and certainly its adventurous tone to craft his own vision. "Hand" chronicles the exploits of archaeologist Steve Banning and his wisecracking crony Babe Jenson as they search for the tomb of the Egyptian princess Ananka. En route they entice Brooklyn magician Solvani into financing their expedition and are forced to bring his plucky daughter Marta along as part of the deal. Completing their quintet is Professor Petrie, an expert on Egyptian history. Needless to say they encounter more than sand, sun, and a musty tomb (although thankfully no carnivorous scarab beetles).The film bumps along for over 40 minutes before the title character becomes reanimated. In the best scene of the film Professor Petrie looks on in astonishment as villainous High Priest Andoheb pours a few drops of tana leaf fluid into the dormant Mummy's lips and revives the creature. The astonishment turns to terror when Petrie realizes what is about to happen next.Such goings on would be difficult to put over without the appropriate actors in the key roles. Although the Mummy series is synonymous with Lon Chaney Jr. he does not star in the title role; rather it is character actor Tom Tyler as the signature fiend. Tyler is suitably menacing as he lumbers around wrapped in dirty bandages but he doesn't provide the campy fun that Chaney does. Maybe its just a personal preference. George Zucco excels as the duplicitous Andoheb; first trying to dissuade Banning from undertaking his expedition and then attempting to dispatch him when he persists. Zucco was great at portraying creepy characters and this has to be one of his best performances. Peggy Moran does a splendid job as the plucky Marta in the sort of role that is endlessly botched by beautiful but talent-less ingenues in Universal genre pictures.Unfortunately the two leads are not up to snuff. The normally reliable Dick Foran really phones in his performance and is never believable as an archaeologist. That is a particular point of frustration because Foran is usually a charismatic presence in nearly every role. As Babe, Wallace Ford is just plain annoying and is the type of character you hope gets strangled in the first 10 minutes but unfortunately hangs around until a final lame gag at the fade out. Considering how these types of movies almost always blow it when it comes to comic relief this particular detriment should not be held against the film.All in all, "The Mummy's Hand" is probably the best of the Universal Mummy films from the 40s although the absence of Lon Chaney Jr. is a big strike against it in my book. It is interesting to note how Tom Tyler is buried way down the cast list essaying the title character while Chaney, doing essentially the same thing, gets star billing in the sequels.

Entering an archaeology expedition, a pair of amateur diggers discover the long-lost tomb of an ancient Egyptian mummy instead of their intended target princess and must try to stop the now-revived mummy who's awakened to punish the intruders.While it's impossible to come anywhere close to the original, this one is actually surprisingly watchable. One of the better features here is the fact that it manages to get quite a lot out of it's rather frenetic pace which really moves it along very well. The opening burial scene, told in flashback style, is quite effectively done and manages to create a real air of suspense not only with the action of him desecrating the tomb and being mummified while the overlaid narration of the fates depicted to everyone and atmosphere that the other sequels rarely achieved. As well, the excavation is nicely played out, giving some really enjoyable moments playing into the curse amongst the locals while setting up the actual setup of the discovery later on. Even the small attempts at humor early are a nice change of tone from the first one, and are a welcome change in the beginning as they wander around the bizarre which brings them into the main storyline, which nicely gets dropped later on once at the actual dig site. Still, the film's best overall feature is that when considering the clichés of the mummy movie that became a staple of the sub-genre, this is the starting point for all the misconceptions about the genre, and it therefore deserves some props for that. This film s where it all starts, from the concept of the slowly shuffling, bandage-wrapped title figure, Tana leaves, reincarnated princesses, mummification as punishment for forbidden love and secretive Ancient Egyptian cults all come from here rather than the original. Along with the post-production magic where the mummies eyes were scribbled out, giving Kharis here has an eerie intensity missing from the remaining sequels these here all manage to make for a rather enjoyable time. One of the few minor problems here is the fact that the differing tone from the first one is likely to not sit well with some, as it's now a knock-off of the Abbott and Costello films that would later actually become reality. Some of the jokes aren't even that funny and that might wear some out quite readily here as there's plenty of goofy scenes with the bumbling pair of friends and then the clumsy magician involved in the proceedings. As well, there's also the fact despite the short running time, there are several instances where stock footage has been inserted into the movie, and while it's not a great crime, the scenes that were selected are since they're not all that important to the film as a whole which results in some rather jarring scenes throughout here. Otherwise, this one here isn't all that bad.Today's Rating/PG: Some implied violence.

"The Mummy's Hand" is more or less a remake of "The Mummy", with a few different twists. As always, some ancient Egyptian priest tried to resurrect a princess, got caught, and got buried alive (minus his tongue) as punishment. They never learn! A few thousand years later, some archaeologists dig up the tomb and before you know it, there's a human-shaped pile of bandages killing anyone who stands in its way. Should've left the poor sucker buried.Yes, it's a really predictable movie, but very fun also. The part about the tana leaves added some extra neatness. After this, there were some sequels, and then the Hammer movie with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and then the more recent, sillier movies with Brendan Fraser, and even a movie focusing specifically on Howard Carter. But like I said, this movie is really fun.I would like to see a movie told from the mummy's point of view.