Movie Info
Movie Name: The Mummy’s Ghost
Studio: Universal Pictures
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): July 7, 1944
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
I’m your mummy!!!
Kharis the Mummy (Lon Chaney, Jr.) has survived and a new agent named Yousef Bey (John Carradine) has been sent to find him. Meanwhile, a college professor named Professor Norman (Frank Reicher) has discovered the secret of the tana leaves that still give life to Kharis…leading Professor Norman to becoming his latest victim. The mummy is stalking the town of Mapleton, Massachusetts killing whoever gets in his way. Yousef teams with the mummy when it is discovered that the reincarnation of Ananka might be an Egyptian girl named Amina Mansori (Ramsay Ames), and Kharis and Yousef will stop at nothing to reclaim her.
Directed by Reginald Le Borg, The Mummy’s Ghost is the Universal Monster movie follow-up to The Mummy’s Tomb from 1942. The film is often packaged with other Universal Mummy movies.
I hope I don’t arouse any suspicion…by being completely freaky looking!
The Mummy’s Ghost continues to be true continuations to the second film in the Mummy series which started in 1932. While the original film was a stand-alone. The Mummy’s Ghost is a continuation of the story which began in The Mummy’s Hand in 1940 and The Mummy’s Tomb in 1942. Unfortunately, the quality of the films have gotten worse.
The story of The Mummy’s Ghost seems pretty repetitive of previous entries in the series. The mummy stalks the night (slowly) and manages to avoid authorities somehow. I will give this for the film, the movie does end on a downer which is a plus. Throughout the movie, Amina has been fighting the possibility that she might be the reincarnation of Ananka and suffering fainting spells, etc. Instead of being saved and reunited with her new love Tom Hervey (Robert Lowery), she ends up dying…which is darker than other films in the series.
I just want to hug your neck!
The Mummy’s Ghost is filled with typical B-Movie level actors who do ok with the script they are given. Lon Chaney, Jr. reprises his role as Kharis (he took over in the role in The Mummy’s Tomb) and does a nice job as the lurching, stumbling mummy. Originally famed B-Movie actress Aquanetta was supposed to be the female lead in the film, but an accident on set let to a concussion and her being replaced by Ames.
Unfortunately, by this point, Universal had stepped back on funding for their monster films and movies like The Mummy’s Ghost suffered as a result. The movie looks noticeably cheaper than the previous entries (even The Mummy’s Tomb which just showed a lot of the previous film). I do like the mining set, and as a kid remember thinking it was the mummy on a roller coaster.
The Mummy was never a favorite of mine in the Universal monster line. I will say however that this Mummy (and its sequel) do feel more like a true horror picture. The story is just reincarnation nonsense for the most part and the look is cheap, but the horror feels real. The Mummy’s Ghost was followed by The Mummy’s Curse also in 1944.
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