The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)

Written by CinemaSerf on February 12, 2023

Fred Clark is the larger than life American, cigar-smoking, showman "King" who funds tomb-raider "Beauchamp" (Terence Morgan) and the more cerebral "Bray" (Ronald Howard) who want to bring their recently discovered Pharaonic sarcophagus to London to exhibit. The presence of George Pastell ("Hashmi Bey") in the proceedings lets us know though, that doing so is going to be downright dangerous! An amulet, a mystical curse and soon our bandage-clad menace is reeking his revenge. Can they stop it from killing everyone who desecrated the tomb and save "Annette" (an equally mummified effort from Jeanne Roland) from it's more amorous clutches? It's actually a little more brutal than your average Hammer fayre, this - not that it would be more than a 12 by modern day standards - and that helps keep it moving, but only after an exceptionally slow and plodding build up that drags as surely as the mummy's footsteps. The acting talent works well enough and the dialogue is, at best, incidental to this retelling of a familiar story. I like this genre of film, so quite enjoyed watching it again.