The Movie I Watched Last Night XV
Thursday: The Mummy
Not the newer version starring the beefcake Brendan Fraser, but the 1932 atmospheric Universal horror film starring Boris Karloff as the brought-back-to-life Imhotep and Ardath Bey. Zita Johann beautifully portrays the heroine Helen Grosvenor, and the scenes in which she gains consciousness as Princess Anckesen-Amon while under Imhotep's spell -- the movie largely details Ardath Bey's attempts to reunite with the princess, his long-lost love -- are especially effective. The movie's slow pacing, dramatic lighting, and subtle humor speak to Universal's skill at establishing suspense, and while the movie isn't particularly shocking, it does maintain a mood of tension and tautness quite well.