Hollywood Gothique

Lon Chaney, Jr. as Kharis in the film The Mummy's Ghost (1944) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Location: The Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA

Description: Brendan Fraser is nowhere in sight as the American Cinematheque rolls out – or should that be “unravels” – a quartet of 1940s black-and-white movies from the vaults of Universal Studios: THE MUMMY’S HAND, THE MUMMY’S TOMB, THE MUMMY’S GHOST, and THE MUMMY’S CURSE. Universal’s first mummy movie, 1932’s THE MUMMY, had cast the character as a parched looking evil sorcerer played by Boris Karloff. In 1942’s THE MUMMY’S HAND, the character became the familiar shambling character (played by cowboy actor Tom Tyler) who somehow always managed to overtake his victims no matter who fast they ran away. Lon Chaney Jr. took over the role in THE MUMMY’S TOMB and continued to the end of the series.

Frankly, none of these four films is very good, but taken as a whole, they contain enough atmospheric moments to add up to a decent viewing experience for nostalgia fans. And THE MUMMY’S GHOST is a rare early example of a horror film with a downer ending.

Date: Friday, October 19 – 7:30 PM

Link out: Click here