The Mummy's Ghost (1944)

Simply A Masterpiece

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

John Carradine plays an Egyptian high priest named Yousef Bey, commanded by a superior (George Zucco) to travel to America to locate Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) and properly lay him to rest. The current reincarnation of Kharis' long ago beloved Ananka is Egyptian born New England gal Amina Mansouri (the incredibly lovely Ramsay Ames), and Kharis will seek to be reunited with her. Aminas' boyfriend Tom Hervey (Robert Lowery) and the cops & local townsfolk end up giving chase.Although completely lacking in suspense and atmosphere by this point, this series still manages to provide a decent amount of fun. Chaney shambles his way through his role capably, sporting yet another impressive makeup job by talented Jack Pierce. Carradine is terrific as always. Also among the solid supporting cast are Frank Reicher as the doomed Professor Norman, Harry Shannon as the Sheriff, Lester Sharpe as the helpful Doctor Ayad, and the always welcome Barton MacLane as a clever police inspector who tries to come up with an alternative means of dealing with the mummy on the loose. An adorable little dog named "Peanuts" has his moments, as well. Martha Vickers has a bit as a student in Reichers' class.The story is pretty routine, for the most part, until that unforgettable and haunting ending. Director Reginald Le Borg keeps it moving along adequately, to help it clock in at an appreciably brief running time of 61 minutes.Six out of 10.

The "Mummy" films from the 1940s were never going to be as good as the 1932 classic and sure enough, they aren't. This one from 1944 is a slight improvement and is the best of the trio that Lon Chaney Jnr made. According to reports, this character was the actors least favourite and I can understand why.The film has a bit of incident and even a bit of atmosphere.

Not all love is lost. Reginald Le Borg direct this tale of the High Priest (George Zucco) summoning Yousef Bey (John Caradine) to New York's Scripps Museum to retrieve the ancient love interest, the Princess Ananka, from her resting place along with the insane mummy Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.). Bey finds the soul of the princess has been reincarnated as a beautiful Egytian exchange student named Amina (Ramsay Ames). An Egytlogist professor (Frank Reicher) has been carrying out experiments and the jealous Kharis makes his appearance. As the charming student goes into strange trances, the professor is killed and the mummy makes haste with the rapidly decaying reincarnation.Other players: Robert Lowery, Barton MacLane, Lester Sharpe and Harry Shannon.

This movie will scare the pants off of children. I grew up in the 50's. Our house was on a semi-rural road overshadowed on one side by a thick forest. At the foot of the tall hill upon which stood our house there was a swamp. The nearest neighbor was a quarter mile away. To an adult eye, the evening view on a moonlit night was, I am sure, romantic. To a child, however, the scene was an empty vessel ready to be filled with imaginary images of fearsome things.One weekend night, my parents left me in charge of my two younger brothers. I put them to bed and sat down to see what could possibly be on TV. An hour or so later, I lay in bed, in the moonlight, in a pool of sweat, thinking about tana leaves and the possibility, however remote, that a pot of them might have been mistakenly left simmering on the stove. In my imagination, I knew he was out there coming for me. It didn't matter if he was miles away or just down the road. He knew who I was; he had taken a special interest in me. Up the moonlit road, step by step, limping along, relentless, unstoppable. Somehow I made it through the night but that mummy stayed with me for years and inspired many a nightmare.My point here is that horror films are designed to scare you. We pay money to get scared. This one will do the trick if you're 10 years old and you're all alone (or almost alone -- when you're surrounded by mummies, you really do need an adult). Nine stars.