THE MUMMY’S CURSE (1944)
Article #1212 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-9-2004
Posting Date: 12-6-2004
Directed by Leslie Goodwins
Featuring Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Coe, Virginia Christine

Kharis the Mummy arises from the swamps of Louisiana to once again find the Princess Ananka.

Ten thoughts on THE MUMMY’S CURSE:

1) Usually, I save my “Ten Thoughts” format for any real stinkers that come my way. In this case, it seems a convenient way of making the points I want to make; this one isn’t really as bad as all that. It is, however, fairly weak for a Universal horror, and it feels rushed and lazy. I’m sure a shooting schedule of only twelve days played into that.

2) Whatever its weaknesses, this movie does have one real humdinger of a scene, and that is when Ananka rises from the mud. This scene is startlingly effective, and may be one of the best scenes in any Universal horror movie. I wish the rest of the movie lived up to it.

3) Unfortunately, the character of Princess Ananka is very poorly developed in this movie. After her resurrection scene, she has only three functions; to be chased by Kharis, to be rescued, and to occasionally show some knowledge of Ancient Egypt. Other than that, she is devoid of personality. I don’t blame Virginia Christine as much as I blame the script; it just doesn’t give her much to do.

4) The other movies in the Kharis series all had fairly interesting high priests in George Zucco, John Carradine and Turhan Bey. Peter Coe is our high priest here, and he’s bland and forgettable. They give the usual temptation subplot here to his assistant, played by the more interesting Martin Kosleck; sadly, his character remains undeveloped as well. Why they didn’t combine these two characters into one is beyond me.

5) I often wonder whether the mummy’s curse in this movie is to cloud the peripheral vision of other characters. In the scene where Princess Ananka is rescued from the side of the road and driven away, nobody who rescues her can see Kharis who is only a couple of feet away. They don’t even spot him in the rear-view mirror of the car (maybe he was in the blind spot). At any rate, this is the closest I’ve ever seen to having one of the Universal monsters giving the classic “darn, they got away” finger snap gesture, though they settled for having him clench his fist.

6) I have no idea what a monastery is doing in the middle of the swamps of Louisiana, nor can I figure out why it’s so hard to find when it’s sitting on the top of a hill. I do understand why it’s been deserted for years, though.

7) One thing the movie does right is that it gets around the problem of having the slow-moving Mummy catch people is by having his victims practically stumble into his arms so that he can strangle them without a problem. I also like the fact that when Tante Berthe first bumps into him, you can see the dust rise from his body, which is a very nice touch.

8) Unfortunately, it seems like a waste of time having the mummy both catch Princess Ananka and kill anyone who gets in his way; every time he stops to kill someone, it gives Ananka a chance to get away. Significantly, the time the mummy finally does catch Ananka, he doesn’t bother to kill the accompanying woman. See, he does learn.

9) Question: how does the mummy carry the Princess Ananka when that right arm of his seems permanently glued to his body? Answer: it suddenly becomes unglued at that point. After he sets her down, it goes back into its glued position. The next time I encounter an Egyptian god, I think I’ll have them explain that to me.

10) I’ve always thought the whole series of Mummy movies were misnamed, but I think they could have solved the problem by switching the names around. Here are my suggestions.

THE MUMMY’S HAND should have been called THE MUMMY’S TOMB, since most of the plot of this involves the expedition that uncovers the tomb.

THE MUMMY’S TOMB should have been called THE MUMMY’S CURSE; this is the one where the members of the expedition are picked off one by one in true “mummy’s curse” style.

THE MUMMY’S GHOST should have been called THE MUMMY’S HAND; actually, any one of them could have been named that, so it makes a good default title.

And this one should have been called THE MUMMY’S GHOST, mainly because the rushed plot and the poorly-developed characters leave me with the sense that it is only the ghost of a real movie. Had they taken more time with this one, it could have been one of the best of the series. Ah, well…

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958)
Article #1211 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-8-2004
Posting Date: 12-5-2004
Directed by Jack Arnold
Featuring Arthur Franz, Joanna Cook Moore, Judson Pratt

A scientist studying a fossil of a coelecanth becomes infected by its blood and turns into a primitive anthropoid.

This is probably the weakest of the several science fiction movies directed by Jack Arnold during the fifties. In some ways, it works well enough; however, it gets fairly silly at times. It’s basically a Jekyll-and-Hyde variation in which the potion is replaced by coelacanth blood treated with gamma rays; the problem is that the scientist has to be infected with them by accident twice. The first time is done well enough, but the second time requires an incredible set of coincidences that involves a dragonfly, a knife and a pipe, and it stretches credibility. Furthermore, someone in costuming should have been asking themselves whether the monster might not look a bit silly clad in a plaid flannel shirt as he is during the last half of the movie. Still, Arthur Franz gives a good performance, and the opening scenes in which a German Shepherd gets infected are quite good; in particular, I like the fangs. One question; if the scientist has to make a plaster cast of his girlfriend’s face to create a bust of a modern woman for his collection of the heads of men throughout the ages, who did he get to model the other heads in the collection?

THE MONSTERS DEMOLISHER (1962)
(a.k.a. EL DESTRUCTOR DE MONSTRUOS)
Article #1210 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-7-2004
Posting Date: 12-4-2004
Directed by Federico Curiel and Stim Segar
Featuring German Robles, Domingo Soler, Julio Alemain

A professor does battle with a vampire named Nostradamus.

This movie is the second of four that were edited from a Mexican serial about Nostradamus, not the famed prophet but the vampire; I’ve already covered the fourth in the series with BLOOD OF NOSTRADAMUS, so I’m covering them somewhat out of order. It’s not a bad series if you can keep in mind that you’re watching episodes of a serial; it somewhat explains why you’re thrust in the middle of the action and also why there’s no real satisfactory closure to the story. This one looks like it consists of three episodes; the first two are somewhat similar, as they involve Nostradamus making predictions to the professor as to who his next victim will be, and the story is tricky enough that for any particular episode, there is no definite pattern as to whether good or evil will triumph. The third section introduces the title character, an expert at destroying vampires that agrees to help the professor. This movie was proceeded by THE CURSE OF NOSTRADAMUS and followed by THE GENIE OF DARKNESS . Also, I won’t be held responsible for the missing apostrophe in the English title; I spelled it exactly as it appears in the movie itself.

MISSILE TO THE MOON (1958)
Article #1209 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-6-2004
Posting Date: 12-3-2004
Directed by Richard E. Cunha
Featuring Richard Travis, Cathy Downs, K.T. Stevens

Five people blast off in a rocket to the moon, where they encounter a race of moon women with designs on the Earth.

I’m not a fan of Richard E. Cunha’s science fiction movies, but GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN at least has an unusual story, and FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER and SHE DEMONS both have a certain sleazy energy to them. This one is a remake of CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON, and unless you’re really impressed that most of the cast consists of beauty pageant nominees and you can’t resist the parade of pulchritude, you’d be well-advised to steer clear of this lunar expedition. The only improvements it makes on the original are 1) the presence of some interesting looking rock creatures, and 2) the fact that it doesn’t rush the ending. The pace is incredibly slow here, and the acting is even worse than that of the original. As for the women of the moon, their main acting tool consists of elaborate eyebrow makeup. At least Elvira (who hosts the tape I have of this one} appears to be having fun.

THE MEDUSA VS. THE SON OF HERCULES (1965)
Article #1208 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-5-2004
Posting Date: 12-2-2004
Directed by Albert De Martino
Featuring Richard Harrison, Anna Ranalli, Arturo Dominici

Perseus comes to the aid of the kingdom of Sepharis, which is being oppressed by the tyranny of the kingdom of Argos.

Let’s take this one step by step:

The Hero: According to the opening narration, the “Sons of Hercules” is a catchall term for any number of mythological heroes, some of whom are real sons of Hercules, and the others who are sons of…..someone else, but who have won the title of a “Son of Hercules” as an honorary. This is one of the latter; in fact, it’s Perseus, though some great liberties have been taken with the Perseus tale here. He doesn’t have super-strength, but he’s resilient, and there are other aspects of the story that clearly move it into the realm of the fantastic.

The story: This is another one that is surprisingly coherent, telling as it does the story of a conflict between two kingdoms and the role played by Perseus in helping to defeat the oppressors.

Comic relief: None. No cute midgets or cowardly sidekicks. The closest this movie comes to intentional comedy is having Perseus talk to a deer.

The monsters: For a sword and sandal epic, they’re surprisingly good. The dragon that lives in the lake certainly looks better than any number of puppets from other movies, and even though the Medusa looks nothing like the gorgons of legend (it looks like a black tree trunk with a big red eye and tendrils), it’s handled so atmospherically that it may be the most memorable monster in any sword-and-sandal epic.

The fights: There are actually some novel and effective scenes here. The battle scenes are somewhat confusing, but the various games of the tournament sequence are quite good.

All in all, I found this to be one of the better of the pepla. Richard Harrison is likable as Perseus, and except for a slightly slow middle section, it moves at a good pace and has a fair amount of atmosphere. It’s certainly one of my favorites of the genre.

THE MAN FROM PLANET X (1951)
Article #1207 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-4-2004
Posting Date: 12-1-2004
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Featuring Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond

An American reporter visits a professor living on an island near Scotland to get a report on a planet that is nearing Earth. He then encounters a resident of that planet who has landed on the moors.

Is this the first non-serial alien invasion movie? It’s closest competition may be THE THING (FROM ANOTHER WORLD), but this one appears to have made it to theaters first. At any rate, if you want to appreciate Edgar G. Ulmer’s skill, this isn’t a bad place to start; it was shot for around $50,000, and though it does look a little on the cheapish side, it certainly looks more expensive than that. The Scottish moors that serve as the backdrop for the action are very memorable; the thick, eerie fog gives the movie more of the feel of a horror movie than other science fiction movies of the era. The story is a bit uneven, and it never quite builds up the suspense it needs in the second half of the movie, but it’s still fairly interesting, and it contains an excellent performance from William Schallert as an unscrupulous scientist who decides to use the visitor for his own purposes. There’s also a bit of ambiguity as to the alien’s motives; was he planning on an invasion from square one, or did the attack from Dr. Mears make him decide on that route? This one is definitely worth catching. Incidentally, Margaret Field was the mother of actress Sally Field.

THE MAD GHOUL (1943)
Article #1206 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-3-2004
Posting Date: 11-30-2004
Directed by James P. Hogan
Featuring David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, George Zucco

A scientist experimenting with a Mayan gas turns a medical student into a zombie, but then discovers that the antidote (which requires the heart of a freshly dead person) is only temporary.

In many ways, this horror entry from Universal is fairly minor. Nonetheless, it is quite strong in some regards, and is probably the most gruesome of the horror movies from the studio after the production code was put into use. Performances all around are strong, particularly from George Zucco, who plays his mad scientist character with a great deal of subtlety, and from David Bruce, who manages to be both very likeable and very scary at the appropriate moments. Outside of the overtly horrific scenes, I love some of the side moments here where characters make discoveries; the ironic moment where Ankers reveals to Zucco that she is in reality in love with her accompanist (Turhan Bey) and then ponders as to the reasons why Bruce was unable to spot this while Zucco ponders as to why he himself also failed to do so; the reporter’s (Robert Armstrong) discovery of the pattern between the grave robbings and the music recitals, and Bruce’s own discovery that the grave robbings were taking place. The whole story unfolds with a strong sense of logic which makes watching this one particularly enjoyable. Incidentally, the moritician has the best line.

MACABRE (1958)
Article #1205 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-2-2004
Posting Date: 11-29-2004
Directed by William Castle
Featuring William Prince, Jim Backus, Christine White

A doctor’s daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he has only five hours to find the coffin before she dies.

This movie marked William Castle’s entry into gimmick-drenched horror cinema; the gimmick here is that the audience was insured against death by fright by Lloyds of London for the length of the movie. No one really needed to worry about it actually happening, though; as far as scares and suspense go, this movie doesn’t deliver. The story itself isn’t too bad (even if it doesn’t hold up on close examination), but it’s one that doesn’t automatically generate the necessary suspense, and I’m afraid the movie just fails to keep itself attuned to the right pitch. For one thing, it keeps wandering off into clumsy flashbacks that don’t really advance the story. I can think of two things the movie could have done that would have improved things. One would have been to allow us to meet the Doctor’s daughter previous to her kidnapping; it’s a lot easier to be concerned about the fate of someone you’ve gotten to know rather than one you’ve never met. It also would have been a lot more effective had we been able to hear the actual phone message from the kidnapper rather than having the secretary try to describe it to us second-hand. As it is, this is one of Castle’s less successful movies.