Like Lon Chaney, Jr., Christopher Lee did the rounds of classic monsters and ghouls, appearing as the Mummy a year after his excellent turn as Dracula, in 1958.

Tracing the saga of poor Kharis, Hammer's spin on the unfortunate dead nobleman includes a novel, anti-colonialist undercurrent: it's the over-confident Brits who foolishly trample too deep into the native culture, extracting artifacts to England. Robbed of their ancient culture, a local religious loon heads for the tomb's desecrators, dragging his loyal mummy to a rented mansion in the English countryside.

Director Terence Fisher nicely paces the shocks, and Warner Bros' transfer shows off the rich colours of Jack Asher's classical-styled cinematography. A key highlight is the design for Kharis' tomb, which is bathed in a surreal green lighting scheme and glows with a certain majesty. The original mono mix is a bit worn, but Franz Reizenstein's atmospheric score rises above some rather shrill passages.

This Warner Bros title has a suggested retail price of $19.98 U.S. and $24.98 Cdn. It's also available as part of the Hammer Collection that includes “The Curse Of Frankenstein,” “Dracula Has Risen From The Grave,” “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed,” “Horror Of Dracula,” “The Mummy (1959)” and “Taste The Blood Of Dracula.”

This Warner Bros title is also available as part of the Hammer Collection that includes “The Curse Of Frankenstein,” “Dracula Has Risen From The Grave,” “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed,” “Horror Of Dracula,” “The Mummy" (1959) and “Taste The Blood Of Dracula.”

© 2006 Mark R. Hasan