Customer Reviews

Curse of King Tut's Tomb [VHS]

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In the same vein of quality as famous Agatha Christie films of the 80's (Death on the Nile and Death in Mesopotamia), this film helps you lose yourself in the glamorous atmosphere of North Africa in the 20's.

The excellent cast of first-rate British (Wendy Hiller) and American (Eva Marie Saint) movie stars, combined with actual footage from the Valley of the Kings, the Temples at Luxor and dusty markets on the pper Nile, builds an atmosphere at once authentic and glamorous.

Most importantly, you feel the excitement and uncertainty of Carter's explorations. One of the great moments in the film occurs in the dusty cave when Carter takes an axe to the outer wall of what he hopes is King Tut's tomb.

The real drama in this movie is in experiencing these discoveries as if for the first time. The so-called curse is not a front-burner sub-plot, and is actually handled with a sense of mystery, rather than the gore and overtness of some other "Curse of the Mummy" movies of more recent times.

A more interesting sub-plot revolves around Eva Marie Saint's character -- playing a thoughtful and sly journalist -- which shows how King Tut's disinterrment gripped the imagination of the entire English-speaking world of the era.

Sure the artefacts aren't the real thing, but then the same can be said of any Cecil B. DeMille production, of Ben-Hur, of the latest "Mummy" versions I and II. What is real here is the quality of the cinematography, screenplay (very spirited and witty), and the atmosphere, which perfectly captures the glamor-mixed-with-exploration chic of 1920's Britain and Egypt.

If you like anything done by the BBC (that is to say, historically accurate, with interesting dialogue and characterizations and not just break-neck speed & plot-driven rapid fire special effects), you will love this gem.

Not to mention that, for many of us now, this movie may be one of our few opportunities to view the Valley of the Kings, the temples of Luxor and the Upper Nile near Aswan, in relative safety.

I foung the book to be totally facinating, though I also found it lacking some of the historical facts.