Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as classic as the Karloff version, but still fun, September 11, 2001
THE MUMMY'S HAND/THE MUMMY'S TOMB were the 1st 2 sequels of Universal's classic THE MUMMY, which starred Boris Karloff. However, while the original had Karloff's Imhotep in bandages for only about 5 minutes before appearing as a VERY wrinkled wizard, the sequels had the Mummy fully wrapped in these 2 flicks. Basically the films tell the tale of Kharis, who basically had the same back story as Imhotep: being buried alive for trying revive his dead lover, called Ananka here. The films also tell of a expedition that dig up Ananka's tomb, and occur the wrath of the Mummy. Obviously, both films end up using stock footage in padding their stories...you even see the villagers of the original FRANKENSTEIN waving their torches at one point in THE MUMMY'S TOMB. Tom Tyler, who plays the Mummy in the first film, lends a chilling presence. It also helps that his eyes are blacked-out in the editing room, adding to the creep factor. His successor, Lon Chaney, Jr., is somewhat less successful. With what looks more like a mask, Cheney seems less scary in comparison. At a little over than an hour each, the movies definitely do not drag in pacing. The DVD transfers are very sharp, but the lack of special features is disappointing. However, this is a fun double feature for fans of the Universal monsters.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Adequate Entry into Universal's Classic Monsters DVD Series, September 2, 2001
Not much has been made out of these new 'double-featurette' Monster set-ups yet. I picked this particular set up at a local store before buying any more. The transfers are very sharp looking and of high quality; there are sure no complaints about how the movies themselves look. However, sad to say that these are pretty lacking in the cool extras that the original classic Monster releases had - track commentary, mini-documentaries and photo galleries are completely missing. What you do get for extras (assuming this set is indicative of the rest of the 2-for-1 releases) are sparse 'text only' production notes which may hold a little interest for fans; select cast bios and filmography; and vintage trailers for the movies (I do not recall seeing a 'Mummy's Tomb' trailer before so that was kind of cool). And for what little it is worth the jewel-box packaging art/design is also pretty disappointing (...). On the other hand, it is kind of nice of Universal to go for a somewhat more economically minded 'two for the price of one' format with these releases; I guess if they had to sacrifice some of the extras to acheive this.....personally I (like many serious fans) would rather have paid more and seen the documentaries and heard the commentary! All things considered; the movies themselves are the bottom line and if this set is a fair representation of the rest of the new series, they look great and are definetely worth picking up. Sadly, a lack of cool extras as we had become used to with the original Classic Monsters DVD releases knock these a little bit down from 'Must Own' status.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ENTERTAINING, BUT FLAWED! THE MUMMY SEQUELS!, August 15, 2007
I don't consider either of these films sequels of the original Mummy. They do use footage in flashback, but they really have little to do with the classic original. There were four Mummy films made in the 40's and even though they are not classics they are tough to dislike. The two films on this set are better then the two on the last set. The DVD transfer is good but, the Legacy Collection is a better deal because you get all 5 Mummy movies in one package. The extras are very good on the Legacy set.
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