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For those of you who are Universal Monster fans, this double-feature is well worth it, though the first of the two films offered is definately the superior one; this is due to the performance by horror maestro George Zucco, who has always been an A-actor in my book, even when he's worked in B- and Z-staple movies. In the Mummy's Hand (the second Universal Mummy film, and the best of all the sequels), Zucco plays Prof. Andoheb, who has been called upon by and ancient caretaker of the 3000 year-old mummy Kharis to take over and protect the secret burial place of the Egyptian queen, and to keep "alive" Kharis' living-dead state, so to speak. In the mean time, a team of explorers led by Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and his comical side-kick 'Baby' Jenson (Wallace Ford) find the tomb of Kharis and set in motion a cycle of revenge and murder with the powerful and unstoppable monster Kharis as the murder weapon wielded by George Zucco. The whole cast is composed of wonderful, veteran actors, with excellent performance by all. It has that oddly balance recipe of horror and light-hearted adventure that made many of the early Universals enjoyable to watch. The mummy effects are made creepier by the fact the special effects department blacked out Kharis' eye holes, so that looking into them is like looking into a souless monster's eyes. In the Mummy's Tomb, we get a direct sequel that is hampered by the fact the two main characters from The Mummy's Hand have been aged by approximately 30 to 40 years of passed time, and are basically used for filling in the history of the firt film. However, it still has a decent plot, and the ending of the Mummy, now played by Lon Chaney Jr., is suitably exciting. It also has a short appearance by Zucco, but oddly, where as his character was bald and vital in the first film, in this sequel, he has a lustrous head of long white hair (I guess living in a cave with a zombie-mummy is the cure for baldness). The reason I bought this DVD is because I could never watch The Mummy's Hand on my Universal Box Set of The Mummy; it skipped and froze everytime, then leaped ahead several chapters. Nothing I did would fix this. This is probably due to the problems inherent with duel-sided DVDs (and the reason why many DVD production companies are moving away from this way of encoding movies-when you pack that much information on two sides of a DVD it often has encoding errors which may include as little as skipping, to as great as unplayable). So if you've been having trouble playing The Mummy's Hand, you may be able to pick this Double-Feature DVD up use as I did. It play perfectly.Read full review
The Mummy's hand is a prime example of the "scary stuff" from the late 30's to early 40's. My first encounter with The Mummy's Hand was around late 1947. The viewing of this flick was topped off with a mile-and-a-half walk home in the blustery darkness of a late autumn evening. I was scared speechless! No movie, before or since, has ever hit me like that old grade B show. It was, and still is priceless. The Mummy's Tomb, on the other hand was not the hit of the first; just like almost every follow-up on a fairly successful film; Crocodile Dundee II being the only exception I can think of. My original Beta recording of "Mummy" has long since passed into the great beyond and my VHS was struggling from stretch-stress. A new "Mummy" was needed,since I like to watch this old clinker rather often. Finding it on DVD was a real treat. Having the second feature included seemed a bonus, even though it's not the equal in story/production quality to the first. Both movies are halmarks of their time with a good amount of fun and adventure that does not grate on ones senses. I still love "The Mummy's Hand". Eat yer heart out, Chuckie.Read full review
In 1932, Universal Studios released The Mummy with Boris Karloff in the lead role as Imhotep. To this day, it still remains a classic of the horror genre. Nearly ten years later, Universal would return to the Mummy franchise but instead they would put in an entirely different monster: Kharis, a being cursed forever to never die and safeguard the tomb of Princess Ananka for all eternity. The first of the four Kharis movies was The Mummy's Hand. In the prologue of this film, Kharis' origins are explained in a story much like that of Imhotep in the original classic. However the differences lie in their abilities. Imhotep was a monster granted with supernatural powers and could only be destroyed by the powers of the Egyptian gods. Kharis, on the other hand, is a hulking brute who has to rely on the Priests of Karnak to feed him a life fluid made from tana leaves to keep him alive. In Hand, a group of explorers led by Steven Banning come to the mountains to find the tomb of Ananka. Following them is the High Priest of Karnak, Professor Andoheb. When it seems the team could find the tomb, Andoheb gives Kharis the strength of mobility through the tana leaves and is sent to kill each member one by one. But Banning and his friend Babe chase Kharis to the temple where they have a final showdown with the mummy and its evil master. The second film, The Mummy's Tomb, picks up thirty years after Hand. Every survivor has lived content lives. One surprising thing about this film is that the original actors reprise their roles in old-age makeup. Anyway, it all comes crashing down when it turns out that Kharis had survived being burnt to death and is sent by a new High Priest to take revenge by destroying the Banning family and kill any other intruder who entered the tomb. To accomplish this task, Kharis and the priest treavel to the sleepy village of Mapleton, where Banning lives with his sister and his son, John. John himself is engaged to a beautiful young woman that the priest becames infatuated with. The murders abound with Steven as the first victim and his sister the next. Babe comes to Mapleton to convince the authorities that it is the work of Kharis but is killed by the mummy himself. Events come to their conclusion when the priest uses Kharis to kidnap John's fiancee while he tries to kill John himself. In the fight, the priest is killed by the sheriff, John is wounded by Kharis and the mummy himself is lost in a housefire. Sadly these two movies could have been very great classics, were it not for the blatant overuse of stock footage from The Mummy and Frankenstein. Also albeit more minor the unbelievable cameo return of Professor Andoheb at the beginning of The Mummy's Tomb, after being shot FOUR times and tumbling down the temple stairs in the first film. All in all, this double feature is an excellent one to watch as apart from the origins Kharis is a completely different character to that of Imhotep and gives a new flavour to the mummy genre. It is up to you if you want to purchase these films, but just remember, DON'T FORGET TO BRING THE TANA LEAVES!!!Read full review
Two of the Old Mummy Classic Films.These are the old horror movies that we grew up watching.Still enjoy watching them.
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I am a classic horror movie buff, the older the better for me. A true classic horror movie should have a monster, a villian, a hero and a victim. And my mummy double feature provided all the above. Like all horror films these are predictable but if you grew up in the days of early special effects these films will not disappoint. If you are looking for gore or high tech effects these films are not for you. Keep in mind they are in black and white and of low budget comparatively. But enjoyable just as they are. I can't wait to order some more for my collection.
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