Son of Frankenstein brought the horror film back in a big way so it was only natural that Universal decided to resurrect the mummy franchise (and the Invisible Man franchise, and the Dracula franchise, etc, etc). A semi-remake of the 1932 Mummy as opposed to a sequel, it starts out with a huge whack of surprisingly violent exposition – a lot of stuff about the priest tormented by love for a princess whose tongue is cut out and who is buried alive and slaves were killed and there is a curse etc etc. (Bonus points if you can understand all the rules involving the mummies.) George Zucco is meant to guard the tomb but lunkish Dick Foran (an unconvincing archaeologist and odd romantic lead) and his wacky Brooklyn sidekick get on the case.The film is almost 50% over before the tomb is dug up and the mummy goes on a rampage; before then there is a lot of comedy (Cecil Kellaway adds some into the mix as a magician who backs the expedition – indeed once the rampage is on most of the tension comes from wondering whether one of the comic relief will die, since you know Foran and the love interest won’t).
This has a jokey swashbuckling tone – the 1999 remake took its cue from this rather than the Karloff Mummy. The sense of love across the ages isn’t as strong – the mummy and Egyptians are a lot less sympathetic. Zucco adds class as a villainous priest and the photography is as always in Universal horrors a delight but it’s a bit undercooked as a film – Zucco sacrificing the love interest at the end feels a bit rushed, the finale is flatly staged.
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