The third of Hammer’s mummy cycle starts with an eight minute prologue – mummy movies love their exposition – then kicks into a standard story: expedition pokes around studio set substituting for Egypt; discover a tomb despite native opposition and warnings; members of the expedition start dying. Unfortunately the expedition hole up a hotel and basically hang around to be killed off one by one – this gives the story a static quality. Most of the drama in between killings is handled by the ruthless head of the expedition (John Phillips). The cast lacks star power – it includes Andre Morrell and Michael Ripper – and the low budget hurts. It cries out for some old style gorgeous set design or photography but that isn’t the case. The mummy doesn’t even look like a traditional mummy. Having said that director John Gilling has fun with deaths –and the mummy is more active and virile here than usual. The female lead (Maggie Kimberley) isn’t the best actor in the world but she has a striking, unusual beauty.
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