Movie Review – The Mummy’s Curse (1944)

Just when you thought that it was finished . . . along comes another sequel to the Mummy series of movies.

As we remember in The Mummy’s Ghost, Yousef Bey was sent to Mapleton, Massachusetts to recover the mummified body of ancient Egyptian Princess Ananka as well as the mummy Kharis.  Yousef was tasked with recovering those two mummies and returning them to Egypt so that they could rest in piece.  Of course, things didn’t go as planned, and choas ensued.  The movie ended with Kharis taking the reincarnated version of Princess Ananka into a swamp so that they would both drown and finally be together for eternity.

Released in late 1944, The Mummy’s Curse advances the storyline another twenty-five or so years (presumably in the year 1995), and it changes locations from Mapleton, Massachusetts, to the swamps of Louisiana.  An. irrigation project accidentally unearths the mummies Kharis and Ananka.  Two representatives from a museum arrive to try to excavate the site and recover the mummies.  The story takes a turn when the mummified body of Ananka walks again and turns into a human being, a beautiful young lady with no memory of her past.  As Kharis tries to catch Ananka, there’s also treachery involving the museum representatives, and death lurking around every corner.

Directed by Leslie Goodwins, The Mummy’s Curse stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as the mummy Kharis.  Chaney was the only actor to return from the previous film.  Other actors and actresses in this Mummy film include Virginia Christine as Princess Ananka, Kay Harding as Betty Walsh, Dennis Moore as Dr. James Halsey, Peter Coe as Dr. Ilzor Zandaab, and Martin Kosleck as Ragheb.

The Mummy’s Curse begins in Louisiana twenty-five years after the events in The Mummy’s Ghost.  The locals remember hearing stories about the mummy and how he carried a woman into the swamps, but those stories are turning out more like legends and local folklore.  Perhaps there’s more to the stories as many of the construction workers are convinced that the local swamps are actually cursed with an evil presence.  One of the workers disappeared the previous night, and the rest of the workers are concerned for their own safety.

After addressing the construction workers, Pat Walsh (Addison Richards), the superintendent of the construction company, is approached by Dr. James Halsey (Dennis Moore) and his companion, Dr. Ilzor Zandaab (Peter Coe), both of which are from the Scripps Museum.  The museum has sent them to recover the mummified bodies of Kharis and Princess Ananka, both of which were last seen in those very swamps many years ago.  Walsh isn’t keen on the idea as it’ll slow down his work and give his workers another reason to be spooked, but his niece, Betty Walsh (Kay Harding), convinces him to let the museum excavate the mummies.

Suddenly the meeting is interrupted as one of the workers informs Pat Walsh that the worker who went missing last night was just found dead in the swamp.  His death wasn’t an accident.  He was murdered.  Evidence at the murder scene shows that the worker may have accidentally uncovered the mummified body of Kharis.  Or perhaps whoever murdered the worker was the same person who discovered the mummy.

Later the night, Zandaab goes into the swamp to have a secret meeting with Ragheb (Martin Kosleck), a local man who is also a follower of Arkam.  It turns out that Ragheb was the person who murdered the construction worker in the swamp.  He took the body of Kharis and relocated it to a deserted monastery.

Inside of the monastery, Zandaab and Ragheb have a small ceremony of brewing tana leaves.  During that time Zandaab tells Ragheb some of the history of Kharis and Ananka.  The liquified tana leaves are then fed to Kharis (Lon Chaney, Jr.), and once again the mummy rises and walks the Earth.  Suddenly they’re interrupted by the caretaker of the monastery, but he’s quickly strangled and killed by Kharis.

The following day, more of the swamp is drained and excavated.  The soil has been loosened and the mummified body of Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine) dramatically rises from the ground.  When Ananka walks into a pond, the mud is washed away, revealing a beautiful young woman.  A local named Cajun Joe (Kurt Katch) finds the woman, but the only word that she speaks is “Kharis.”  Ragheb watches as Cajun Joe leads her out of the swamp and to a local pub where she can rest and have some food.

Ananka is still not talking when Cajun Joe takes her to an upstairs room at a local pub.  Tante Berthe (Ann Codee), the owner of the pub, tries to help the girl.

Back at the monastery, Ragheb has reported the sighting of Ananka.  Zandaab informs Kharis about the situation and sends him on a mission to retrieve the ancient Egyptian princess.

When Kharis enters the pub and then opens the door to Ananka’s room, the young woman suddenly grows aware of his presence and frightened of the mummy.  She flees in panic while Kharis is busy strangling and killing Tante Berthe.  Kharis continues to chase Ananka through the swamp, but she faints and is rescued by Halsey and Betty Walsh.

A short while later Ananka awakens from her sleep.  When she’s examined by Dr. Cooper (Holmes Herbert) and interviewed by Halsey and Betty, Ananka reveals that she has amnesia.  She doesn’t know her identity or her background.  What Ananka does know is that somehow she has an incredible amount of knowledge about ancient Egypt.  She joins Halsey’s expedition and helps analyze some of the artifacts discovered in the swamp.  What’s even more odd is that when Zandaab makes an appearance at the camp, Ananka goes into a trance and begins walking forward, as if she’s under his control or in a dream.

That night, Kharis is sent out again to find Ananka.  This time he’s sent into the expedition’s camp to locate the young woman.  Like before, Ananka senses the mummy’s approach and she flees in panic.  She finds Dr. Cooper and pleads for his help, but suddenly Kharis arrives and kills Dr. Cooper.  Ananka runs away again and escapes from the mummy.

Pat Walsh has had enough of this mummy business, and he threatens to pull the plug on the expedition.  Halsey takes a small team of men and goes searching for the mummy in the swamp.  Cajun Joe spots and tries to shoot the mummy, but the weapon is useless against the immortal creature, and Kharis easily kills Cajun Joe.

Ananka returns to the campground and tries to seek shelter in Betty Walsh’s tent.  This safety is only temporary as Kharis later locates and enters Betty’s tent.  The sight of the mummy causes Ananka to faint again, and Kharis easily carries her away.  Betty watches in terror and is powerless to try to stop the mummy.  When Ragheb arrives a few moments later, Betty tells him about Ananka and the mummy.  He agrees to help Betty find Dr. Halsey and try to rescue Ananka.

A short while later Halsey arrives at Betty’s tent, but it’s deserted.  There’s no sign of Betty.  When he discovers a piece of an old bandage, he realizes that the mummy was there.  Halsey spots the tracks left behind by the mummy and sets out in pursuit, determined to rescue Betty before it’s too late.

Kharis is the first to arrive at the monastery.  He sets Ananka inside of a stone sarcophagus.  Zandaab then liquifies tana leaves and feeds it to the unconscious Ananka.

Ragheb and Betty are the next two people to arrive at the monastery.  When Betty asks him where she can find Dr. Halsey, Ragheb reveals that it was a trick.  He really wants Betty all for himself.  Zandaab walks into the room and is furious that Ragheb brought Betty to the monastery.  This mission with preserving Kharis and Princess Ananka was supposed to be in total secrecy.  To maintain that, Zandaab insists that Betty will have to die.  As Zandaab is about to get some liquified tana leaves to use against Betty, Ragheb pulls out a knife and stabs Zandaab in the back, killing him.

Dr. Halsey then arrives at the monastery and finds Betty and Ragheb.  Suddenly Ragheb attacks Halsey with his knife, but Halsey succeeds in defeating Ragheb.  He knocks him out with a punch to the face.  When Halsey is asking Betty about Zandaab’s dead body, Ragheb regains consciousness, grabs a torch, and fights Halsey again.  Kharis then enters the room and stops Ragheb from killing Halsey.  It seems that the mummy is upset with Ragheb’s betrayal.

Ragheb locks himself inside of a room to try to stop the mummy from killing him.  However, that does little to stopping the mummy.  Kharis begins pounding on the walls and door, and the old monastery begins to crumble.  Betty and Halsey escape from the room as it begins to collapse on top of Kharis and Ragheb.

In the next room it’s discovered that Ananka’s body has aged rapidly and looks like a mummy again.  Halsey now understands why Ananka was so knowledgeable about Kharis and ancient Egypt.

The Mummy’s Curse ends with Dr. Halsey wanting to begin another expedition to recover both of the mummies.  This will be much faster as both of the creatures are in the monastery.  On top of that, Halsey tells Walsh that he’s going to be seeing a lot more of him as he’s now dating Betty.

So is The Mummy’s Curse a good movie?

I’m probably in the minority here, but I enjoyed most of this movie.

Apart from some of the major issues with the continuity with this film series (such as why this one is set 25 years and a thousand miles away from where the first film ended, and no story explaining these differences), I thought that The Mummy’s Curse had several interesting elements.  Here we have folklore about the mummy, a mummy who changes back to her human form, an evil saboteur who has his own deadly agenda, and an exciting finish where the mummy seeks out and kills his former ally.

Granted, this isn’t the best of films, and parts of the story could have easily been changed to make this a much stronger story, what *is* here isn’t that bad.  Princess Ananka is mystifying, the swamps in Louisiana is creepy, and the character Ragheb is a lot of fun, especially in the end.

The Mummy’s Curse (1944) – movie trailer

Don’t expect The Mummy’s Curse to be an outstanding or even a great movie.  This is a solid mediocre, B-movie that has become lost in a sea of forgotten Universal Studios monster movies.  Nevertheless, The Mummy’s Curse is still part of the Mummy series of movies, and in the end it’s not that bad of a horror or a Mummy movie.