The Mummy's Hand

A couple of archaeologists are searching for the tomb of an Egyptian princess and have to deal with an embalmed priest serving as her guard. Very interesting and sometimes comical. Very good as far as 'mummy' movies go. Worth a peep and see. Ensemble cast include: Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Cecil Kellaway, George Zucco, Wallace Ford and Tom Tyler.

An ancient mummy (Tom Tyler) is revived to destroy those that would invade the 3,000 year old tomb of an Egyptian princess. Pretty much the only notable name involved with this picture was Jack Pierce, whose mummy effects may even surpass the original film. Sadly, he went uncredited (as did many makeup people in the early days) so he did not get the recognition he deserved, and if he had a crew we will never know their names. This film is odd because we have the mummy story, but we also have comic relief from the New York guys. Not saying it is the best comic relief, but clearly these guys are the poor man's Abbott and Costello.

The Mummy's Hand is not the sequel to Boris Karloff's The Mummy (1932) but rather a different film and the first of a series of Mummy films surrounding Kharis. The opening of the film however is a kind of throwback or reminder of Karloff's Mummy film but this film and the Kharis series has no direct relation to the original Universal film. The Mummy's Hand is not a comedy-horror but there is plenty of comedy in the film to have you giggling quite a bit. The story is fine, acting good, sets are great. Overall it's a fun and entertaining horror-adventure film. Although it's not overly scary the film is definitely a horror film. 8/10

Christy Cabanne directed this loose remake of the Karloff classic(also produced by Universal Studios) Here, Dick Foran and Wallace Ford play Steve Manning and Babe Jenson, two unemployed archaeologists who get a magician named Solvani(played by Cecil Kellaway) to fund an expedition to excavate the Egyptian tomb of princess Ananka. His daughter Marta(played by Peggy Moran) is furious and skeptical about this, but goes along since the money is all spent. They do unearth her tomb, but also her protector Kharis(played by Tom Tyler) a living mummy who goes on a murder spree to avenge the violation of her tomb, since that is his mission, enabled by a cult of priests, the last of whom is played by George Zucco. Though fun to a point, with a good cast, this is hurt by far too much comedy relief with Babe. Not enough atmosphere to compensate either; worked much better with Karloff. Still, this was a hit, and followed by three sequels.