Sat 12 Dec 2015
A Horror Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: THE MUMMY LIVES (1993).
Posted by Steve under Horror movies , Reviews[6] Comments
THE MUMMY LIVES. Global Pictures, 1993. Tony Curtis, Leslie Hardy, Greg Wrangler, Jack Cohen, Mohammed Bakri. Suggested by the story “Some Words with A Mummy” by Edgar Allan Poe. Director: Gerry O’Hara.
To say that Tony Curtis was miscast in the schlocky, ridiculously plotted The Mummy Lives is to miss the point entirely. Indeed, without Curtis in this overall forgettable mummy film, there’d be no reason to watch it whatsoever.
But with Curtis, it’s an entirely different story, for there’s nothing – and I mean nothing – quite like hearing a thick Bronx accent coming from the mouth of a character named Dr. Mohassid. The thing you really need to know about the good doctor is that he happens to be – you guessed it – the resurrection of an ancient Egyptian named Aziru, a guy who was sentenced to death and mummification for his illicit love affair with Kia (Leslie Hardy), a lovely, dark haired concubine.
When he doesn’t look completely bored, Curtis plays it for laughs, almost winking at the audience as if he were Vincent Price. The Mummy Lives may not be a good movie, but it has its moments. At its worst, it’s a throwaway cheap horror film that doesn’t work. At its best, it is pure camp, a celebration of the ridiculousness of Hollywood’s mummy curse mythology.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone going out of the way to see this one, but I’d love to see it programmed as a midnight movie somewhere.
December 12th, 2015 at 9:30 pm
Tony Curtis as a Mummy? How can it miss?
December 12th, 2015 at 11:31 pm
Based on the trailer, by only this much (holding my arms out this far).
December 13th, 2015 at 5:30 am
Curtis, when he exerted himself, was a darn good actor. However, he did have a number of lousy films on his CV (although he never said ‘Yonder lies the castle of my fuddah!’ in THE PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF). I saw this Mummy movie roughly about the time that if came out, and Curtis does lift it from dire to horribly watchable. I’m currently watching some episodes of the early ’70s adventure series THE PERSUADERS that he did with Roger Moore, and it’s fascinating to watch the effort he puts into it. In some of the episodes he displays considerable acrobatic and athletic skill, scrambling up the side of a building and swinging in through a window. Even better, he displays wonderfully odd little quirks of character, such as never removing his driving gloves (even when he’s washing his hands!)
December 13th, 2015 at 9:14 am
Tony Curtis in the right roles was a very entertaining actor, and that includes THE PERSUADERS, up to a point. After a while it seemed as though they ran out of stories to tell, and I got bored with it. The first half dozen episodes I would recommend to anyone, though, as a perfect mix of crime-solving and fun.
December 13th, 2015 at 2:29 pm
It’s the sort of show that you have to take the rough with the smooth. A friend of mine described it as “A handful of real dogs, about half-a-dozen really good episodes, and the rest entertaining fluff.”
December 13th, 2015 at 6:10 pm
Poor Tony even ended up playing Jane’s father in TARZAN IN NEW YORK with Joe Lara, though neither he nor the film was bad. He was always a pro no matter how bad the material, and he did some really bad films late in his career.
Still Tony as a mummy may take considerable adjustment on my part. Hopefully he didn’t get too wrapped up in the role.*
*
Somebody had to do it, stop groaning.