tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post4514117705695583530..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: ALL WRAPPED UP WITH NO PLACE TO GOTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-36476544973008157462013-10-24T03:59:41.241-05:002013-10-24T03:59:41.241-05:00When I first saw this movie, I was so disappointed...When I first saw this movie, I was so disappointed that there was practically no mummy in it that I wrote it off as an overrated piece of hackwork. Watching it again recently, I was able to put that aside and accept it for what it is: a very good movie that was written to be something else entirely and given a quick rewrite to be about a mummy rather than Cagliostro. Karloff is pretty terrific, coming off as both sympathetic and menacing. I love how completely and utterly uncaring he is about Not Van Helsing's threats; he doesn't even bother to chuckle condescendingly as he walks away. He did something similar in <i>The Body Snatcher</i>.<br /><br />As for the plot being a reworking of <i>Dracula</i>, I've got mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I like the fact that Karl Freund was able to make a "corrective" of <i>Dracula</i>, fixing every one of Tod Browning's fuck-ups. On the other hand, he's re-doing the same damn story he did the previous year. It's such a sickening rehash that multiple scenes, not just the basic plot, seem like they were taken directly from the <i>Dracula</i> script. The mummy film it reminds me of the most, sadly, is <i>The Mummy Returns</i>, because the latter film was made with the same "let's just remake the one we did last year" philosophy: "Instead of Imhotep's face in a giant wall of sand, we'll have Imhotep's face in a giant wall of water!"<br /><br />But the good outweighs the bad. Re-watching the Universal Mummy films, I've gotten more enjoyment out of it than the sequels, even though the sequels are legitimate mummy movies and this one just has a mummy in the opening couple of minutes to justify the title. At least Wallace Fucking Ford is nowhere to be found.Craig D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02798473771333728151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-19240165081483816702013-10-06T12:57:03.216-05:002013-10-06T12:57:03.216-05:00The '99 Mummy is just about the quintessential...The '99 Mummy is just about the quintessential popcorn movie. 100% enjoyable and fun, that you can barely remember anything about 2 hours later, except that you had fun.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546972990126033036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-55709442337186977182013-10-06T08:38:14.778-05:002013-10-06T08:38:14.778-05:00I didn't know you were doing both the Hammer a...I didn't know you were doing both the Hammer and Universal mummy movies! That's awesome! I did enjoy this movie a lot and Karloff is once again the biggest reason! I have only watched classic horror (aka pre-Psycho) for about a year, but he is without a doubt my favorite horror actor of all time now! The second Mummy movie was a big step down for me (even for universal sequels) and the rest are too hard to find so I didn't bother continuing! Let me know if they are worth seeing! I also did get the first Hammer Mummy movie so I need to watch that before you review it! Still making my way through the Hammer Dracula movies and I love them :)! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01560748360235621278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-53723639947826364402013-10-06T05:33:05.496-05:002013-10-06T05:33:05.496-05:00I kind of like the '99 Mummy. It's goofy f...I kind of like the '99 Mummy. It's goofy fun, and scary enough in one or two places to at least give a nod to its horror roots, although the two sequels are varying levels of atrocious. Brian Malbonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908354298411555211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-18595373905759853632013-10-05T18:28:41.199-05:002013-10-05T18:28:41.199-05:00Glad you're excited!
And yes, I'm going t...Glad you're excited!<br /><br />And yes, I'm going through all four Hammer movies, of which I've only seen the first. So I kind of wish you hadn't said that last part ;)Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-80876237642851570752013-10-05T18:16:18.460-05:002013-10-05T18:16:18.460-05:00YES! Very excited for this retrospective as I just...YES! Very excited for this retrospective as I just watched the Universal Mummy for the first time. I, too, greatly enjoyed it. Karloff is in a very different mode than as Frankenstein, but continues to be the best dude at playing living corpses.<br /><br />Are you planning on doing all the Hammer Mummy movies? I'm really excited to see you take on The Curse Of the Mummy's Tomb, as it's one of the worst Hammer movies I've ever seen, second only to To The Devil a Daughter.Michael James Robersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14222509781144948257noreply@blogger.com