Universal Monsters and Retro Review: The Mummy's Hand

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I've only recently become a fan of the old Universal monster movies. My interest was first piqued a long time ago by one of my favorite retro video games, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, with its extensive use of classic monster movie imagery. But only in the past two years have I begun going through those old films. And while they're not specific to Halloween, so closely has this imagery been associated with the season that they may as well be Halloween movies for me, and that's when I watch them.

These films tend to run a little over an hour, which is obviously very short for a film by today's standards. And even though they're quite old, I was surprised by how well some of them still hold up. For example, I think House of Frankenstein is a great film.

I recently watched The Mummy's Hand, which is the first sequel to 1932's The Mummy. Even though that film is considered a horror classic, I don't care much for it, as I found it extremely slow and not having very much of the classic Mummy monster in it. The Mummy's Hand has a similar plot to the first film, and only slightly more Mummy, but I thought it was an improvement. Two down-on-their-luck archaeologists are about to leave Egypt when they discover a clue to the whereabouts of an ancient tomb. Lacking funding, they enlist the help of a local magician and his daughter. But things are not all that they seem.

The film moves at a slow pace and is somewhat predictable. I found the characters likebale for the most part, but was once again hoping for more of that classic Mummy monster. I liked the ending and am looking forward to watching the sequel, which I was surprised to learn continues the story, unlike how this film is unrelated to the original.

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