Universal Studios Monsters 1940 The Mummys Hand

By 1940, over at Universal sequels were all the rage. The Mummys Hand went into production on the back of successful followups to their Dracula, Frankenstein and Invisible Man franchises. After a hiatus of eight years, it was time to reboot the irresistible tale of the ancient Egyptian starcrossed lovers. In the original The Mummy (1932), Karloff had brought us a rather stately incarnation in the form of the sundried Ardath Bey, which allowed for the merest glimpse of the Mummy himself in the opening moments. Lacking all of its predecessors finesse and mystery, The Mummys Hand manages to supplant style with substance and gives us the first haunting rendition of the bandaged bad boy as a malevolent and menacingly creepy the necessary formulaic approach of Mancunian editorturnedproducer Ben Pivar, The Mummys Hand leaps Phoenixlike from the potential ashes of the Bpicture low budget doldrums into a sparkling, funny, frightening adventure romp aimed straight at the Saturday matinee kids