The Mummy's Ghost is a lean-mean Universal programmer from long ago

The Mummy's Ghost, 1944, Universal, 61 minutes, B and W. Directed by Reginald Le Borg. Starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Kharis, John Carradine as Yousef Bey, Ramsay Ames as Amina Mansori, Robert Lowery as Tom Hervey, Frank Reicher as Prof. Matthew Norman, Barton MacLane as Inspector Walgreen, and George Zucco as Andoheb, High Priest of Arkan. Schlock-Meter rating: Eight stars out of 10.

The Mummy's Ghost is pulp horror at its finest. I confess to loving this lean, mean never-a-wasted-minute B programmer from Universal. There's no excess fat to trim from this film. It's like watching a good comic strip -- every scene is key to the horror tale. The film never takes itself too seriously, but at the same time does not descend to camp level. It's a damn good hour's entertainment. Film students who want to see how a good B film could provide fun to 1940s movie-goers should make The Mummy's Ghost required viewing. It would have been great to view this in a theater with say, House of Frankenstein.

Here's the plot: Egyptian cult disciple Carradine is commanded by a high priest (Zucco, in a wonderful small part)to revive mummy Kharis and find the long lost princess Ananka, Kharis' love who was taken from his tomb. This leads them to a small university community (Mapleton) where a professor of Egyptology revives Kharis with boiled leaves of tanna. The professor is murdered for his troubles, and soon Kharis and Carradine narrow their search to a pretty coed (Ames) with Egyptian blood, who it is suspected, is the reincarnated Ananka. Her boyfriend (Hervey) tries to protect her from both the mummy Kharis and suspicious townfolk who suspect she's part of the latest round of mummy murders. The ending is dark, which is surprising for a horror film of that era, but still very effective.

The Mummy's Ghost is one of a several-part Universal 1940s series offering that featured the mummy Kharis and his search for revenge and his lost love. Ghost was the second-to-last of the series. Chaney was Kharis in all but the first film, The Mummy's Hand (in which Tom Tyler was an effective Kharis). Surprisingly, Chaney is the weakest link in this otherwise tight, effective thriller. He shambles around awkwardly and inspires few shivers. Carradine and especially Zucco are very good as cult disciples. All in all, a great little film and definitely worth owning as an example of entertaining by-the-numbers B-movie filmmaking. Warch the trailer below.

-- Doug Gibson

Godzilla is on this author's mind

By Steve D. Stones

The following is a review of William Tsutsui’s book “Godzilla On My Mind – Fifty Years of the King of Monsters:" The enormous impact of Godzilla on all aspects of popular culture cannot be overstated. William Tsutsui’s hilarious and well researched book “Godzilla On My Mind,” published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2004, makes the reader aware of just how much impact the large rubbery reptile has had on anything from breakfast cereals, fine art paintings, rock music lyrics, political speeches, TV commercials and collectible toys. 

The appeal of Godzilla for me as a child was from seeing the giant lizard destroy everything in his path without having to clean up after himself – which is a dream come true for most children. As Tsutsui notes in his book – “Godzilla is a timeless and eternal icon. . . .  Godzilla’s not just a man in a latex costume, not just a cheesy B-movie hero . . . Godzilla is a state of mind.” It’s amazing to consider that the Godzilla films are the longest running series in motion picture history – spanning over 26 films in six decades.

The original 1954 Godzilla, entitled Gojiro in Japan, depicted the reptile giant as a merciless destroyer of Japanese cities – a metaphor of the devastation Japan suffered after the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The films that followed after 1954, however, depicted Godzilla as a playful hero who battled other large beasts that threatened Japan. Godzilla even has a son named Minilla that appears in Son of Godzilla. This may be why children are drawn to Godzilla.

Tsutsui spends a considerable amount of time discussing why the 1998 Hollywood version of Godzilla was such a huge failure. How could viewers possibly take seriously a monster movie that places Ferris Buehler (Matthew Broderick) in the top role? The film fails miserably for putting too much emphasis on special effects with no substance. No one can make Godzilla films like Toho Studios in Japan, and the 1998 American version of Godzilla is strong proof of this.

Tsutsui also observes that some of the appeal of Godzilla had worn off after the events of September 11^th, 2001. Viewers had a hard time stomaching the idea of a giant reptile toppling over tall buildings, when in reality this took place in Manhattan on that tragic day none of us will ever forget.

Tsutsui was once asked by a fifth grader at one of his Godzilla lectures if Americans enjoyed watching Japanese people die when they view Godzilla films. Unable to effectively answer the question, Tsutsui admits that the question has haunted him ever since the young boy asked it. The events of September 11^th, 2001 and two wars in the Middle East have made us all very sensitive to death and destruction.

An interesting chapter of the book entitled Godzilla’s Spawn discusses all the rip offs and spin offs of the Godzilla films. Such films as the Gamera series, Ultraman, Yonggary, Reptilicus, the Mysterians and others are all direct descendants of Godzilla. None of these films reach the level of entertainment value of the Godzilla series. Godzilla could easily chew up these films and spit them out with no conscience.

Godzilla On My Mind is a delightful book that is mandatory reading for any serious fan of the Japanese Godzilla films. Happy reading!

George Arliss is the best reason to see the creaky 1937 adventure 'Dr. Syn'

By Doug Gibson

Recently, Scarlet: The Film Magazine, a twice-yearly publication that I highly recommend (its website is here) published a lengthy, fascinating piece from Frank Dello Stritto, a film scholar best known for his research on Bela Lugosi, on the Dr. Syn literature and movies. Dr. Syn has fallen into a memory hole, such as Svengali or the old play The Bat, but like those two literary offerings, it was extremely popular long ago and has had more than a couple of screen adaptations. (Dr. Syn, by the way, was a series of books by Russell Thorndike that dealt with a country parson in the southeast of England who in reality was a pirate, Captain Clegg, long thought dead.)

In the most popular book, "Dr. Syn: A Tale of Romney Marsh,' the good Dr. Syn is also leading a group of spirits smugglers. A squadron of British government soldiers are sent to investigate. Smuggling liquor, etc., is a serious business. It can lead to a death sentence. With the squadron is a creature called "the mulatto," who long ago had his tongue cut out, was tortured and left to die by Captain Clegg.

There's a lot more to the plot. Dr. Syn is trying to protect a young girl, Imogene, who loves a man above her station in life. He loves her too, so that helps. There's a brutish confederate of Syn's who wants Imogen for himself, and meanwhile, the soldiers, under Captain Collyer, are getting closer to discovering the spirits operation. It's quite an enjoyable cat-and-mouse game between Syn and Collyer.

In the Scarlet piece, Dello Strito reviews in detail three films that are derived from the Syn. novels. The first was made in 1937, "Dr. Syn." (here) It stars George Arliss, an elderly actor who apparently rivaled Lionel Barrymore in fame generations ago. Arliss is, indeed, a great actor. Although he's likely 20 years too old to play Syn/Clegg, he has tremendous screen presence and a voice that is both soothing and commanding. He has the ability to transform himself from a non-threatening, caring country parson to an angry, threatening force with the mere changing of his countenance, a quick movement, or a change in the timbre of his voice. It's quite impressive to witness.

And truthfully, Arliss is the only real reason to see "Dr. Syn." When he's not in it, it's mostly a creaky film with only adequate performances and little sustained drama. There is one great exception. The opening prologue scene, in which the mulatto is dragged to shore, his tongue cut off, and left to die lashed to a tree with a proclamation over his head. The scene is very strong and quite chilling for an era in Great Britain that frowned on horrific images in films.

You can see "Dr. Syn" on YouTube and it can be purchased easily. In fact, all of the Syn films, including the Hammer "Night Creatures," with Peter Cushing, and a Disney version with Patrick McGoohan, are available via YouTube.

The Screaming Skull -- Fred Olen Ray's favorite low-budget, five-actor, one-location thriller

By Steve D. Stones

Director Fred Olen Ray once said that The Screaming Skull is perhaps the greatest low budget film made with only five actors and one location. If it wasn’t for Roger Corman’s 1961 classic The Pit and The Pendulum, I would agree with Ray. The Screaming Skull has my vote as second best for a film limited to less than six actors and one location.

The film opens with an interesting gimmick of a coffin opening with a sign inside that says: Reserved For You. The narrator insures viewers that the producers promise a free burial for anyone who dies of fright while watching The Screaming Skull. I wonder if they ever had to follow through with their promise?

Next, a boiling stream of water is shown with fog as a skull floats to the surface and a loud screaming of a wild bird is heard. The bold letters of THE SCREAMING SKULL dash out in front of the floating skull.

Eric Whitlock brings his new bride named Jenny, played by Peggy Webber, who later was a frequent actress on Jack Webb's TV show "Dragnet," to his mansion in the countryside after having been gone for two years. Eric lived there with his former wife Marion, who died in the garden when she slipped and fell on a concrete wall, banging her head.

The reverend Snow and his wife arrive to meet Jenny and to bring the couple some groceries for the night. Eric informs reverend Snow in private that Jenny’s parents had died many years ago in a drowning accident, making her emotionally unstable, but also inheriting their wealth.

That night while in bed, Jenny hears a constant banging sound, which she discovers to be the wind banging some window shudders against the house. The next morning she tries to make friends with the shy, introverted gardener named Mickey by suggesting they take some flowers to Marion’s gave.

The following night Jenny has nightmares as the sound of screaming peacocks haunts her dreams. She wakes to the sound of a loud knocking on the front door. She opens the door to discover a skull on the doorsteps. What follows for the rest of the film is a series of Jenny finding the skull all over the mansion, driving her insane.

Eric suggests that Jenny is hallucinating, and that perhaps her nightmares are a result of a portrait in the house of Marion. Eric decides to burn the portrait as Jenny witnesses the destruction of the painting. As the couple rake over the hot coals from the fire, another skull emerges, causing Jenny to faint.

It turns out that Eric placed the skull in the ashes of the fire to frighten Jenny. His goal was to drive Jenny insane so that he could inherit her wealth.

By some supernatural force, the skull returns to haunt Eric, causing him to be struck by lightning and drown in his garden pond, the same pond where Marion was killed.

It’s unfortunate that many film encyclopedias give The Screaming Skull such a poor rating. I find it to be a fun little film worthy of any serious B-movie fan’s list of guilty pleasures. It’s a film that goes well with a large bucket of buttered popcorn and a soda drink at 1 in the morning. Who knows, perhaps the producers of The Screaming Skull may still promise you a free burial if you die of fright while watching the film? Happy viewing!