In this tale, the mummy Imhotep is uncovered with a scroll of resurrection. The archaeologist who finds him reads aloud from the scroll and goes insane when he sees Imhotep walking. 10 years later, his son, Frank, encounters a very dry and pale but human-looking Imhotep, who goes by the name Ardath Bey, who guides him toward discovering the tomb of his long lost love, the princess Ankh-es-en-amon. Upon uncovering her mummified body, Ardath Bey meets Frank's love interest, a woman who is a direct descendant of Ankh-es-en-amon, and attempts to resurrect her reincarnated soul so he may be with his love again. It's up to Frank to stop him and save his girl.
This is an amazing classic film, with Boris Karloff playing Imhotep/Ardath Bey. It's amusing to see that the mummy spent 90% of the film right under everyone's nose and no one knew any different. And they did an excellent job making Ardath Bey's face look very dry and crumbly without being obviously mummified.
There's a lot less action than the Brendan Fraser version and more talking and deducting going on in this film, but what can you expect from a black-and-white classic from the '30s? Overall, a great film that introduced a great and tragic horror villain.
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