Main Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr., Peter Coe, Virginia Christine, Kay Harding, Dennis Moore
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 61 minutes
Plot
Ostensibly taking place twenty-five years after the events of The Mummy's Ghost, this sequel marks the last of Universal's series featuring the evil mummy "Kharis," played by Lon Chaney, Jr.. A rather gruff-looking Chaney plays the loosely wrapped Egyptian high priest, who is extricated from his resting place in the bayous of Louisiana (relocated from New England after the previous film) by a team of archaeologists. Thanks to the procurement of some tanna leaves by sinister Egyptologist Izor Zandaab (Peter Coe) and his creepy-looking henchman Ragheb (Martin Kosleck), Kharis is up and around once again, seeking the reincarnation of his lost love Ananka (Virginia Christine, who would later portray Folgers coffee pitchwoman Mrs. Olsen). Though most installments of the Chaney mummy series tended to rehash story elements from Universal's Boris Karloff classic, this is one of the more original plotlines. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Review
The most tightly wrapped of Universal's classic monsters dons the bandages once again in this fifth and final installment in the studio's Mummy series (not including Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy). Following closely on the heels of The Mummy's Ghost, which was also released in 1944, this film was a vast improvement featuring virtually nonstop action from start to finish with a minimum of padding to explain the previous pictures. This time, Kharis the mummy (Lon Chaney Jr.) is unearthed from a Louisana swamp -- along with his beloved Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine) -- and proceeds to go on his usual bloody rampage. Christine is excellent in the role and looks stunning for a 3,000-year-old woman who just crawled out of the sand. The same can't be said for Chaney's Kharis whose slow, limping stride is as nasty as his murderous disposition. In fact, of Chaney's three films as the creature, Curse marks his best and scariest performance particularly in the slam-bang finale. Technical achievements, including the sets and special effects, are very good and help to create a necessarily spooky atmosphere. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
The Mummy's Curse is the 1944 horror film follow-up to The Mummy's Ghost which was also released in 1944. This film marks Lon Chaney Jr.'s final appearance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The Universal Mummy series also boasts of a parallel-earth kind of timeline. The Mummy's Hand was made and set in 1940; The Mummy's Tomb takes place 30 years later; The Mummy's Ghost about five years after that, and The Mummy's Curse twenty-five years after "Ghost." That means if the timeline is taken seriously, this film is set around the year 2000.
Plot
This installment in the series takes place in LouisianaCajun country and concerns Princess Ananka, the ancient Egyptian princess for whom Kharis bore a forbidden love. Ananka had previously been reincarnated in The Mummy's Ghost only to die in the swamps. In this film, her body is dug up by land developers and she comes back to life. Kharis terrorizes the local country in his search for her. Interestingly enough, one of the principal leads, Dennis Moore, is not even listed in some of the movie posters for the film.
