The Mummy (1959)
This version of The Mummy is from Hammer Studios' trifecta of films (along with 1958's Horror of Dracula and 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein) re-introducing the classic Universal horror icons to a new generation. Unlike with Horror of Dracula, which was a very good film, yet not as good as the original (mostly due to Lugosi's portrayal of the Count), I enjoyed Hammer's version more than the original (the verdict is still out on the Frankenstein battle, since I have not seen Hammer's entry).
This version of the story (which has more in common with Universal's Mummy sequels The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb than with the plot of the original) finds the Mummy being summoned by a modern day Egyptian man to take vengeance on a bunch of British archeologists for disturbing the tomb of a princess. The Mummy was cursed with eternal living death as punishment for his love for the princess and he was entombed along with her. The Egyptian and the Mummy follow the archeologists back to England and start their murderous spree.
While the 1932 version had the great Boris Karloff as the title character, he really only appears as an actual mummy for a few minutes in the film (the rest of the time he tries to pass himself off as a normal person). In the 1959 version, an unrecognizable Christopher Lee is the Mummy throughout the whole film (other than a flashback to ancient Egyptian times to give his back story) and he is fantastic. The Mummy is very menacing and Lee portrays him in the relentless, shambling manner that was copied for every mummy in movies and TV for decades.
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
This film is the first of three sequels (although they were unrelated, story-wise) from Hammer Studios to their original Mummy film. The basic plot is pretty much identical identical to the first film - a tomb is disturbed by foreigners, and a mummy is summoned to pick of the tomb's violators one by one once they return to England. The sequel suffers from a vastly inferior Mummy, as this actor can't hold a candle to Lee's portrayal. However, while this is a lessor movie, if you enjoyed the first one, you'll probably enjoy this one.
(I also started watching the next film in the series, The Mummy's Shroud, the same night - as TCM was having a marathon, but the plot seemed to be the same once again, so, since it was late and I was Mummy-ed out, I turned it off and went to bed)
The Mephisto Waltz (1971)
The Mephisto Waltz is a classic 70s horror film that has been on my "need to see" list for a long time (considering how many movies I watch, that list never seems to get any smaller...).
In the film, Alan Alda is a music journalist who becomes friends with a world renowned piano player named Duncan Ely, and his daughter. His wife doesn't like all the attention they (especially the daughter) are lavishing on her husband, but she relents when she finds out Duncan is dying. After he passes on, Alda inherits a sum of money from Ely and undergoes a complete attitude transformation. This is because Ely and his daughter are Satanists, and they have switched Ely's soul into Alda's body at the moment of Ely's death.
Until this film, my exposure to Alan Alda was related to mostly comedy roles - M*A*S*H* (which I watched a lot in re-runs as a kid), which did allow him the occasional dramatic turn, and guest appearances in other comedies like 30 Rock. I wasn't sure how he would do in this type of movie. He really nailed it. His transformation from the laid-back journalist to the egotistical, sinister pianist is quite well done.
This is another very good version of the type of atmospheric movies that came out of the 60s and 70s. A lot of the action takes place at Duncan Ely's old mansion, which is creepy on its own, but is especially creepy during the New Year's Eve masquerade party (the scene where they put the human mask on the family dog is one of the most disturbing sights I have seen in a long while) and during the occult ritual. Also, the use of a fuzzy, fish eye view for dreams and visions adds a nice surreal quality to those scenes and makes you as disoriented as the character experiencing them in the film.
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