1940's "The Mummy's Hand" was not a sequel to Karloff's 1932 "The Mummy," but a reworking of certain elements, creating the enduring image of the murderous mummy stalking victims on a bad leg, and strangling them with its one good hand. By far superior to its three followups, we begin with the introduction of George Zucco's Prof. Andoheb, secret High Priest of Karnak, whose duty is to protect the resting place of the Princess Ananka by maintaining the existence of the 3000 year old mummy Kharis, through a serum brewed with a specific amount of now extinct tana leaves. There are two basic reasons why none of the sequels measured up, first that this title was set in Egypt, utilizing stock footage from the 1932 original (which only reappears in the last, "The Mummy's Curse"), and second that Tom Tyler's mummy is actually scary, his eyes and mouth effectively blacked out in chilling closeups (poor Lon Chaney always wore a mask). George Zucco enjoys his most indelible role, repeated briefly in the following two entries, and veteran Charles Trowbridge endures the series' best remembered murder, unable to escape the grasp of the death dealing monster. With all the mayhem, the upbeat spirit never flags, with Dick Foran and Wallace Ford repeating their roles in the direct sequel "The Mummy's Tomb," set 30 years later. Included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s, "The Mummy's Hand" made five appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- Feb 12 1966 (following 1955's "Bride of the Monster"), Mar 1 1975 (last of a rare triple bill, following 1966's "Cyborg 2087" and 1945's "Captain Mephisto and the Transformation Machine"), July 24 1976 (following 1969's "Daughter of the Mind"), July 29 1978 (following 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein"), and Jan 22 1983 (solo).
Review of The Mummy's Hand
