The Mummy: Complete Universal Monsters Movies
The success of Dracula and Frankenstein inspired Universal to dig up another monster icon.
See below for a complete list of mummy movies from Universal Studios and Hammer Studios.
Following the box office successes of Dracula and Frankenstein, Universal commissioned a new monster movie inspired by the media sensation caused by the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and the “Curse of the Pharaohs.”
Since, unlike with Dracula and Frankenstein, there was no literary source material, there were a number of iterations before they got there. The end result was the original 1932 film The Mummy, directed by Karl Freund. The screenplay by John L. Balderston was from a story by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer.
The film is about an ancient Egyptian mummy discovered by a team of archeologists and brought back to life through a magic scroll. Now alive in modern day, the mummy searches for his lost love, whom he believes has been reincarnated into a modern woman.
The film led to a series of sequels, although the continuity that threaded them together was so loose that they never again referenced the mummy from the original film.
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Complete List of Mummy movies from Universal and Hammer
The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron
The Mummy's Hand (1940) with Tom Tyler, Dick Foran, Wallace Ford, Cecil Kellaway, Peggy Moran
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) with Lon Chaney, Jr.
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) with Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Ramsay Ames, George Zucco
The Mummy's Curse (1944) with Lon Chaney, Jr., Virginia Christine
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) with Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, Marie Windsor
The Mummy (1959) with Christopher Lee, Yvonne Furneaux
The Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb (1964) with Terence Morgan, Ronald Howard, Fred Clark, Jeanne Roland
The Mummy’s Shroud (1967) with André Morell, John Phillips, David Buck, Elizabeth Sellars
Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb (1971) with Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, James Villiers, Rosalie Crutchley
The Mummy (1999) with Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Oded Fehr
The Mummy Returns (2001)
The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) with Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, and Brendan Fraser
The Mummy (2017) with Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis
The classic Universal Monsters film series has continued to resonate with classic horror movie fans for nearly a hundred years. Anchored by some of the most iconic movie monsters, the Universal Monsters stable includes the Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon.
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The Road to The Mummy
Mummification—a methods of embalming— was practiced by the ancient Egyptians throughout much of their early history. Starting around 2600 B.C., during the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, the practice continued for more than 2,000 years. So successful were they that today we can view the mummified body of an Egyptian and have a good idea of what he or she looked like in life, 3000 years ago.
The success in 1931 of both movies Dracula and Frankenstein inspired Universal to dig up another monster icon. Although there was no specific literary source his time, they drew from the media sensation caused a few years earlier with the discovery of King Tuts tomb. More specifically, the public’s fascination with the alleged “curse of King a Tut,” that whoever disturbed the tomb was cursed to die.
Beginning life as “Cagliostro,” a story of pseudo-scientific Egyptian alchemy, the story eventually became The Mummy, with a screenplay by John L. Balderston, from a story by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer. Directed by Karl Freund, the 1932 Universal Studios film starred Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, and Arthur Byron.
In the film, an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep is discovered by archaeologists and accidentally revived through a magic scroll. Taking the identity of a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bay, Imhotep searches for his lost love, whom he believes has been reincarnated into a modern girl.
The Mummy Sequels
Oddly, when Universal decided to follow up The Mummy, they created a series of films around a different mummy altogether. Lon Chaney Jr. appeared as Kharis the Mummy in three follow-ups to the original film.
Hammer Film’s Mummy Series
In the late 1950s, British Hammer Film Productions licensed the Universal Monsters for their own series of reboots where they reimagined the classic icons for a new generation.
The Mummy 1999-2000s Remake Series
In 1999, director Stephen Sommers reimagined the Mummy franchise as a period action-adventure comedy that models its hero after Indiana Jones.
The Dark Universe Reboot
In 2019, Universal rebooted The Mummy yet again, this time with an eye toward creating the interconnected Dark Universe franchise. This did not go well.
Further reading online
Monster Mash: 13 Movies Where Frankenstein Meets Dracula Meets The Wolf Man
Celebrating the Universal Monsters with the love song “Children of the Night”
Complete Ramses the Damned Mummy Series by Anne Rice and Christopher Rice
The Mummy: 13 TV versions from Buffy, Doctor Who, Jonny Quest, and more
Mummy Fiction Books by Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, R.L. Stine, more
Abbott and Costello vs. 12 Monsters—including the Mummy, Dracula, and Creature From the Black Lagoon
13 Essential Mummy Movies | Den of Geek
‘The Mummy’ Pitch Meeting: “Why did Princess Ahmanet need help from the god of death?”
5 Best Movie Mummies (& 5 Worst) | ScreenRant
‘Bride Of Frankenstein’ Should Be Next Universal Monsters Reboot
33+ Best Mummy Movies of All Time – Creepy Catalog
'The Mummy' Is the Only Perfect Movie (Thrillist)
Mummy Franchise Box Office History - The Numbers
