I had never seen the 1932 Boris Karloff version of The Mummy, but I was a fan of the Stephen Sommers remakes from a purely entertainment level and was shocked to see how much of the original film actually inspired the Sommers versions. While Sommers, of course, took the story and turned it into an action adventure, the motivation for the villain in the story remained intact. While this old school version isn't exactly a masterpiece of storytelling, it does have plenty to love and was certainly a leap in make-up effects as Karloff's appearance in any form is astounding considering the day and age in which this film was made, and this special edition pays tribute to it.

The Mummy has been digitally remastered and considering this is my first time seeing the film I would hate to guess at how bad it must have looked in the past because this one is still pretty rough around the edges. However, I look at that as part of the appeal. Sort of how some movies just are better with subtitles, a monster film classic gains respect from grainy footage in the very same way.

Considering horror fanatics and fans of classic monster movies are likely to snatch this up without recommendation from me I will try and aim my review at the folks that may be more familiar with the Stephen Sommers versions, just as I was. Actually, out of the big four - Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Mummy - The Wolf Man is the only other Universal monster classic I have seen (and that one I love). I know it is something of a crime to have not seen Karloff in Frankenstein and Lugosi as Dracula, but in many cases I am playing catch-up as I have become a fan of all kinds of film in the past four years, a major reason for my Cinematic Revival column. It is about making an effort to understand film by knowing where it all started, and while The Mummy wasn't the first to use make-up effects, you will watch this film and believe that effects artist Jack Pierce mastered it.

Aside from the feature itself, and a fantastically restrained performance by Karloff as the Egyptian mummy Im-Ho-Tep, the real gem with this film are the make-up effects used on Karloff. An entire feature, the only "new" one actually, is dedicated to Jack Pierce and his extraordinary work. First is the iconic image you see on the box art of Karloff wrapped in bandages, of which Im-Ho-Tep was entombed for over 3,700 years, and as authentic as it all looked, pointed out in the special features and on the two commentaries is the self-restraint director Karl Freund had in actually never showing much more of the Mummy in motion than his hand and the slow drag of his bandages. Granted the re-animation process was impressive in its subtlety, benefitting largely from the crack of the bandages and the puffs of dust as the Mummy's arms broke free, it leaves a lot to the viewer's imagination, something many horror films nowadays would benefit from trying.

The bandages are just a sidebar to the impressive aging effects plastered onto Karloff's face. The features on this 2-disc set talk about how painful it was to remove the endless amounts of make-up applied and how Karloff would not remove it until the day was definitely done. Painful or not, it looks damned realistic, so much that even in Karloff's extreme close-up shots you would be hard pressed to find a flaw.

However, effects don't always make a movie. As much fun as it was watching a classic for the first time and taking in the special features including a look back at Universal as its monster films helped build the studio, this film just didn't do much for me on an entertainment level. I can appreciate classic movies for how they transformed the medium and I would even bet I will return to this film on occasion, but I don't think passing fans will be all that interested, at least not to the point that I would recommend buying this one.

Karloff's performance is great, but the story is too limp to really ever gain much traction. I will admit that watching the 1999 and 2001 remakes of the same story did have an effect on my perception of this film as it wasn't as "original" to me as it would have been had I seen it before the new films, but I can't help that and I think many other first time viewers will have the same problem. As a piece of cinematic history this film is a must own, but unless that is something that interests you I would recommend a pass and a Netflix rental.