Amina’s body houses the ghost of Kharis’ lost love Ananka, a centuries old Egyptian taboo that is reincarnated into 20th century middle-class America where modern society has devolved into misogynistic social mores. It’s interesting to note that Ancient Egypt considered men and women as equal under the law yet here 4,000 years later in Mapleton, Massachusetts circa 1944 our heroine Amina is treated as nothing more than a victim, her Rights diminished and domestic choices preordained. Director Reginald Le Borg toys with the tropes of the horror genre but more importantly calls attention directly to the misogyny and hypocrisy of 20th century American male in the process.
The plot is fairly silly and routine for a B movie: an
Egyptian High priest must call the mummy Kharis forth by burning nine tana
leaves on the full moon then reunite him with his lost love Ananka whose
mummified body is held in a museum in Mapleton. The twist comes when the physical
body of Ananka crumbles when touched by Kharis and it’s revealed that her
spirit must haunt some other fleshy abode nearby. Death and destruction ensue.
Amina is a college girl of Egyptian descent (though she has
no physical characteristics that would ever lead one to believe it!) who is
trying to finish her courses at the local college. She is dating the local hunk
with the good old American name on Tom Hervey. Tom treats his intelligent and
sometimes traumatized girlfriend (soon to be fiancé) as a child by diminishing
her needs by asserting his typical male bigotry. There is not a scintilla of
chemistry between the two of them and she looks more distrustful of him than
lovelorn. This may be the fault of the actors (Actress Ramsey Ames was a last minute
replacement) but it fits the theme of the film very well. If you break down our
heroine’s name Amina to its enunciated parts, a Mina is an ancient unit of
weight and value equal to 1/60th of a Talent. So our protagonist is only 1/60th
of a person…and she’s treated as such by the men in the story. Her fears and
desires aren’t realistically considered by Tom and she’s often chided for being
silly and superstitious.
As the story progresses and the mummy wreaks havoc upon
small town USA, the townsfolk set up night watches and patrol the streets at
all hours. But it begs the question: how far can a slow walking, limping
foot-dragging mummy really go? But there are some nice flourishes. The local
sheriff actually recruits the help of a college professor and they attempt to
lure the mummy by secretly burning tana leaves (like the priest and another
victim earlier). The posse digs a pit and camouflages it in an attempt to trap
the mummy since it has superhuman strength. I suppose no one thought to just
trip the creature and chop a leg off! But a rather good plan all things
considered. Another scene has the museum’s night watchman listening to a murder
program on the radio (“Someone will die tonight!”) and reading a lurid
pulp. It’s a bit of self-referential trope
since we know the mummy is nearby and the guard is about to become one more
victim.
But it’s the finale that really propels this B movie to a
Grade A film! As Kharis kidnaps Amina whom he now realizes to be the
reincarnated Ananka, Director Le Borg cross cuts with the confused posse, the
forlorn lover Tom, the rascally dog Peanut who was given to her as protection,
and the limping Mummy with his armful of flesh stumbling towards his hideout.
It’s Peanut that is competent, the dog leading Tom to his mistress while all of
the men of the town practically run around in circles carrying, not pitchforks
and torches but lanterns and shotguns. Tom is decked by Kharis and tumbles
unconscious into the bushes while Kharis gets away. Amina is slowly
transforming into the spirit of Ananka: her hair which earlier had a
white-streak (ala bride of Frankenstein?) is now snow white. Then we get
close-ups of her hand growing veiny and decrepit as Kharis slowly approaches a
swamp. Tom even regains consciousness and during the chase trips in the mud thus
subverting the classic horror trope! The impotent men can do nothing to help
Tom or Amina as we get one final look at her visage, now aged and mummified
like Kharis, just before they are submerged in the brackish waters. The men pat
Tom on the back in despair and walk away from the swamp but it’s only Peanut
who sits faithfully by the water’s edge, waiting, watching, and hoping his
mistress will come back to the shore.
The men have failed. Kharis has taken back his property. Amina
is dead. The music swells and the End credits roll. This nihilistic ending must
have shocked audiences at the time and, I suppose, can still shock audiences
today.
Final Grade (A)
