My guest-blog spot, I wish I’d written, will also move over there and will return soon with a new slot by Johnny Mains.

See you there!

Cav

I mean, there’s a shark / octopus hybrid for heaven’s sake.

It’s the clash of the Mummies – Karloff vs. Lee vs. Vosloo. Monochrome vs. technicolour vs. cgi. Who will survive the desert storm?

Let’s get ready to rumble!

Thank you for voting. Now please enjoy a picture of the lovely Zita Johann, the original Mummy squeeze. Hurrah!

Here’s the interview…

And an extra bit of fun as Nick tells me how he wooed a big hollywood name…

It’s a case of two shuffling steps forward, three shambling steps back. The Mummy’s Curse tries to break the Kharis formula. Instead of a high priest handover in Egypt we get a Cajun woman singing in a bar. It is 25 years since Kharis and his Anaka-possessed squeeze were lost beneath a swamp (making it somewhere around 1997 by now, even though the fashions are still stuck in the 40s. Time obviously moves slowly in Mapleton) and the government is draining the everglade to make room for a new development. They workman get more than they bargained for when Kharis is dug up and Anaka also rises from the dead. It’s amazing what a mud-pack will do for you. Last time we saw Anaka she had aged beyond all measure with a shock of white hair. Now, when she washes off the muck of the swamp she has a flawless complexion and glossy black hair. What a transformation.

Shame the same can’t be said for Kharis. Lon Chaney now has to wear an ill-fitting rubber mask and the limping monster has become so ineffectual that people don’t notice him when he’s standing less than half-a-metre away.

And the rest of the action is as stiff as the Mummy’s left leg. While a fresh take on the story is long-

overdue, the telling leaves much to be desired. While its not as unbearable as The Mummy’s Tomb, its easy to see why Kharis was finally laid to rest after this snooze-fest. Actually, that’s a lie. The final indignity lay in Abbot and Costello meets the Mummy, but that’s another story for another day.

Then again, maybe it was Khalis himself who decided to throw in the towel. Perhaps the ever-living mummy was fed up with his lords and masters continually establishing their shady and secret HQs at the top of a steep flight of stairs. Didn’t they realise he had a gammy leg? Where’s the National Monster Union when you need it

Next time on Mummy Monday: Abbot and Costello meet the Mummy

The February edition of Cineworld Unlimited Digital Magazine

For the last few months I’ve been looking after the Cineworld Unlimited Digital Magazine while editor Pat Reid has been away on sabbatical. The latest issue is out today and you have one last chance to laugh at me pretending to be a presenter on page three. Click on the link above to point and stare – and also hopefully enjoy the rest of the issue. Needless to say, I’m not quitting the day job just yet!

We’ve just started a new news section with the issue, which I’m hoping will grow over the months to come. This month includes an exclusive interview with Brighton Rock director, Rowan Joffee. I really hope I pronounced his name right! You’ll also find a short preview of Paul, the new film by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, in the issue. I’m due to be interviewing the duo on Tuesday. Looking forward to that.

The mock-up cover of Doctor Who Insider issue one

Doctor Who Insider is a new magazine written especially for the American market and published by Panini.

Edited by my friend John Ainsworth, it goes on sale on 7 April and the dummy first cover has just gone up at Kasterborous.

Now, if you’d excuse me I need to get back to writing some articles for a new magazine. Coincidence? You may well think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment…

Nameless! Fleshless! Deathless!

Now this is more like it. When Kharis lumbered back to the silver screen for the 1944 The Mummy’s Ghost, Director Reginald Le Borg brewed up some vital ingredients along with the Tana leaves. First was John Carradine the latest in the long line of ancient Egyptian priests. Hammy he may have been at times, but Carradine oozed sophistication and threat. Secondly, a Mummy movie was once again blessed with a plot. Carradine’s Yousef Bey is sent to the States to revive Kharis and recover Ananka body. Unlucky for the Egyptian, on finding the Princess’s sarcophocas, Yousef Bey discovers that Ananka’s spirit has done a bunk and settled into the body of strangely stilted librarian, Amina. Before too long, victims are piling up and Amina boyfriend, Tom, is desperate to get her out of town and down the ailse.

Little does he know that housing a cursed Egyptian soul is bad for the skin and as Amina’s mind becomes as muddy as the Nile itself, the troubled beauty begins to age.

OK, so not everything makes sense. Once again, the high-priest falls foul of a pretty face but this time we bear witness to a more vocal temptation as at the eleventh hour. It’s never explained who’s the owner of the disembodied voice that persuades Yousef Bey to disobey his orders and shack up with Ananka latest incarnation. Personally I like to think it’s Set causing trouble, but either way it spells curtains for our Fez-wearing villain.

Lon Chaney Jr. is given more to do than his previous effort and actually tries a bit of acting through all those bandages this time and Kharis, and the film as a whole, benefits from a welcome bleak ending.

I have to admit, I’m a little biased about this film: The Mummy’s Ghost was the first Universal Horror I ever saw as a kid and it hooked me ever since, but its still a DVD that I reach for when I’m looking for a slice of harmless Halloween hokum.

Oh, yes. One final thing – I notice that Anaka’s guardians have rebranded. They’re now called the Priests of Arkan. I hope they remembered to change the headed notepaper.

Next time on Mummy Monday: The Mummy’s Curse