Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

MartinHafer I have so far only seen a couple of the making of featurettes that were made for inclusion in the Universal Classic Monster Collection and the Monster Legacy Collection and the first, about the film "Dracula" was perfection in every way. In contrast, while this featurette on "The Mummy" is enjoyable, it's also a bit lame due to the host as well as some lame jokes he tries (in vain) to make which make the film seem a bit lame at times. Fortunately, there is enough behind the scenes info about the film that it IS worth seeing...particularly if you adore the classic Universal monsters. In addition to Belmer (who was a disappointment), special effects master Rick Baker and several others appear in the documentary to explain the story of this 1932 classic.

utgard14 Interesting and highly informative documentary short about the making of the classic Universal horror film, The Mummy. This, and other excellent shorts like it, were featured on the original DVD releases of the Universal horror classics. I believe they have been included on subsequent re-releases as well. It goes into great detail about the history of the film's production from its original starting point as a story about Cagliostro through the behind-the-scenes of filming. It focuses a little more on actress Zita Johann than it does on Boris Karloff and practically nothing about the other actors, such as Edward Van Sloan and David Manners. But they had a short runtime to deal with and this is Johann's only Universal horror film so I will cut them slack on that. The other complaint I have is one that I see many others seem to have -- they don't spend much time on the later mummy films. They don't cover them until the last few minutes when narrator Rudy Behlmer quickly runs through them. Perhaps if they had added ten or fifteen minutes to the runtime they would have had a more in-depth film about the entire Mummy series, not just the first film. But anyway, as a documentary about the first film it's excellent and I'm sure Universal horror fans will eat it up. I've watched these DVD docs many times over the years. I'm a big fan of the Universal monsters so I never get tired of watching stuff like this.

Michael_Elliott Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed (1999) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Nice documentary that was originally released on Universal's DVD of THE MUMMY (1932). The documentary takes various historians and discusses the troubled making of the 1932 film that featured Boris Karloff in his first monster role after becoming a star in FRANKENSTEIN. The documentary covers the painful make-up, the leading ladies hatred for the director and we then get to hear about the sequels that would follow in the 1940s. Historian Rudy Behlmer hosts this documentary and fans of the film are certainly going to eat this up since we get the perfect mixture of clips as well as some great interviews. We get to hear from Sara Karloff who shares her thoughts on the film as well as her memories of what her father told her about it. Rick Baker has some nice comments on the make up in the film and we have others like David Del Valle adding some nice touches. Some could argue that the sequels deserved their own documentary but I think they're given some nice attention here, although I'll admit that I'd like to have heard some of the experts opinions on Chaney, Jr. in the role.

bensonmum2 Universal gave the classic horror fan a real treat with their series of short documentaries. While I don't necessarily thing that Mummy Dearest is the best of the bunch, it's informative and entertaining. My only complaint is that not enough time was spent on the sequels to The Mummy. I would have loved to see more on these lesser known films.Through interviews with films experts and surviving relatives, Mummy Dearest presents some fascinating insights into the making of The Mummy. One of my favorites was the story of the feud between star Zita Johann and director Karl Freund. Good stuff. Another highlight is the interview segments with special effects wizard Rick Baker. His insights into what Karloff went through to be made-up as the mummy are very interesting.Mummy Dearest, and the other documentaries in the series, are some of the best DVD extras I've seen. Good work Universal!