In 1957, the world became intrigued by the supposed "Pharaoh's Curse" after a series of mysterious events and deaths occurred in relation to the opening of King Tutankhamun's tomb. The tomb had been untouched for over 3,000 years before British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered it in 1922. Legend had it that anyone who dared to disturb the resting place of the ancient pharaoh would be cursed with misfortune, illness, or even death. Despite these warnings, Carter and his team proceeded with the excavation, uncovering a treasure trove of artifacts and the mummy of the young king. However, in the years that followed, a number of strange incidents occurred, causing many to believe in the curse. The first major event was the untimely death of Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition.

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Archaeologists in Egypt find one of their crew has been turned into a blood sucking mummy after they have unleashed a three thousand year curse by entering a Pharaoh's tomb.

The only person I know from this film is Les Baxter, who conducted the score. Not sure if that means anything. maybe these people were better known in the 1950s, or maybe they are all amateurs. I suppose I could check.

I expected, based on the plot, for this to be a ripoff of "The Mummy". Not so. While it does have a mummy's tomb, that is just about the only connection. Hammer films featuring mummies are more like "The Mummy" than this film is. (And, I should point out, this film is shot very crisp and acted fairly well. that it gets low ratings and is largely unknown seems unfortunate.)

I watched this movie often when I was a lad and "Chiller Theatre" ran it on Saturday nights. Even then I sensed there was something different about it, the mummy looked like he was walking around in his pyjamas! Oh I had already seen THE MUMMY (1932) and THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940) and those other mummy movies done by Universal in the 30's and 40's but this film was lots different from them! This was no bandage wrapped monster; to my young eyes the mummy looked like a very old man wandering around an underground tomb. I could not figure out why everyone else in the movie was afraid of him; of course there was that scene where someone tried to grab the mummy and only succeeded in pulling his arm off!

This is not an easy movie to find these days but I did manage to locate it on late night TV once. Knowing it might be my only chance for a long time I videotaped it. After watching it carefully I learned all the nuances that had escaped me back when I was 7. The mummy of the Pharaoh does not come to life, its spirit takes over the body of a young Egyptian man (Alvaro Guillot) and uses him to get revenge on those who have desecrated the tomb. An original idea, I must say. The downside of this is the young man begins to age at an accelerated pace until he looks no better than the mummy itself. His method of execution was different too. Instead of strangling his victims leaving a telltale mark of mold on their necks he bites their throats (admittedly a difficult thing to do when his teeth get more and more rotten by the minute!) and drains their blood.

Let's not forget the mysterious woman (Ziva Rodann, using the name Ziva Shapir in this movie) who appears out of nowhere and joins the expedition. She treks through the scorching desert and never takes a drink of water or gets tired. She also seems to know what is going to happen before it happens. Is she the cat goddess Bast in human form? Perhaps!

The moral of this story, if scary movies are meant to have morals, is Stay Out of Egyptian Tombs. They don't want to be disturbed and you probably have better things to do anyway.

Director Lee "Roll 'Em" Sholem also directed movies like TOBOR THE GREAT and SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN. He knew how to get a movie done on time and under budget and still make it look good.

First up, the only reason I am writing this review is I fear the low rating the movie has will drive some viewers away. A 4.2 rating implies junk and that is not the case at all.

The opening sequence showing the civil unrest in Egypt is well done and gives a nice back drop to the ensuing story. I won't repeat the synopsis which many have covered, except to say it is a little different, which is welcomed. The leads, particularly Mark Dana were quite good and earnest in their performances. The film manages to build suspense nicely and the short run time is probably a help.

The negatives are it doesn't have the glitz of a Hammer flick and there is zero gore that modern horror fans require. Also the Mummy is not in the film at all during the first half of the picture. This is no masterpiece by any means, but it is a well made low budget monster movie from the 1950's. If you love old B movies from the 1950's then this is a nice way to spend 75 minutes.

British soldier, Captain Storm (Mark Dana) is enlisted to escort the wife of an archaeologist through the desert. Along the way, Storm and his team encounter a beautiful, enigmatic woman named Simira (Ziva Rodann). Soon thereafter, odd occurrences begin. Is Simira somehow responsible?

Upon their arrival at the dig site / tomb, the real, supernatural shenanigans unfold. But first, a soap opera-like love triangle made up of Storm, the archaeologist, and his neglected wife ensues. In between spats, a mummy causes trouble.

PHARAOH'S CURSE is a fairly entertaining entry in the mummy movie sub-genre. The novel idea of including soul transference and a vampiric mummy works quite well.

Actually, Simira is the most interesting aspect of the film, with her cryptic words and far-off looks, she pretty well steals the show.

Pharaoh's Curse is one of my all time favorite "BAD" movies. I had a big crush on Ziva Rodann, billed here as Ziva Shapir, and to have Diane Brewster in the cast as well was double fun. Mark Dana was a busy TV leading man in the 1950's but his career ran out of gas by the mid 60's. He tries to effect a British accent for his role but fails badly. George N Neise had a four decade career as a character actor in films and television.He's a bit overblown here as the films obsessed archaeologist.Ben Wright's voice was as familiar the his face. He worked for Disney in 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, and the Little Mermaid. Director Lee "Role Em" Sholem was a favorite of "B" movie and television producers all over Hollywood because his reputation for staying on schedule and within budget and being able to do the most with the least. He delivers a creepy and entertaining fright film here. Make up men Gordon Bau and Ted Cooley created a very realistic and frightening mummy based on Nick Volpe's concept.

The mummy is a little different from most of the other movie mummy's in that it is really one of the expedition members whose body has been possessed by the mummy's vengeful spirit. It is also a bit of a vampire too, in that it needs fresh blood to keep on going. After several mules and a few expedition members meet their end it finally dawns on the group what is going on. Although they still can't seem to determine what to do about it.

Pharaoh' Curse was made to be a low budget Saturday Matinée shocker for junior high aged kids. That and a film for the drive-in movie crowd. It holds own with most any of the black and white horror films that were being released at the time. It's not Boris Karloff but it's a fun little film that is worth a watch.

I saw this film when I was just a little kid. I saw it close to the time that I saw "Curse of the Demon," and thoughout my life I always wondered if these two films were real films or some kind of nightmare I remembered that I just thought were movies. I found "Curse of The Demon" a few years ago for sale, and I was able to record "Curse of the Pharaoh" about a year ago when it was shown uncut and without commercial breaks on the Tele.

Now, as a grownup, I have a little of a hard time finding just what scared me so awfully much in "Curse of the Pharaoh." I guess I was very young at the time. However, I still rate the film as better than most others rate it and have watched it about four times since I recorded it. That compares with many of the new films on DVD that I have watched on once after purchasing them. Perhaps it is just that I remember it as such a good film from when I was little, but I still enjoy it today. Many of the early "classic" horror films are not as scary as it is, and they certainly move even slower. I feel that the audience for a good mummy film was not there when it was released back in the late 50's.

In closing, I can truthfully say that I enjoy an average horror film much more than an average film of any other genre. I can spend a whole evening watching horror and mystery movies. How weird?

I was at first afraid to endure a Columbia pictures film produced by the infamous Sam Katzman with whom such a plot would have been a total disaster, a unintentionally fun junk, for which Sam Katzman had the secret. But no, thanks God, it was from Bel Air productions, so the result is OK for me. Not as good as Karl Freund's THE MUMMY, the genuine material, nor any Terence Fisher's film for Hammer Films either, but quite acceptable from a non ambitious director as was Lee Sholem. Good atmosphere and also plot that holds you - without grabbing though - till the end. This movie deserves not to be despised. Watch it.

For some reason, this film wasn't on DVD until this year, but it was shown a LOT on late night television back in the day. I saw it as a little kid and thought it was frightening and effective back then. Of course I am older now, but some of the veneer of seeing it back then still holds up.

The mummy is dressed a little odd (no bandages), but his face is certainly hideous enough, and there is a reason for his strange garb which is unveiled later on. A fair number of people get killed, and we see the mummy quite a bit, really.

Some people complain we don't see it for the first half of the film, which I guess is true, but on the other hand, the film is only 66 minutes long for Pete's sake. We don't see the monster in the first half hour of many movies, and this is no exception.

If the movie dragged on for 90-120 minutes, it would be a disaster, but for only 66 minutes, it holds up. I pine for the days when a film-maker felt free to make a shorter subject, particularly when the topic doesn't hold up for a longer time. I wish the makers of Pearl Harbor had had the guts to cut THEIR movie back.

Well above average mummy movie; perhaps second only to THE MUMMY with Boris Karloff, PHARAOH'S CURSE doesn't drag (. ). The performances all around are solid, the story's good and the pacing excellent. Even the mummy itself is unique (with the notable exception of LA MOMIA AZTECA, this is the ONLY deviation from the Original Look that I know of); the makeup is simple but effective- and the arm that snaps off is even creepier (especially when it's being whittled down to the bone). The lovely Egyptian woman wandering the desert was a nice touch: it lent an almost fairytale feel to the proceedings. PHARAOH'S CURSE is yet another of those Oldies But Goodies that deserves some Love.

Pharaoh's Curse (1957)

Disappointing horror film about a group of American scientist who find the tomb of Pharaoh. Of course, there are warnings not to open it but they do and this causes one member of their party to age rapidly into a mummy like creature. The film runs just 66-minutes but it feels like much longer. The mummy creature doesn't show up until after the forty-minute mark and none of the human characters are too interesting. The best scene in the movie is where the mummy gets his arm ripped off. The make up of the creature is also quite nice but I'm not sure those two things are worthy enough for you to search this film out.

Infamously shot in six days, mostly in Death Valley, the Bel Air Production PHARAOH'S CURSE stars their next years' HOT CARS villain Mark Dana.

Here in the square-jawed lead, awkwardly juggling a British and American accent while subtly romancing the token greedy adventurer's wife, Diane Brewster, during the initial twenty-minute trek through the desert where gorgeous Israeli bombshell Ziva Rodann appears with the usual "turn back or die" warning.

But none heed her call, as the journey winds up at a pharaoh's tomb, which is actually a pretty neat-looking set full of secret doors and shadowy corridors, but the body count deaths from a cursed local, morphed into an ancient unbandaged mummy, sucking the blood of horses and humans, trudges along as clumsily as the monster. A shame since the rudimentary aura is spooky enough, making this CURSE a let-down of ungodly proportions. but the ladies are great to look at. It's a b-movie after all.

Logically, you'd think that a horror movie would have lots of tension and excitement. Well, think of "Pharaoh's Curse" as a film that defies logic! It's excruciatingly dull from start to finish and I can't see any reason to recommend it. It's not even fun like a bad movie--it's just dreadfully uninteresting.

The film begins at a British outpost in Egypt. An officer is ordered to track down an unauthorized archaeological expedition and force them to return to Cairo. On the way, this tiny group of British soldiers meets up with a loopy Egyptian lady who promises bad things will occur if they don't stop the expedition. and soon. Unfortunately, they arrive too late. The archaeologists not only discovered the Pharaoh's tomb but they've opened it and unleashed bad stuff. Specifically, a member of the group is turned into a dessicated mummy-like guy who kills and apparently cannot be killed.

All this sounds pretty exciting. but it isn't. Nothing happens until very late in the film and as a result, I was half asleep when the action (such as it is) began. It also didn't help that the acting and script were also poor. Not terrible. just nothing to make it of any interest to anyone but someone trying to get rid of their insomnia! Dull, dull, dull in every way. And the ending. very, very unsatisfying.

By the way, I liked watching the guy sucking out the scorpion venom from its victim. What a dodo and about as effective as pouring sauerkraut on her head to treat the wound!

1956's "Pharaoh's Curse" at first looks to be a simple 50s update of The Mummy, and certainly better than its current DVD cofeature "Curse of the Faceless Man." The screenwriter was Richard Landau, responsible for quite a few genre titles: "Lost Continent," "Stolen Face," "Spaceways," "The Glass Tomb," "The Quatermass Xperiment," "Voodoo Island," and "Frankenstein-1970." The production team of Aubrey Schenck and Howard W. Koch were also responsible for "The Black Sleep," "Voodoo Island," "Frankenstein-1970," and "X-15," but were more prolific at Westerns, action and crime dramas. At the helm was director Lee 'Roll 'Em' Sholem, no stylist but an efficient craftsman whose only other genre credits included "Tarzan's Magic Fountain," "Tarzan and the Slave Girl," "Superman and the Mole Men," "Jungle Man-Eaters," "Cannibal Attack," "Doomsday Machine" and "Tobor the Great." Set in 1902 Egypt, a party of four march into the desert to find the expedition of noted archaeologist Robert Quentin (George N. Neise), who hope to uncover the tomb of Pharaoh Ra-Antef without government authority. The opening reels are a tough slog, watching this quartet lose a horse, food, and water before the film shifts focus to Quentin's forbidden discovery, which naturally bears a curse declaring that the spirit of the Pharaoh's high priest will take the form of another to ingest human blood. Native guide Numar (Alvaro Guillot) becomes the victim of possession, aging rapidly in a matter of hours before stalking anyone stupid enough to venture alone inside the tomb (the best moment has his arm pulled off by the hero, as the ghoul's entire body is disintegrating into dust). It's not executed particularly well (only two blood drained murders), but the performers acquit themselves nicely (excusing the multiple accents) and the idea of merging the Mummy with the vampire legend would recur exactly ten years later in "Beast of Morocco." Another interesting touch is making the archaeologist an unsympathetic glory hound, hardly batting an eye when his wife announces the end of their marriage. Theatrically double billed by United Artists with Karloff's "Voodoo Island," the poster's ballyhoo gives away the entire mystery: "a blood-lusting mummy that kills for a cat-goddess!" The one actor with previous experience on Egyptian findings was Kurt Katch, who was a casualty of both "The Mummy's Curse" and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" (he meets a similar fate here). Terence De Marney was feted to work opposite both Bela Lugosi (1935's "Phantom Ship") and Boris Karloff (1965's "Die, Monster, Die!"), before playing a denizen of darkness himself in the aforementioned "Beast of Morocco," a better take on the subject if still a slow moving affair (interestingly, the British thespian would find himself a staple of TV Westerns).

The Pharaoh's Curse is a basic mummy movie. A British captain in Cairo during an uprising is sent to shut down an archaeological dig before the local natives discover it and become even angrier than they already are. The captain,played by Mark Dana,is ordered to escort the wife of the expedition leader to camp to help persuade her husband to shut down the dig.On the way they encounter Simira,a local woman whose brother is part of the expedition.Mysterious occurrences begin and people start to die once the mummy's sarcophagus is opened. I wouldn't plan my day around watching this movie but it's okay for a rainy afternoon.

Well safe in the knowledge that this production got no nearer Egypt than California's Death Valley, we set off in search of a tomb. Remarkably, after what seems to be very little effort they discover Ramotep's last resting place and a-plundering they go. Thing is, though, the tomb starts to fight back - and when one of their number starts doing more desiccating than desecrating, a curse would appear to be on them. To be fair, the curse was probably already on the whole thing from the storyboard to the clapperboard. The cast are pretty C-list, led by Mark Dana's wooden-as-a-sarcophagus "Capt. Storm"; featuring Ziva Rodann doing her best Joan Collins impersonation as the sultry "Samira" as well as a few others going through the motions as Lee Sholem offers us nothing at all new with this rather dry and unremarkable mummy story. It's only an hour, and it isn't terrible - but that's not really any reason to watch it.

Egypt, 1902: Faced with violent uprisings, British rulers send Captain Storm (Mark Dana) to put a stop to an archaeological dig that could further anger the dissidents. Storm leads a small group, including Sylvia (Diane Brewster), wife of explorer Robert Quentin (George N. Neise), to the Valley of the Kings, but they arrive moments too late: Quentin and his team have already unleashed the spirit of an Egyptian high priest, who possesses the body of a young man, turning him into a crumbling monster who sucks the blood from his victims.

Despite taking a slightly different approach to the whole Egyptian curse schtick, Pharaoh's Curse is still essentially a mummy movie, the slow, shuffling, desiccated killer only a threat if you're unable to outrun it. Amazingly, the victims in this film don't leg it on sight of the creature, but cower on the spot in fear, allowing it to drain them of bodily fluids (one particularly dumb victim even throws his blazing torch to the floor in fright, instead of using it as a weapon). It's all rather silly and not in the least bit frightening.

With a good half of the film devoted to the journey to the pharoah's tomb, during which the group encounter mysterious woman Simira (Ziva Rodann), plus some pointless emotional strife between Sylvia and Robert, this is a barely passable programme filler that has justifiably faded into obscurity.

An expedition led by hunky Captain Storm (Mark Dana) travels to the Valley of the Kings in Cairo to find out what happened to an earlier expedition. They meet beautiful mysterious Simira (Ziva Rodann) who joins them. They soon find themselves faced with a blood drinking mummy. and only Simira seems to know what's going on.

A real snoozer. I caught this on late night TV when I was about 10. It put me to sleep! Seeing it again all these years later I can see why. It's slow-moving, the mummy doesn't even show up until 40 minutes in (and this is only 66 minutes long!), the acting ranges from bad (Dana) to REAL bad (George N. Neise) and there's no violence or blood to be found. This movie concentrates more on second rate dramatics (involving a silly love triangle) than horror.

This rates three stars because it actually looks pretty good, everyone plays it straight, there's some good acting from Diane Brewster, it's short and the mummy attack scenes (all three of them) aren't bad. They're not scary just mildly creepy. Still, this movie is pretty bad. A sure fire cure for insomnia.

I always find it a bit tricky to really be critical of older films. There's so much in them that may have perfectly fit that era that just don't work now. I don't even mean social or political issues so much as things like writing, acting, cinematography and plotting.

In the case of the Pharaoh's Curse, I think it does some things really well, like jumping right to things rather than having to spend a lot of time on pointless talking. It's so campy and cheesy though that it's hard to take seriously.

With something like this, I'm going with my gut and when the credits rolled I wasn't upset for watching it but it wasn't exactly a great time either. It's more fascinating just because of its age than the film itself, I think but it's not a bad watch. This is really only a movie for people that enjoy old cinema and movie buffs. There's nothing really exceptional here to make it worth the average viewer's time.

Moderately enjoyable and fairly well made, this archaeological thriller fails to capture the true bite of its theme as it deals with a curse on those invading the land of the pharaohs and breaking into their resting places. The basic story involves the expedition to these ancient pyramids where an estranged married couple (Diane Brewster and George N. Neise) argue constantly, a mysterious princess (Ziva Rodann) declares that there is a curse on them for invading this sacred land, and leader Mark Dana tries to keep everything in order. Suddenly, there's the deadly presence of a blood-thirsty creature who makes the ancient Vlad in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" look healthy, and the attacks on various members of the crew. The curse also include scorpion bites, weird sounds coming from the pharaoh's tombs and suspicious activities by members of the journey. Made just as Hammer was about to do their remake of "The Mummy", this suffers in comparison, even weak by the standards of the Universal series of the 1940's and no threat to Karloff's 1932 classic. There are a few thrills and shocking moments, but it's a standard B programmer, probably made for drive-in audiences who were not so much into plot as into the occasional fright which does occur here and there. On the scale of frights, this gets a 6, but on the scale of originality and story, merely a 2.

Probably the most interesting thing about this film is that part of it was filmed at Death Valley. and the fact that the star Mark Dana doesn't even have a photo on imdb tips us off to the fact that this a a LOW budget horror, with a capital L. At the open, we learn that this takes place in 1902. It's a flashback to the story of raiding a tomb in Cairo, and strange things started happening when they set out to find the tomb. The story and the acting are all pretty hokey. As things start happening to members of the traveling party, they keep saying "Yeah, we should head back to a hospital.". but they never do. It's an acceptable kind of a non-ending, but it'll do. i guess. Directed by Lee Sholem, king of the cheap horror films.

Cody's Film, TV, and Video Game Blog

Let me tell you right now, if you're at all interested in seeing this movie, make sure that you don't put a "the" in front of the title; otherwise, you're likely only to get an episode of the 2000's version of The Twilight Zone. I ran into that both when I tried to find a source for this movie and some information on it. Like The Cry of the Werewolf, this is going to be a very short introduction, as I'd never heard of this movie before I just happened across it on YouTube when I was trying to find movies for Schlocktober. Looking at the video's thumbnail, which featured some old poster artwork, as well as the title, I was expecting another dime-a-dozen killer mummy movie like those that Universal produced in the 40's. However, what I got instead was a movie that, for the first act, comes off as a low budget desert adventure flick with some possible supernatural elements but doesn't start to become a horror film until about halfway in, and when it does, it deals with reincarnation, possession, and vampire-like blood draining, rather than a mummy going around, strangling people. Long story short, it's an average, 50's drive-in horror flick that, aside from some pretty cool makeup for the time and budget, has nothing that Earth-shattering about it. But, since it's only 65 minutes long, it's not much of a sacrifice of your time to sit through it.

It's 1902, and vicious riots are breaking out against the British rule there, including in Cairo, site of a British military outpost. After hearing graphic details of a horrific attack from his men, Colonel Cross has Captain Storm report to him in order to assign the task of rescuing an archeological expedition to the Valley of the Kings, which went out with approval from the Egyptian government. Besides having to take a longer but safer route to avoid any trouble, and being assigned only two men, Storm also learns he must escort Sylvia Quentin, the wife of the expedition's leader, to the site. Despite his misgivings, Storm sets out the next morning with Mrs. Quentin, as with Sergeants Gromley and Smolett. Following a long day of journeying through the blistering hot desert, the party stops to rest for the night, when they're visited by a strange woman who calls herself Simira. Refusing any food or water, despite having been traveling through the desert on foot, she tells them that she's searching for her brother, Numar, who has gone with the archeological expedition, adding that they must find them before it's too late. Storm allows her to join their party but insists they continue taking the longer, safer route. The next morning, they find that the mule that was carrying their food is gone, and during the ongoing trek through the desert, they realize that they're completely out of water. That night, after they make camp, Sylvia receives a deadly scorpion sting and the men find that both the first aid kit and Simira are missing. The next morning, Simira returns to the camp, telling Storm that she made her way to the pass leading to the Valley of Kings and that, if Sylvia is to survive, they must take the short way to the dig site. Storm has no choice but to agree. Meanwhile, at the tomb, the team, lead by Robert Quentin, breaks the seal on the sarcophagus there, revealing the mummy of a high priest inside, as well as unleashing a deadly curse that Simira was hoping to prevent but that now may spell doom for everyone involved, including the rescue party.

There were a number of directors during Hollywood's Golden Age who were known for being very fast and efficient in churning out product but none of them could ever match Lee Sholem, whose nickname was "Roll 'Em." Starting out as an editor in the 30's and making his directorial debut in 1949 with Tarzan's Magic Fountain, which he followed up with 1950's Tarzan and the Slave Girl, Sholem directed over 1300 films and television shows in a career that lasted into the early 70's and never once went over schedule. Pharaoh's Curse was the only film he directed with horror elements, with its adventure elements being what he specialized in, doing jungle adventure flicks like Jungle Man Eaters and Cannibal Attack (both of which starred Johnny Weissmuller), a science fiction film called Tobor the Great in 1954, and westerns like The Stand at Apache River and Sierra Stranger. Notably, he directed Superman and the Mole-Men, the film that introduced George Reeves as Superman, and also went on to direct some episodes of The Adventures of Superman television show. He really made a name for himself in television, directing episodes of Lawman, .Colt 45, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, Maverick, and Death Valley Days. His last films were 1967's Catalina Caper, a musical-comedy mystery, and The Doomsday Machine in 1972, after which he retired. Sholem died in 2000, at the age of 87.

Initially, Captain Storm (Mark Dana) looks like he's going to be the typical bland, square-jawed, he-man hero you often get in these types of movies but I find him to be a little more likable than some of his peers in the genre. For one, he's British, which helps give him an air of genuine charm, and while he's not thrilled at the idea of having to take a woman along on the journey to the Valley of Kings, at one point making a remark that alludes to Sylvia Quentin being unable to receive her usual pampering and that he can't treat her like the rest of the party because she's a woman, he grows fond of her very quickly. He's able to pick up that Sylvia isn't into the type of adventuring that her husband has often dragged her along on, despite what she says, and he also admits that there was a woman he once knew who was immune to his charms. More importantly, he proves to be a strong, dependable leader who cares about the people in his charge, cutting open Sylvia's scorpion sting and sucking the venom out when he has no other options and intent upon following the longer, safer route to the valley. But, when Simira, whom he's suspicious of from the start, finds that the shorter route is clear and says that Sylvia will die unless they get her to the site as quickly as possible, Storm relents and heads that way, although he tells Simira that she'll pay with her life if it turns out to be a trap. Once they arrive there right after the seal on the sarcophagus in the tomb is broken, and Sylvia is given medical treatment, Storm tells the archeologists that they're going to seal the tomb and head out the next morning, no questions asked. This puts him at odds at Sylvia's husband, Robert Quentin, who wants to stay and search for the tomb of King Rahateb, but Storm is adamant about it, especially when he sees the condition of Numar, who's aging rapidly. But, when Sergeant Gromley is killed, Storm decides that they now must stay and solve the mystery, likely by finding the king's tomb, as he must know why one of his men is dead. Ultimately, they do find the tomb and the answer to the mystery, which claims the life of Quentin and makes Storm decide that what happened must never be known by the outside world.

Although she's stung by a deadly scorpion and is scared into running up to the tomb at one point, Sylvia Quentin (Diane Brewster) is not your typical damsel-in-distress, nor does she become a blatant love interest for Captain Storm, save for subtle hints at a possible romance between them. Rather, she proves to be a woman who's tough enough to take care of herself, despite what the men she's traveling with might think, and is as perceptive about Storm as he is about her, able to sense that he did once meet a woman who was not taken by his charm. On the flip side, Storm is sure that she's not someone who enjoys traveling around the world with her husband in his expeditions and he turns out to be right. When they reach the team's camp, and after she's recovered from the scorpion sting, she has a talk with her husband and tells him that she didn't come all this way to join the expedition, as he thinks. Rather, she's come to tell him face-to-face that they're through, that she feels that he's tried to make her into an adventurer like him purely for himself, so he could tout her as something he created. Following this confrontation, Sylvia spends most of the film's latter half in her tent, as Storm asks her, coming out a couple of times to plead with the captain to get everyone out, only to be frustrated by his needing to know why one of his men died. But then, Simira enters her tent at one point and looks at her in a way that frightens her into running up to the tomb, where everyone else is looking for the king's crypt. Not too long afterward, her husband is killed when the ceiling of Rahateb's tomb collapses on him, much to Sylvia's devastation. After they bury their dead the next day, Sylvia admits that, if nothing else, she's glad that her husband taught her not to be afraid of anything, as he never was.

Robert Quentin (George N. Neise) may not be a complete bastard but he's not very likable, as he cares only about finding King Rahateb's tomb, no matter what the cost. When Captain Storm arrives with his wife and tells him that they're leaving as soon as Sylvia is well enough to travel, Quentin tries to get Sylvia, whom he thinks made the trip to join the expedition, to pretend to still be suffering from the scorpion sting so they can stick around long enough for him to find the tomb. However, he's blindsided when she says that she came to tell him personally that their marriage is over, saying that everything he's done, he did for her, and that she was nothing but a mousy librarian before he married her and took her all over the world. He also has suspicions that Storm may have influenced her decision. Quentin is so determined to find the king's tomb that, when he finds that the mummy of the high priest they found earlier is gone, he goes to the ailing Numar and threatens to beat him up if he doesn't say where it is. He's not even affected enough by Numar's hideous condition to give up the search, and he seems quite happy when the death of Sergeant Gromley compels Storm to stay and search for an answer. Eventually, Quentin figures that Andrews, the group's interpreter, who translated the writing on a stone tablet found near the high priest's sarcophagus, knows where the king's tomb is and pulls a gun on him to make him talk, saying that he won't face failure. He even beats on him to get him to tell him how to open the tomb, when the door opens by itself, revealing the deteriorated Numar. Quentin makes the mistake of following him into the tomb and is killed when a section of the ceiling caves in on him.

The two sergeants who accompany Storm and Sylvia, Gromley (Richard Peel) and Smolett (Terence De Marney), are meant to be the film's source of comic relief, with the two of them having a sort of Abbot and Costello rapport between them. When the group stops at an oasis early on in order to rest and fill up their water containers, Gromley complains about being forced to be there, while Smolett calls it a, "Clean, outdoor life," as he's happy to be away from his wife and mentions planning on joining the foreign legion when he gets the chance. Later that night, Gromley shows Smolett how to properly prepare an outdoor bed for Sylvia, mentioning, "I don't care how you fix your bed, but you're making this for a lady, not your wife." Once he gets it prepared, he has Smolett lay down to test it and when he does, he gets comfortable, saying, "You could dream beautiful dreams sleeping here, you could." But then, Smolett rises up and asks, "Now, why'd you have to go and mention my wife?" When Simira appears and joins them, the two sergeants, despite noting her beauty, don't seem so sure about her, with Smolett commenting, "If you ask me, that beautiful mirage is a walking nightmare." The next morning finds him apparently sleeping with his eyes open, even though he's supposed to be on guard, and when Gromley comes over to rouse him, he finds that Mabel, the mule who was carrying their food, is missing. Smolett is at a loss to explain what happened, telling Storm that he never closed his eyes all night, while Gromley is sure Simira is behind it, saying that Mabel isn't the type to wander off. The sergeants are also the ones who discover that the water is gone, the two of them arguing since Smolett insists he filled the container that morning while Gromley blames him. After Sylvia is stung by the scorpion and Storm must make a choice about whether or not to take the shorter route to get her to safety, Gromley says he still doesn't trust Simira and would rather take his chances following the map, while Smolett says he doesn't think Sylvia will make it if they take the long way. Once the they reach the expedition's camp, the sergeants' role in the story is greatly reduced, although Gromley gets a couple of chances to confront the possessed Numar, only to be killed by him and drained of his blood. Smolett stays with the group, continuing to aid them in their investigation into what's going on, and when they leave the valley after learning the truth, Smolett bids farewell to Gromley, who's been buried alongside Robert Quentin and Brecht.

From the moment she first appears in their camp, Simira (Ziva Rodann) is clearly not a normal woman. Speaking in a fairly monotone voice, she tells Storm that she's by herself but she's not lost. Despite having been wandering the desert for miles on foot, she refuses any food or water and says that she is looking for her brother, Numar, who is with the archeological expedition. She says that they must hurry and get there "before it's too late," but she refuses to elaborate on what she means, and asks them to follow her through the shorter, more dangerous path to the Valley of Kings. She sleeps in the crook of a nearby tree all night, and when they continue their journey across the desert, she keeps going on foot, managing to keep up with them. Storm tries to get her to ride one of the mules but she refuses, saying, "I do not tire, Captain. The desert is my strength. You had better keep the animals for yourselves." When their food, water, and medical kit all disappear when they need them, the group has their suspicions that Simira is behind it, especially when she's nowhere to be found when Sylvia is stung by the scorpion and the first aid kit vanishes at that very moment. Simira reappears the next morning, telling Storm that the shorter route to the pass leading to the valley is clear and that Sylvia will die unless they take it. That convinces Storm to do so, but when they reach the site just as Robert Quentin and the others break the seal on the high priest's sarcophagus, Simira appears to sense it. She grimaces, stroking the cat head medallion she wears around her neck, and tells Storm, "We are too late. There's no chance to help now. It is too late." From then on, Simira does nothing but stay in the camp, looking over Numar before he disappears into the tomb and doing nothing to help them, simply repeating that she tried to warn them of the danger and they wouldn't listen, much to Storm's frustration. She's unfazed by the sight of Numar's broken off, disintegrating arm, telling Storm, "Tried to warn, tried to help, you would not listen. Now, unless you leave us alone, it will be too late for all of you." Simira is last seen when she enters Sylvia's tent and looks at her in a way that sends her running up to the tomb to find the others. When she's gone, Simira tears off of her cat amulet and tosses it aside. After Robert Quentin is killed, Beauchamp, a member of the expedition, sees Simira's shadow gliding across a tomb wall but, when he investigates, he finds only her amulet next to an idol whose shadow Sylvia saw outside of her tent before Simira came in. When they discover what's become of Numar and who he really was, they deduce that Simira was actually the goddess Bastet in human form.

Few of the other members of the archeological expedition are particularly memorable. Andrews (Ben Wright) is the one who reads a warning on the sarcophagus containing the high priest's mummy and suggests that they shouldn't disturb it, only for Robert Quentin to completely ignore him and do it anyway. He and Brecht (Kurt Katch), another translator, spend most of the film trying to translate the inscription on a cartouche (stone tablet) found in the tomb and when they finally do, they find that it's a message from King Rahateb to his high priest to kill himself so his soul can look after the king's tomb and guard it from grave-robbers by possessing a living body. Andrews then tells them that he's noticed how the strange and tragic events that have been happening began the moment they disturbed the high priest's mummy. Not too long after this, while they're searching the catacombs, Brecht, who had no qualms about disturbing the sarcophagus, unlike Andrews, stumbles across the king's tomb, but is attacked by the possessed and decaying Numar. He manages to escape, with enormous claw marks along the side of his face, but dies right as the others find him. Later, Quentin, believing that Andrews knows where the king's tomb is, pulls a gun on him and makes him show him where the tomb is. Andrews doesn't deny that he knows where it is, telling Quentin that he told him to leave things alone and that he never could face failure. When they go to the tomb's door, Quentin beats on Andrews to make him tell him how to open it up, when Numar emerges from the door, leading Quentin to his death. Andrews then meets up with the others and tells them what happened, before collapsing from exhaustion.

There's little to be said about Dr. Farraday (Guy Prescott), the team's physician, as he has little to say about the strange things that start happening other than it's completely beyond him, as he deals with the rational and explainable. The most notable thing he does is cut open the mummy's wrappings with his scalpel, cauterize Sylvia's scorpion sting to ensure her survival, and treat Numar after he passes out in the tomb, only to be baffled when his body ages very rapidly during the night. Beauchamp (Robert Fortin), the chronicler of Quentin's exploits, however, is a fairly interesting character. A Frenchman who's often guzzling down alcohol, Beauchamp seems to have known Quentin for a long time, long enough to know that he won't back down from something he's determined to get. When Quentin asks everyone whether they think they should leave the mummy be, Beauchamp answers, "What does it matter what I think, Robert? You will do what you want anyway." Later, when he's drunkenly working in his tent, Beauchamp tells Quentin that his daily diary may end up being his memoirs one day. He also has a dismissive attitude about himself, as when Quentin tells him his brain is going to become a sponge if he keeps drinking, he says it will be no big loss. When strange things start happening that prompt the team to stay at the site, Beauchamp commends Quentin on his miraculous luck, as he now has extra time to search the tomb. But, as things grow more serious, Beauchamp's indifferent attitude begins to change, and when Quentin is killed, he laments, "It was never Robert's fate that he should meet a peaceful death. He bids "adieu" to Quentin and, after giving Sylvia his condolences, he lags behind in the tomb and sees Simira's shadow in the king's crypt. Going in there to investigate, he finds no sign of her, save her amulet, but his staying behind is what allows the others to find that Numar's corpse is now in place of the mummy in the sarcophagus, which he describes as a case of reincarnation. Before they depart the next day, Beauchamp buries the dead, telling Sylvia that, if nothing else, Quentin wasn't afraid. As they leave, he comments that he has an amazing story in his diary and sketches but destroys them, as he says Quentin was the only one who could have told the story and been believed.

Though he doesn't speak a single word, Numar (Alvaro Guillot) proves to be a major part of the story in that he goes from a quiet guide for the archeologists to the movie's antagonist. When Robert Quentin has the seal on the high priest's sarcophagus broken and the bandages on the mummy's face removed, Numar, who'd been standing stoically the whole time, suddenly drops his torch and, clutching at his throat, collapses to the ground. Later, Dr. Farraday tells Quentin that Numar is simply suffering from some slight traumatic shock and should be better by morning. But, when Quentin attempts to make him say where the now missing mummy disappeared to, Farraday shows him and Captain Storm that Numar's condition has deteriorated rapidly. He's aging very quicky: his skin has become dry, his pulse stops to nothing, there's now a scar along the left side of his face, his hair has gray streaks, and his teeth have become rotten. In the next scene, Numar makes his way up to the tomb, draining the blood from one of the party's mules, and proceeds to do the same to anybody who stumbles across the door leading to the king's tomb. When Quentin finally finds the tomb himself, Numar lures him in and he's promptly killed by a small cave-in. At the end of the movie, the mummy is once again in its sarcophagus, only this time, it has Numar's face. They then realize that Numar was the reincarnation of the high priest and that he traveled across the desert with them to ensure that they not disturb his king's tomb, fulfilling Rahateb's instructions to protect the tomb after death.

Pharaoh’s Curse (1957)

*. Pharaoh’s Curse is a B-picture that was shot in six days. A team of archaeologists dig up a tomb in Egypt, setting free an ancient evil. It’s a mummy movie where the mummy comes to life by possessing the body of one of the team’s native grunts and turning him into a blood-sucking creature that ages at an advanced rate. He looks like an old man wandering around, apparently lost, in his night clothes.
*. That’s it in a nutshell. There were, however, a couple of things I found interesting that might be worth teasing out.
*. In the first place, the love interest, Sylvia (Diane Brewster), is a married woman who has grown tired of her archaeologist husband and is more than ready to step into the strong arms of Captain Storm (the kind of military stud whose uniform stays clean and neatly pressed even after crossing Death Valley). I thought that rather progressive for 1957.
*. What struck me the most however was the resemblance to The Thing from Another World and Carpenter’s The Thing. I’ll admit it’s not a close resemblance, but still the group of (male) scientists digging up a monster that proceeds to possess and then kill them off one by one does register as echo. Or maybe it was just the image of the team standing around the empty sarcophagus like it’s the giant block of ice that’s brought back to the base camp. Was The Thing really a mummy movie then?
*. Bad enough that the doctor is given a name like Faraday, but he also has to deliver some truly groan-worthy lines. “As a doctor, as a man of science, my knowledge is limited to things physiological. I’m afraid superstition is out of my field.” “You can fight known things. But I don’t know how to fight the unknown.”
*. I’m not sure I ever understood the plot that well. Simira (Ziva Rodann) is a cat goddess in human form, so does that mean Numar was never her brother? Does her brother become the new guardian of the tomb? Does he die at the end or just go back to sleep?
*. Questions like this may not be fair given how slapdash and cheap a production it is. There have been movies that cost a lot more that made a even less sense. There also isn’t much of a climax, and what we do get comes with another seven minutes of film left to run (which is a lot given the conventions of the time and the fact that it’s only just over an hour long). Still, the story manages to get Sylvia’s husband out of the way so we can at least feel better about who she’s going home with.

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This entry was posted in 1950s on March 4, 2019 by Alex Good .

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The first major event was the untimely death of Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition. He died shortly after the tomb's opening, and it was rumored that his demise was a result of the curse. Other members of the team also experienced misfortune, illness, or personal tragedies, further fueling the belief in the curse.

News of the curse spread quickly, and it captured the imagination of the public. Speculation was rampant, with some attributing the supernatural events to the anger of ancient Egyptian gods, while others dismissed it as mere coincidence. The media also played a role in sensationalizing the curse, adding to the allure and intrigue surrounding the story. As time went on, the curse lost its grip on people's imaginations. Skeptics pointed out that many of the people involved in the excavation lived long and healthy lives, contradicting the supposed curse's power. Additionally, scientific explanations were put forth to explain the deaths and illnesses, suggesting that exposure to toxic substances in the tomb could have been the cause. Today, the Pharaoh's Curse of 1957 is largely regarded as a myth or a product of superstition. However, it remains a captivating part of history and a testament to the enduring fascination with ancient Egypt and its mysterious past..

Reviews for "The Dark Forces: Uncovering the Pharaoh's Curse of 1957"

1. John - 2/5 - Pharaoh's Curse 1957 was a disappointing film for me. The plot was weak and predictable, with no real surprises or twists. The acting was also subpar, with wooden performances that failed to engage me. Furthermore, the special effects looked dated and unconvincing. Overall, I found it hard to connect with the characters or become invested in the story. I would not recommend this film to others seeking an exciting and well-executed adventure movie.

2. Sarah - 1/5 - Pharaoh's Curse 1957 was a complete waste of time. The storyline was incredibly confusing and poorly developed, making it difficult to follow the events unfolding on the screen. The dialogue was laughable, filled with clichés and cringe-worthy lines. The performances were equally disappointing, lacking depth and failing to evoke any emotions. I regret watching this film and would strongly advise others to avoid it. There are far better choices within the adventure genre.

3. Michael - 2/5 - Pharaoh's Curse 1957 failed to capture my attention throughout its duration. The pacing was off, with a slow-moving plot that dragged on without any real purpose. The characters were underdeveloped, making it hard for me to form any emotional connection with them. Additionally, the action sequences lacked excitement and thrills, leaving me feeling bored and unimpressed. Overall, Pharaoh's Curse 1957 fell short of my expectations and left me wishing I had chosen a different film to watch.

4. Emily - 2.5/5 - Pharaoh's Curse 1957 had the potential for a thrilling adventure, but it fell short in execution. The film felt dated and lacked the energy and excitement I was hoping for. The performances were mediocre, with little chemistry between the actors. The special effects were also unimpressive, failing to create a sense of awe or wonder. While it had its moments, Pharaoh's Curse 1957 ultimately left me feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied. I would recommend exploring other films in the adventure genre instead.

Mysteries Unearthed: Investigating the Pharaoh's Curse of 1957