The Mummy's Shroud (Blu-ray + DVD)

The Mummy's Shroud, a rather talky, but beautifully acted little feature was the last film Hammer made at Bray Studios.

It was based on an original story by Anthony Hinds and then director John Gilling and is generally thought of being his least successful film. That said, unoriginal though the story line is it was directed - on limited budget - with some visual flair and the result should please both horror fans and Hammer enthusiasts.

The acting is excellent, from the leads as well as: John Phillips; Elizabeth Sellers; Catherine Lacey; Michael Ripper and Roger Delgado.

The blu ray transfer is a triumph of spotless and crisp high definition transfer almost as good as The Devil Rides Out and Rasputin the Mad Monk. There are good levels of grain too so the filmic feel is not destroyed by DNR.

Extras include:
The Beat Goes On: The Making of The Mummy's Shroud (22:00)
.
Remembering David Buck (5:37)
This moving tribute to the talented actor and husband of
Madeline Smith, will be of great interest to genre fans.

Stills gallery (6:09)
An impressive selection of posters, ad art, colour lobby cards, etc etc
Plus an extensive selection of
Hammer trailers (14:46)

The Mummy's Shroud
A Hammer Film Production 1967
Seven Arts - Fox - Warner Pathe
StudioCanal Blu-Ray and DVD Double Play Cert: PG
BD: Region B 1080p AVC / PAL / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 / 90 minutes / English / LPCM Mono 2.0 Audio
DVD: Region 2 / 87 minutes / PAL / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 / English / Mono 2.0 Audio

Another brilliantly bonkers offering from the Hammer studios sees a group of intrepid/foolish archaeologists attempting to uncover the tomb of Pharaoh Kah-To-Bey - needless to say, when they do so the results are profoundly cataclysmic for all involved. Arguably the best thing about this film though is Roger Delgado's fanatical Egyptian Hasmid; he makes it his mission to resurrect Prem, the mummified chief servant to the king, and directs the ghoulish giant to slay all those involved in uncovering the tomb. Kudos also go to Michael Ripper as grovelling secretary Longbarrow, and Hammer stalwart John Philips as out-for-himself patriarch Stanley Preston, while the remainder of the cast are basically Mummy-fodder.
Garish technicolour, wooden acting from minor members of the cast, and a script that makes little sense, all add to the awfulness, making it perfect Hammer and a great way to spend a couple of hours on a dark winter's night.

Here we have a creepy double dose of walking dead movies that were made in the 1960s by Hammer Studios. Here's the lowdown on each film:

THE MUMMY'S SHROUD (1966)
Directed by John Gilling
Starring John Phillips, André Morell, David Buck, Elizabeth Sellars, Michael Ripper, Tim Barrett, Richard Warner, Maggie Kimberley, Catherine Lacey, Roger Delgado, Eddie Powell, Dickie Owen, Bruno Barnabe, Toni Gilpin, Toolsie Persaud, Andreas Maladrinos

In Egypt in 1920 a group of British archaeologists discovers the tomb of a Pharoah called Ka-to-Bey. Ignoring all the usual warnings, the archaeologists excavate the tomb and eventually put the artefacts on display, including a mummy and its shroud that bears an ancient coded inscription.

It turns out that if the inscription is decyphered it has the power to bring the mummy back to life and, this being a Hammer Horror movie, that's exactly what happens. The grumpy old mummy then goes on a murder spree and starts killing people associated with the expedition.

This is probably the least well-known of all of Hammer's mummy movies (they made four in total) and it holds some significance in the history of Hammer as it was their last film to be produced at Bray Studios in Berkshire. This film is competently directed by John Gilling and features a fine cast of well-known character actors including Hammer-regulars André Morell and Michael Ripper. The cast also features Maggie Kimberley, who was also in Michael Reeves' "Witchfinder General", and Roger Delgado, who was best-known for playing The Master in "Doctor Who" in the early 1970s. The mummy was played by Hammer stuntman Eddie Powell, who doubled for Christopher Lee in many films. It is a common notion that the film was narrated by Peter Cushing but I am not sure that this is actually the case. It does not sound like Peter Cushing to me and when I tried to check this on The Internet Movie Database it said that this information was unconfirmed.

PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966)
Directed by John Gilling
Starring André Morell, John Carson, Diane Clare, Jacqueline Pearce, Michael Ripper, Marcus Hammond, Alex Davion, Dennis Chinnery, Louis Mahoney, Roy Royston, Ben Aris

Strange things are happening down in Cornwall. Someone with a knowledge of voodoo is bringing the dead back to life. Can Doctor Peter Tompson and his mentor, Sir James Forbes, find out who is doing this and, more importantly, why they are doing this and put a stop to all this hocus-pocus?

Like "The Mummy's Shroud", "Plague Of The Zombies" was directed by John Gilling and this film is one of two films that became known as Hammer's "Cornish Classics" - the other one being "The Reptile". There is a really spooky atmosphere that pervades throughout this movie and this is most evident in the famous dream sequence set in a cemetery where the dead start to rise up from their graves. Once again, there is a good cast, including John Carson as Squire Hamilton and Jacqueline Pearce (who also appeared in "The Reptile" and went on to play one of the baddies in the sci-fi series "Blake's 7").

Both of the above movies are rich in style and atmosphere and make interesting viewing for anyone who is a fan of 1960s British horror films.