Pharaoh's Curse (1957)

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.

One thing you have to give this film is that its concept is different from the normal killer mummy flick that you might expect it to be. The idea of the soul of an ancient high priest inhabiting a living body and using it to kill anybody who trespasses into his king's tomb, draining their blood in order to do so, is kind of original, but there are a number of holes in it. At the end of the movie, they deduce that Numar was the high priest's reincarnation the whole time, and yet, when Andrews translates some writing on a stone tablet, he says that it reads, "And thy soul shall enter into the mortal body, and possess its spirit to do thy bidding." That makes it sound like the priest's spirit took control of Numar's body when they cut open his mummy's wrappings and, if you watch the look of terror and pain in Numar's face, it seems like that's what happened. It could have been that he was indeed the priest's reincarnation and that desecrating the mummy was what prompted the priest's soul to take full control of his body, but they imply that Numar joined their party in order to eventually carry out this attack while, again, he seemed shocked and frightened when he got possessed. They also explain the blood-drinking as a way for the high priest to maintain his strength but that doesn't stop Numar's body from aging very rapidly and becoming more and more decrepit as the movie goes on (without blood, the decaying process only accelerates). That doesn't seem like it would be very practical in killing intruders and it comes off more like Numar is lucky that his victims get scared and end up cornering themselves, allowing him to easily kill them (ironically, that's the very thing that often happened in the Universal Mummy movies of the 40's). And finally, there's the idea that Simira, who claims that Numar is her brother, is really the goddess Bastet in human form. Interesting idea, and it seems like she made her way to the tomb to try to stop them from disturbing the high priest, knowing what would happen, but when she fails to do so, she does nothing but sit around and give the others the same old warning that they must leave over and over again. If she's a goddess, can't she easily do something to stop this curse from being enacted? For that matter, couldn't she have just made herself appear right at the tomb, rather than wasting time walking through the desert? In fact, why was it necessary for her to take human form, anyway? There's a moment where Storm and Quentin find some cat-like tracks in the tomb where the high priest's mummy was kept, suggesting that she can become a flesh-and-blood representation of what she truly is, so why doesn't she stay like that and go about her business?

Given that the movie was shot in just six days, with an estimated budget of around $116,000, it likely never once crossed the filmmakers' minds to fill in these holes; for that matter, they probably weren't even aware of such flaws because of how hastily they had to get the film made. I've read that, as extensive as it is, all of the exterior location footage, which was done in Death Valley, was shot in just one of the six days, so they really were booking along. Despite its low budget and hasty shooting schedule, the movie looks nice. The cinematography is well done, especially in those exterior scenes, with the bright sunlight and barren, dry landscapes of Death Valley giving a real sense of how harsh a place this setting really is, a feeling that's further compounded when their supplies begin to suddenly disappear and run out. Also, while it may just be due to the black-and-white photography, the nighttime scenes look like they actually were shot at night, with lots of darkness, shadows, and a pitch black sky, and it's fairly effective. The sets of the corridors and catacombs of the tomb, while nothing elaborate in their design or decoration, serve their purpose, their cramped, confined size and shape giving off a feeling of claustrophobia, and there are some eerie shots of shadows, be they of an idol of Bastet or Simira herself, trailing across the walls (the one of Simira is especially unsettling due to the way she has her arms stretched out in front of her). Finally, the notion and visuals of their small camp, made up of just a series of little tents, in the shadow of the mountain tomb, manages to give off a sense of isolation.

Like I said, it takes the movie a little while to get to the horror aspects, as it starts off like an exotic adventure movie, with Captain Storm and his group being dispatched to save the archeological expedition from a possible attack by the violently rioting Egyptians. This situation, which is ultimately forgotten by the middle of the movie, is why they have to take the long way to the Valley of Kings, and Storm also has to deal with escorting Mrs. Sylvia Quentin through the harsh desert as well, though quickly finds she can take care of herself. The first instances of something ominous going on occur when Simira suddenly appears and joins the group, as their supplies start disappearing and an oasis they planned to stop by has inexplicably dried up, but it's only when they reach the Valley of Kings, after the high priest's sarcophagus is broken into, that it becomes evident they're dealing with a deadly, supernatural force. But, even then, the film never becomes anything that amazing or exciting for that matter, as you're mostly just watching the characters argue about whether they should go or stay, when they're not fumbling around in the tomb's corridors, trying to find clues to what's going on. Ultimately, they're unable to combat what's happening, as three of them end up dead, Numar's mummified corpse takes the place of the high priest's in the sarcophagus, Simira is revealed to have been Bastet, and the group decides to bury their dead and depart, leaving what happened a secret.

One of the biggest compliments I can give the film is that the makeup work depicting Numar's possession by the high priest is fantastic, worthy of the work of Jack Pierce over at Universal. After he faints when they start to cut the bandages around the priest's mummy, Numar's body ages very rapidly. His skin becomes dry and wrinkly, with Storm describing the feel of it as an animal hide that's drying out; a long scar appears along the left side of his face (probably from where the high priest committed ritualistic suicide); his hair becomes streaked with gray; and his teeth are totally rotten. Shortly after Storm, Quentin, and Dr. Farraday examine his condition, Numar escapes up into the tomb, hiding in King Rahateb's secret crypt and attacking anyone who finds it. Each time you see Numar, he looks even worse than he did before, looking like a shriveled shell of a man the last couple of times you see him, with Alvaro Guillot being almost unrecognizable underneath all that makeup. They also find that his body is completely disintegrating, as Storm tries to stop him at one point and pulls his arm completely off. When they examine it, they find that it's crumbling into dirt and dust. At the end of the movie, Numar's body is totally mummified and has taken the place of the high priest's mummy in the sarcophagus. The prop they use for that is pretty hideous and disgusting to look at, as it should be. There are also other makeup effects, like some painful-looking scratches on Brecht's face after he gets attacked and, after Numar drains one of the mules of its blood, you see a glimpse of a shrunken corpse for it, although you can't see it that well due to the darkness of its being an exterior, nighttime scene.

Les Baxter was a composer who ultimately accumulated well over a hundred film and television scores throughout his career and was no stranger to horror films when he did the music for Pharaoh's Curse, as he also scored 1956's The Black Sleep and did the same for Voodoo Island, which was released on a double-bill with this (he would also go on to score some of Roger Corman's best films, including his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations). But, despite his considerable credentials, I don't have much to say about the music he did here, as it's not all that memorable or distinctive. It's just typical bombastic, 50's horror film music, with a predictable Egyptian flavor and vibe to it. There are some quieter moments of music that manage to be a bit eerie, like this whirring piece you hear when Beauchamp spots Simira's shadow in King Rahateb's tomb near the end, but on the whole, the score is just not very remarkable.

While it deserves credit for trying to do something outside of the usual killer mummy mold, Pharaoh's Curse is ultimately nothing that special. The overall concept has some large holes in it, the film takes a while to finally get to the horror aspects of the story, and when it finally does, it doesn't unfold in a way that's all that thrilling or entertaining. But, at the same time, some of the characters are memorable and likable; the film looks nice in terms of its black and white cinematography, sets, and location footage, despite its low budget and rushed, quickie nature; the setting isn't without its moments of genuine isolation and claustrophobia; and the makeup effects used to depict Numar's change into a walking, undead high priest are very well done. It may not be a classic by any means but, with the elements that it does have, as well as the fact that it's only a little over an hour in length, I would say that it's worth watching at least once for anyone who's a fan of old-fashioned, drive-in horror flicks like this.