old horror movie

Last weekend I finally watched the original horror film The Mummy from 1932 with Boris Karloff. After watching the old Dracula my hopes weren't that high but I think The Mummy is a better film. My favorite part is at the beginning, when the archaeological assistant is reading the spell that brings Imhotep to light. He's alone and sight-reading it quietly to himself, almost whispering. There is no other sound, not even a soundtrack (although I love listening to soundtracks, I think a lot of movies today could benefit from less background music in some of their scenes). As he's reading, you see the mummy's eyes sloooooooooowly start to open and his body slooooooowly start to come to life. And then, a bandaged hand creeps onto the desk and the assistant sees the mummy silently standing before him.

It was so good! The crowning touch is that the assistant starts laughing hysterically after the mummy leaves the room and can only say things like, "He went for a walk!" when the boss finds him afterward. The main portion of the movie takes place ten years later, at which time we find out that the assistant went insane and died in an asylum.

My main issue with the movie is that the female lead's love interest is stupid and non-compelling, but that's hardly unusual.

Watching this film made me think about the 1999 Mummy with Rachel Weisz. Now I want to read/write an AU where Evelyn does believe in curses from the very beginning.