Book Review: THE PASSION OF THE MUMMY

 

Frank Dello Stritto's THE PASSION OF THE MUMMY is in the same vein as his earlier works, A WEREWOLF REMEMBERS and CARL DENHAM'S GIANT MONSTERS. All three deal with the lives and adventures of famous classic horror film characters. In the earlier two volumes Frank revealed the "actual" exploits of Larry Talbot from THE WOLF MAN and Carl Denham from KING KONG. 

Here, the author looks at the most familiar of the classic characters deemed "The Mummy"--specifically, Kharis, who appeared in four films made by Universal in the early 1940s. 

The story of THE PASSION OF THE MUMMY is told by an unnamed narrator, who, as a boy, gazed upon the dormant mummy of Kharis during a school trip to the Scripps Museum in New York. Somehow, the minds of the boy and Kharis became one, and as the young man grew older, his link with Kharis grew stronger. This opened up a whole new world to the narrator--a world of devious ancient cults, mysterious High Priests, and dangerous immortal women. 

Frank weaves almost all the major movies featuring a mummy into his tale--including the ones made by Hammer. Any old monster movie buff worth their tana leaves knows of the many discrepancies featured in the plots of the Universal Kharis series...but as he did with his "biographies" of Larry Talbot and Carl Denham, the author connects all the wayward dots in a way that is inventive and highly creative. 

Real-life history--and real-life Egyptology--are involved in this story as well. The narrator meets and deals with a number of movie characters that will be familiar to film buffs, and some that are a bit obscure. I really don't want to go into major details of the plot, because one of the great enjoyments of reading Frank's books is the surprises one gets when a certain fictional character or movie is referenced. I will say that there is a explanation given for why Kharis and his beloved Ananka went from a swamp in Massachusetts to one in the deep South--and not only is it believable, it fits into Universal horror history. (I must also say that Bela Lugosi and Peter Cushing fans in particular will enjoy this book.) 

Throughout this book, several stills from movies and TV shows are used to augment the tale. As in the other volumes of the "Historical Fiction Monster Trilogy" (as it is referred to on the back cover), the book is handsomely designed, and published by Cult Movie Press. 

I'm an unabashed fan of Frank's "Monster Trilogy"--I just wish I could come up with a more catchy name for it. (The Strittoverse?) Mixing pop culture, classic monster movies, and actual history, and coming up with "biographies" of famous genre characters is a challenging concept, but one that has been brilliantly accomplished by Frank Dello Stritto. The "Strittoverse" is much more entertaining and intriguing than many of the films it references. Once you read THE PASSION OF THE MUMMY, you'll want to watch the Kharis movies all over again, as I am doing...and not only will you appreciate them more, you'll see them in a new light.