Freund, the director here, was a top-tier DP during the era- he show many of murnau’s films. He shot fritz Lang’s metropolis. An Austrian cinematographer
There was a real exploration of king tut that made this story relevant at the time
Big follow up to universal and karloff’s Frankenstein in 1931
There are narrative shortcomings—“here (eager young explorer)—stay here and watch this casket we just found while we go outside and discuss this possible curse”
Karloff’s screen presence and otherworldyness should not be discounted- he’s a great watch
The story is the Dracula story—Edward Van Sloan plays the exact same character- van helsing in Dracula and here he’s doctor muller—he’s better here
The rest of the cast after Karloff is not amazing—lots of pauses and staleness
Great flashback origin montage sequence.
Overall fascinating narrative
My favorite shot is a dazzling close-up of Karloff with artificial eyes. Superb look and makeup—they go back to the same shot often
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