• 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
  • Recommend