DVD Collectors Online

Die Augen der Mumie Ma, a review by Danae Cassandra

Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy)
Year of Release: 1918
Directed By: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Emil Jannings, Pola Negri, Harry Liedtke
Genre: Horror Thriller, Melodrama

Overview:
Albert Wendland, a young painter studying in Egypt, overhears Prince Hohenfels' plans to visit the mysterious tomb of Queen Ma.  Albert is intrigued when he hears a local legend: anyone who enters the crypt meets with disaster.  Ignoring the warning, Wendland journeys to the forbidden burial chamber and finds not a mummy but a beautiful woman, Mara, who is held prisoner by the evil Radu.  Albert rescues Mara and takes her to his European home where they are soon married.  Provided with beautiful clothes, she becomes acquainted with the ways of polite society.  Meanwhile, Radu has sworn revenge upon Mara.  The tragic curse of the mummy hangs over her head!

The Eyes of the Mummy was produced by prolific German UFA studio and boasts a who's who of movie legends.  The film was directed by a young Ernst Lubitsch, who would gain worldwide acclaim for films such as The Love Parade and Heaven Can Wait.  Emil Jannings, star of such classics as The Last Laugh and The Blue Angel, stars as Radu.  Polish femme fatale Pola Negri stars as the doomed Mara.  Negri made many films in Germany with Lubitsch before immigrating to Hollywood where her love affairs garnered more attention than her acting.

My Thoughts
This wasn't really a horror movie, despite being listed as one and having Mummy in the title.  It's really a melodrama/thriller.  Looking at it from that perspective, it's not a bad movie.  Emil Jannings is suitably sinister and threatening. Pola Negri does a commendable job as Ma, the beautiful girl who lives in fear of him, and Harry Liedtke is at least believable as her devoted husband.  While not up to the quality of his later works, Lubitsch's direction here is beginning to show his talent.  

Yes, this is a silent film, and the viewer should expect it to be one.  The acting is over-the-top by modern standards, the makeup heavy, the plot extremely simple.  Take the film as what it is, consider the year it was made in, and it's not that bad a movie, though.  

My only complaint is with my DVD copy of the film.  I'm accustomed to poor video quality, so the fact that this isn't remastered in any way didn't really bother me - yes, there were scratches and dings in the video, but they didn't take away any enjoyment for me.  What was noticeable is that the music soundtrack wasn't synced properly, so that the music would change either just before or just after the scene did, instead of properly with the change of scene.  I'm sure this is because of the cheapness of the Alpha Video release I have.

Bechdel Test: Pass
(for silent films, I will count any interaction between two women that isn't obviously about a man - here between Ma and her tutor)

Overall: 2.5/5

(From Danae's 2013 Horror Marathon on October 9th, 2013)

King of the Pecos, a review by Rogmeister

King of the Pecos  (1936)  B&W  54m
Directed by Joseph Kane
Cast: John Wayne, Muriel Evans, Cy Kendall, Jack Clifford, Arthur Aylesworth, Herbert Heywood, Yakima Canutt

A boy escapes when his parents are murdered by a cattle baron. Years later that boy returns as a young lawyer (wayne) with a six-shooter and a deadly aim.

This picture was shot during John Wayne's "B" western period which pretty much lasted the entire decade of the 1930s and which was bookended by two big "A" pictures, The Big Trail and Stagecoach.  "B" pictures were films that were shot quickly (usualy in about a week) and which had short running times of about an hour.  Some were okay, some were pretty good...I don't know if any ever reached the "great" end of the scale, though.  This one would reach the "pretty good" end of the scale.  It has some good action scenes with a few nice stunts (which was telegraphed by the fact that Yakima Canutt, fine stuntman but not a very good good actor, was in the cast).  There's some good photography with some nice outdoor locations.  The plot is the usual staple mixing revenge with a badguy trying to keep the water rights he has no real...ahem..."right" to keep...heh heh.  But it's a decent kind of film kids ate up in that innocent time of the past.  There aren't a lot of DVDs that have nice quality prints of the "B" pictures and this is definitely one of those few so I'd recommend it if you're a fan of "B" westerns.   

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 28th, 2009)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

04. I Fall To Pieces (1999-10-26)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), David Greenwalt (Created By), David Greenwalt (Screenwriter), Joss Whedon (Story By), David Greenwalt (Story By)
Director: Vern Gillum
Cast: David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Glenn Quinn (Doyle), Elisabeth Rohm (Kate Lockley), Tushka Bergen (Melissa), Andy Umberger (Dr. Ronald Meltzer), Carlos Carrasco (Dr. Vinpur Narpudan), Brent Sexton (Beat Cop), Garikayi Mutambirwa (Intern), Kent Davis (John), Jan Bartlett (Penny), Patricia Gillum (Woman Patient), Christopher Hart (The Hand)

A rather stupid episode. And boring.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on March 16th, 2009)