It’s got one of the best opening scenes of 1930s horror. It’s the one where the cocky young archaeologist inadvertently revives Boris Karloff, as the excavated mummy Imhotep, and then has a complete mental breakdown at the frightening sight of him, crumbling into insane laughter. After that, this basically becomes Dracula in Egypt. It’s got the exotic villain (Karloff), it’s got a woman he’s trying to capture (lovely, big-eyed Zita Johann), it’s got David Manners as his usual charisma-deficient hero, and it’s got Edward Van Sloan as a Van Helsing-type who knows all about ancient Egyptian mummy curses. It also has the slow pace of Dracula and the weak climax. Still, it’s entertaining and it holds up as a good late night movie snack.
This is also notable as the first American film directed by the great cinematographer Karl Freund.