"He was to be remained sealed inside his sarcophagus, the undead for all of eternity. The Medjai would never allow him to be released. For he would arise a walking disease, a plague upon mankind, an unholy flesh-eater with the strength of ages, power over the sands, and the glory of invincibility."
Despite being a rough Lighter and Softer remake of The Mummy (1932) with more focus on action and comedy, it's still easily the most horrific and suspenseful film in the trilogy.
- In the backstory, Imhotep is sentenced to endure a horrible curse known as the Hom-Dai, which grants eternal life. This consists of his tongue being cut out, being bound tightly in bandages, then being locked in a sarcophagus while being devoured by scarabs so that he'll eternally have to endure the agony of his wounds. Alone, in a closed space, eaten by scarabs, for millenia, conscious. His original counterpart was on a flowers bed, in comparison.
- This is worse in the novelization, which has the latitude to go into deeper detail about the curse without pacing or rating issues. It seems that the curse was designed to work in a twisted mockery of the "circle of life" - Imhotep is eaten by the scarabs, and eventually becomes so ravenous that he begins eating them, they eat him all over again...
- What was Imhotep's reaction before his physical body died and after being awakened? Screaming in pain.
- His fellow priests don't fare that much better; they're mummified alive, having to go through the actual physical process; organ and bowel removal, bandages and all – alive. We get a wide shot of the chamber where the awful ritual is taking place and several of them are in the midst of being disemboweled or having their brains ripped out through their noses, while their screams and howls fill the air.
- During this shot, you can see Imhotep restrained by two guards in the background, Forced to Watch his priests being executed.
- Ardeth Bay's narration at the top of this page about what would happen if Imhotep awakened. He describes the resurrected Imhotep as an Eldritch Abomination, and basically an apocalyptic god. Eventually, after Imhotep finished his resurrection, his sheer menace could destroy the world.
- This is even worse in the original script, with Imhotep himself as the narrator.Imhotep: And if I could raise my beloved Anck-su-namun from her place in hell, together, we would be an unstoppable infection upon this world. The Apocalypse. The End.
- Imhotep's dialogue, and after his capture by the Medjai, says that Anck-su-namun was also cursed; though she was not afflicted by the Hom-Dai, as she was dead, her body was cursed. If Imhotep was able to resurrect her, she would regenerate just as he did...and both would become invincible. Imagine if they won at the end. God.
- In general, mostly parts of the original script are more grotesque and terrifying, as the souls swamp in Hamunaptra, which is made of human remains and other nasty things. After the Medjai cut off Imhotep's tongue, they give it to the dogs, and they ate Imhotep's removed tongue. Some scarabs enter Imhotep's mouth and nostrils. Imhotep's mummified body is unrecognizable, full of maggots and with chewed/melted flesh, the sarcophagus is full of dried blood, and the message "Death is only the beginning" is written in his blood. In the final fight, Rick cuts Imhotep more without any visible effect...except for the flesh he cut melting away.
- This is even worse in the original script, with Imhotep himself as the narrator.
- The scarabs themselves are pretty much the Knight of Cerebus of this movie. They're not like ordinary scarabs - they're supernatural and like to eat people, they can tunnel through human flesh and often like to go through people's skulls and eat their brain. Seriously, they make those mutant ants from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull look harmless.
- And by "they like to eat people", a swarm is capable of stripping a person to the bones in seconds, as shown by the fate of the poor worker. If you look close, there is some raw flesh glued to the bones and what seems bodily vapor. Jesus...
- Their Establishing Character Moment is how the warden is killed. Though yes, he probably had it coming and yes, it's a little bit narmy, it's still pretty disturbing. While collecting scarab shells that he thinks are blue gold treasure, the real thing breaks out of the pretty shell and proceeds to tunnel through his flesh... and then starts eating his brain. And that's what one scarab can do.
- In the original script, the bug eats its way out of his skull.
- The scene where Rick hears the statue of Anubis whispering "You will die. You will die." in a slow, deep, and ominously threatening tone...just before a gigantic screaming face appears in the sand beneath his feet, forcing him to scramble away, in one of the film's most iconic moments.
- The scene at the prison when Rick almost strangles to death at the end of the hangman's noose is... somewhat unsettling. Unpleasant enough that it's cut from a lot of television showings, put it that way.
- Even worse when you consider that Brendan Fraser himself almost died filming that scene.
- The scene where the diggers open the tomb with the Book of the Dead and salt (hydrochloric) acid sprays out of the opening and douses them in it. They are in complete agony, and Rick mentions that they melted, which we're treated to the beginning of just before the scene cuts away.
- The inscription of the curse is an omen for what is to come should Imhotep be released, which he does. "Death will come on swift wings to whomever opens this chest. There is one, the undead, who, if brought back to life, is bound by sacred law to consummate this curse. He will kill all who open this chest and assimilate their organs and fluids, and in doing so, he will regenerate and no longer be the undead, but a plague upon this earth."
- The scenes where Imhotep re-makes himself out of bits of living people, especially Burns, one of the American expedition members.
- "My eyes... my eyes!"
- "My chongue, he chook my chongue..."
- Imhotep's mummy form is... both disgusting and scary. First of all, he's completely brutalized, still juicy despite being a mummy, and much of his flesh and skin is gone. You can expect that a mummy is a preserved corpse, with preserved skin and organs. Well, Imhotep is partially preserved, but he's a mummy in flesh and muscles as the only things that are preserved on him. You can see into him. His organs? Are gone. His brain? It's gone. The horrible result of being eaten alive, conscious, for millennia.
- Imhotep's mummy form is worst in the original script. When Evelyn, Rick and Jonathan open the sarcophagus, his mummy is described as "the most horrible, twisted, deformed, full of maggots corpse". Yes, he had maggots. When he rises, his flesh is melted and still full of maggots and so deformed that he's considered the "elephant man" of the corpses. His flesh is so melted and rotten that Burns, almost blind, sinks his hand in Imhotep's chest, and his hand was full of flesh. Ugh!
- Always remember: Imhotep's annihilated body isn't because he was properly mummified, he wasn't. He's been eaten alive by scarabs for thousands of years until evidently, they all finally went extinct and left him to slowly decompose. That missing chunk of his skull, and all those holes on his body? Scarabs. You can actually start to see his brain and organs regenerate as his body does and they still look rotten and wrong from all the abuse.
- Imhotep's regenerating stages after basically eating the Americans. From a thing made of bones and chewed melted flesh, to a muscular corpse, a pale zombie, an almost regenerated form with some mummified flesh, before his full resurrected form. But even after this, in the final battle, Rick cut off Imhotep's arm and under his human-like form, he is still a rotten old mummy, as the script says.
- The follow-up scene, where the poor American treasure-hunter Burns who'd lost his eyes and tongue thinks he's meeting with a sympathetic Egyptian nobleman ... and then realizes what Beni is telling him:Beni: Mr. Burns, Prince Imhotep thanks you for your hospitality.
Burns: (smiles like "think nothing of it") Nah.
Beni: (whispers) And for your eyes, and for your tongue.
Burns: (smile gone) Wha?
Beni: But I'm afraid more is needed. The prince must finish the job. And consummate the curse that you and your friends have brought down on yourselves.
Burns: No! Please no! - If you listen carefully when he's killing the last two Americans, Henderson and Daniels, you can hear a horrible sucking sound as their bodies become dried up husks.
- Dr. Allen Chamberlain (the Egyptologist) is away from the fort (for some reason) with the Black Book of the dead. He's moving as fast as he can to return to the presumed safety of his office. As he stops, we see a black cloaked figure sneaking up on him, so close that it could conceivably grab him. After a comedic scene with Rick and Beni, we hear him screaming for his life. The next time we see him, he's dead, assimilated by Imhotep who now has the black book and another of Anck-Su-Namun's organ jars. The monster then turns to the camera to show the audience and the heroes that he's been upgraded from a shambling corpse to a grotesque patchwork zombie. And he promptly unleashes a swarm of insects from his Volumetric Mouth after Rick and Jonathan, who only just manage to close the window in time to block them. According to some fans, this form of Imhotep is the scariest of all, even more than his rotted forms before, with his black robes and his partially-rotten pale skin.
- Despite knowing what was coming, Henderson doesn't even get a chance to defend himself. Imhotep transfigures himself into a miniature sandstorm and blasts him in the face. We see his shadow being sucked dry and then the monster tosses his body aside like trash.
- The death of Daniels is one of the more terrifying because it really showcases Imhotep's cruelty. After he’s used up all his ammo trying to kill as many brainwashed servants as he can, the creature slowly saunters towards him. Daniels is clearly terrified of his impending doom and about to burst out in tears. Imhotep takes the time to smile, right as Daniels offers up his Anubis headed canopic jar. In response to this, Imhotep's smile drops almost as if he's offended and he opens his mouth to roar. We don't see what exactly happens to the poor American, but we do hear it. Horrible sounds like flesh being torn off, Imhotep's demonic sounds and Daniels screaming bloody murder. If Beni's reaction to it is any indication, it was not pretty. God, even Imhotep's slaves had a scared look on their faces.
- Imhotep, as a reanimated skeleton, gradually turns into a zombie at certain points prior to his complete regeneration.
- The scarab crawling out of Imhotep's neck, back through the hole in his cheek, where he bites down with a crunch.
- Beni's eventual fate - "eventual" in relative terms, because it doesn't take long after Imhotep's defeat for him to meet it. He is trapped in a dungeon that's just been permanently sealed under the desert, with only a single torch to keep him safe from the flesh-eating scarabs which are gathering around him. All he can do is stand there and futilely wave it around to keep them away, until the torch slowly... flickers... out. Then comes the squelching of flesh, the crunching of bone and the screaming. Even if it's a richly-deserved fate for his misdeeds, it's still pretty nightmarish to think about.Rick: [Grimly, after failing to save Beni from being entombed] Goodbye, Beni.
- As far as Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film goes, probably the most chilling and disturbing track is "The Crypt"
. Do yourself a favour and don't listen to it when you're alone at night. (For some added context, this is the track that plays when the warden gets attacked by the flesh-eating scarab.)- There's also "The Sarcophagus", which plays during the Hom-Dai ritual mentioned at the top of this page and leading up to the film's title card. It starts with a haunting sting as Anck-Su-Namun is momentarily brought back from the dead and moves on to ominous chanting as Imhotep and his followers are mummified alive and more terrifying notes that play during Ardeth's narration about what will happen if Imhotep ever comes back. In the movie, the final shot accompanying this track is the jet black statue of Anubis that Imhotep is buried under with the title "The Mummy" is showed over Anubis and you can hear Imhotep's horrible tongueless scream inside the sarcophagus.
- There's also "The Sarcophagus"
- The angry mob are classic in classic monsters movies. Here, we get a big one, except that this time they are under the control of a monster, chasing the heroes. The worst part is that the entire city of Cairo was infected by Imhotep's plague, he made them killer zombies full of boils and rotting skin, armed with torches and sharp weapons; they are chanting Imhotep's name in a trance (which is funny and Nightmare Retardant in Jonathan's scene imitating them). But when Imhotep finally orders them to kill the heroes, Rick, Jonathan and Ardeth escape, but the Curator dies holding off the mob; it's implied that they rip him to pieces in the original script, but in the movie, while it's apparent that they kill him, we never really see what they did to him.
- The brutality of the Pharaoh's murder. Anck-su-namun's first strike is bad enough, but then comes Imhotep using Seti's own sword to strike him with a baseball-style swing. Then they exchange blade plunges. If guns existed back then, shooting Seti in the head would've been more merciful.
- The scene in which Imhotep coerces Beni into helping him. Looking the walking corpse in the face is bad enough, but the end of the scene, when the camera zooms in on him as he's demanding to know where the other canopic jars are, might have one moving to cover their eyes.
- Until he regains the ability to speak, Imhotep just growls, moans, and roars. The lesser mummies have desiccated vocal sounds, which don't hinder how terrifying they are, and the mummy soldiers have a cool roar...but Imhotep's sounds are completely inhuman. His screams sound like he's in perpetual pain (which would line up well with the Hom-Dai curse), the growls sound almost like a supernatural beast, and the roars sounds honestly demonic. It's implied that the Hom-Dai curse is the cause, as even the characters name him only "The Creature".
- The movie got merchandise as action figures. Cool, yeah? Except that most of the mummy figures had action that lets you impale them, cut them in two, decapitate them, and so on. Some have grotesque, gory, chewed-off flesh, and a figure of Imhotep (named properly "Cursed Imhotep") got an action of scarabs moving in his open wounds. Some mummies had exposed internal organs, and the "Cursed Princess" (Anck Su Namun) is completely decayed with chunks of her flesh gone, more terrifying than even her look in the movie.
