With a more depth than the average horror film, a little deeper perspective into the human condition, The Mummy and its associated sequels focused on far more than just a typical story of the living dead. Rather than just relying on the fright factor, they also weaved stories of tragedy and love, of greed and envy, and provided an emotional connection that can be rare in this particular genre. This formula has given the franchise almost as much longevity as the actual creature himself.

The Mummy, first released in 1932, was based on a novel by Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula. The story revolves around the plight of a priest in Egypt named Imhotep. When he tries to revive his true love by using magic, he is discovered and promptly mummified and buried alive. Flash forward a few centuries and his tomb is discovered by a group of archeologists. With the aid of an ancient scroll which they proceed to recite, he is re-animated and proceeds to escape undetected from his tomb. Well, not completely undetected – one poor soul witnesses his escape, causing the person to completely lose track of their sanity.

Years later, our mummified friend has taken on the identity of a man named Ardath Bay who is searching for his old reincarnated love interest, now a princess. When he comes across a woman named Helen Crosvenor, the uncanny resemblance convinces him that he has finally found the princess. The only catch is that he must capture the woman so that he can perform a series of rituals on her and return the soul of his beloved to the modern world. Using a combination of cunning intellect and some old fashioned psychic ability, he is able to stop any man who attempts to foil his plans with little effort. If need be, he can simply will their death, making his diabolical plot virtually unstoppable.

With a stunning visual atmosphere to the film, The Mummy had much more going for it than mere shock value. Much of this is owed to the director, Karl Freund, who had previously worked as a cinematographer on Frankenstein and Metropolis. The result was a film both sinister and yet beautiful in appearance and it became a big hit for Universal Pictures, also thanks in part to the leading man, a capable horror actor named Boris Karloff who had already made a name for himself in Frankenstein. The depth and complexity of the character he created helped the film transcend from mere horror, to something much more tragic, a monster that was as deserving of pity as fear.

It would take until 1940 before the idea for a sequel was approached. Only marginally related to the original plot, The Mummy’s Hand did utilize a good portion of footage from the original film to use as a flashback device.

This time around, the plot focused on two archeologists, Steve Banning and Babe Jenson, who are searching for the tomb of an ancient princess named Ananka. Unfortunately, when they do find the tomb, their efforts unwittingly revive a priest named Kharis, who was once associated with Karnak, an ancient Egyptian God who had been mummified for his own attempts to use magic to revive his lost love, Ananka. (Sound familiar?)

That isn’t the only problem facing the archeological team. They have also managed to anger Andoheb, an employee of the Cairo museum who just so happens to moonlight as the current high priest of Karnak. He utilized the revitalized Kharis to put a stop to the archeologists attempts by sinister means and all of this leads up to the final half-hour of the film, a terrifying chase as the archeologists try to escape with their lives.

Interestingly enough, The Mummy’s Hand actually starts out pretty light-hearted and somewhat humorous. Things stop being funny, however, once Kharis becomes one of the undead. From there on out, it’s sheer horror. Audiences loved the film and soon, they were demanding more mummy films. Their wish was promptly granted.

Universal responded with The Mummy’s Tomb in 1942, a much more direct sequel to The Mummy’s Hand. It was a story of revenge, with the old nemesis Anoheb in pursuit of the familiar archeological team of Banning and Jenson. He and his assistant, Mehemet Bay follow the unsuspecting scientists back to the United States and, once again, Kharis is sent to destroy them.

With the same unique combination of terror and humor, and some picturesque New England scenes, notably one that has the Mummy traipsing through a local graveyard, audiences were more than satisfied with this latest offering and, as a result, there was more mummy on the way.

The Mummy’s Ghost, released in 1944, also takes place in New England, a few years after the last film left off. This time, the plot centers on a young college student named Tom Lowery. When he discovers that his girlfriend Amina is actually a reincarnation of the ancient princess, Ananka, he soon has to contend with some unsettling characters. The new high priest of Karnak, named Yousef Bey, is determined to take Ananka/Amina back to Egypt. And guess who he recruits to handle the dirty work? That’s right, that sinister mummy Kharis.

The Mummy’s Ghost returned to the underlying tragedy that made the first Mummy film so intriguing, namely by putting more focus on the feelings of love that Kharis has for Amina. The film also benefited from some star power in the form of John Carradine as Yousef Bey and Lon Chaney Jr. as the evil Kharis.

And finally, the last film in the series, The Mummy’s Curse was also released in 1944. It was both experimental and somewhat inconsistent with the prior film. Kharis and Ananka are unearthed in a Lousiana swamp (How the got there from New England is never explained.) Most memorable is the fondly remembered and chilling scene where Ananka rises from the swamp. Befuddled by amnesia, she meanders into a rural Louisiana town with two Egyptian priests, Ilzar and Ragheb in close pursuit. And following closely behind all of them is a cranky and ill-tempered Kharis.

The Mummy’s Curse spelled the end for the highly successful Mummy film series and ended things on an appropriately creepy note. England’s Hammer Films would reignite the Mummy torch in 1959 with a remake of The Mummy’s Hand and the subsequent success of the film led to them creating a whole new series of Mummy films that continued into the 70s. And still, that wasn’t the end of the bandage-wrapped creature, who seemed to have more lives than a houseful of cats.

In 1999, an entirely new series of Mummy films was spawned, this time adding an Indiana Jones sort of exotic adventure flavor to the mix. With a nod to the tragedy, romance and humor of the original films, this new collection of offerings (with the third film completed but not yet released) has proven yet again that there is still life to be had in the much misunderstood Mummy, not to mention a good deal of box-office profits. Will the Mummy arise yet again? If history is any indication, it sure seems inevitable.