The third time out for Universal's Mummy proved to be a charm and a strong follow up to the other two. A few questions about setting come up, as the film makes it clear that it is set in 1942 and thirty years after the previous films...meaning the Mummy's Hand must have taken place in 1912.
We open with an aged Steve Banning (Dick Foran) recapping the Mummy's Hand, to wit fighting with the undead Kharis (now played by Lon Chaney Jr.) and his priest Andoheb (George Zucco). The fight ended with Andoheb shot full of holes thanks to comic relief Babe Hanson (Wallace Ford) and the mummy burned up. His son John (John Hubbard) and his finance Isabel (Elyse Knox) listen to the story, although neither of them seems all that impressed.
At the same time across the globe, a still living Andoheb (Zucco) is telling the same story to Mehmet Bay (Turhan Bay), although his take on it is less rosy than Banning's version. The aged and dying priest entrusts Bay to go to America and get the remains of the Princess Anankha back, as well as making sure the thieves are punished. Bay, with a revived Kharis in tow, leaves Egypt for New England.
Bay wastes no time in his vengeance. Once he sets up shop as the caretaker of the local graveyard he unleashes Kharis against the Banning household, killing the aged adventurer in his bedroom. The sheriff (Cliff Clark) is baffled by the murders. Babe Henson comes back to town to try and warn the public, but only manages to tell his story to a local newspaper but he is killed before he can warn anyone else.
At this point, however, Bay has noticed that Isobel is rather lovely. Figuring since she isn't related to the Banning bloodline yet, she'd make a fine wife to a High Priest of Karnak. Kharis, even with his face wrapped in latex and bandages, can tell this is a bad idea.
It isn't long before the townspeople start to figure that a mummy rampaging around town and a Egyptian arriving might be connected. Can John save Isobel in time?
Not bad, and this might be the first time the surviving character from one film are killed off in the next. Also, I believe this is also the first to feature a couple making out in a car that get distracted by the monster. The brisk running time ensures that nothing is wasted and the story moves along at a great clip.
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