The yummiest Mummy of all....

I don’t normally “do” movies in this column, but I have just witnessed a beezer, a corker, the grandmother and grandfather of all Mummy movies. Forget those anaemic, contemporary CGI-ridden remakes; hearken to Hammer House’s The Mummy (Terence Fisher, 1957), starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. You won’t recognise the latter thesp by sight; he is covered in bandages, throughout. You will tremble to his frighteningly good performance, his menacing, shuffling presence spreading dust and terror among all those who encounter him. The set is atmospheric to say the least; a gorgeous, absinthe-induced, art nouveau fantasy, interspersed with flashbacks to a multicoloured Egypt, 4000 BC – ye gods – the British Museum was never like this! I won’t give the plot away but watch out for a gloriously funny twist towards the end that will have you falling out of your seat – if you haven’t done so, already. Whatever, do get to see this yummiest of all mummies – or Mummys…?