The Mummy on Screen

Orientalism and Monstrosity in Horror Cinema

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by Basil Glynn

Type

Studies

Subject

Genre > Horror

Keywords

horror, orientalism, monsters

Publishing date

2019

Publisher

Bloomsbury Academic

Collection

International Library of the Moving Image

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 216 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-78831-408-4

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Book Presentation:
The Mummy is one of the most recognizable figures in horror and is as established in the popular imagination as virtually any other monster, yet the Mummy on screen has until now remained a largely overlooked figure in critical analysis of the cinema. In this compelling new study, Basil Glynn explores the history of the Mummy film, uncovering lost and half-forgotten movies along the way, revealing the cinematic Mummy to be an astonishingly diverse and protean figure with a myriad of on-screen incarnations. In the course of investigating the enduring appeal of this most 'Oriental' of monsters, Glynn traces the Mummy's development on screen from its roots in popular culture and silent cinema, through Universal Studios' Mummy movies of the 1930s and 40s, to Hammer Horror's re-imagining of the figure in the 1950s, and beyond.

About the Author:
Dr Basil Glynn is a Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Middlesex University, London, UK.

Press Reviews:
Glynn not only shows us the origins of the shambling terror ... he takes us on an intellectually thrilling tour of the orientalist assumptions western audiences bring to the fictional mummy. Glynn will make you wonder why you ever cared so much about zombies and vampires in this accessible and brilliant examination of a truly terrifying monster that, until now, has never been given its due. Beware the mummy's curse! But read this book anyway.

If the Mummy has enjoyed considerably less critical attention or regard than its fellow movie undead, Basil Glynn rectifies that neglect in this persuasive reappraisal, tracing the beat of the cloth-wrapped feet in an authoritative and illuminating study of an enduring and deceptively versatile movie monster.

The mummy has long been neglected in horror criticism as a stiff and lifeless movie monster. But The Mummy on Screen finds a beating heart beneath the bandages. With exhaustive research and deft analysis, Basil Glynn lifts the shroud on the mummy and finds a fascinating and malleable monster whose mute body nonetheless speaks volumes about the Orientalist imagination.

See the publisher website: Bloomsbury Academic