When it’s early May and you’re remembering the wonders of Gladiator and in anticipation of the coming of yet another The Mummy, it was easy to forget that on May 7th of 1999, there was yet another mummy movie from Universal Studios. However, unlike its’ 2017 successor, it was not considered some ‘tent pole’ for a Dark Universe but was simply a roller coaster ride of summer fun. It also became a box office hit. The Keeper is speaking of Stephen Sommers’ $80 million budgeted flick, The Mummy, starring Brenden Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo.

With a heaping touch of Raiders of the Lost Ark and a hint of the original, classic Mummy with Boris Karloff, the humorous adventure/romance/horror earned over $415.9 million dollars, leading to not only two sequels, but spawning The Scorpion King series as well. While your Keeper might have been disappointed with The Mummy II and The Mummy III, I have fond memories of the first one, having watched it at a local drive-in along with two sisters and my then small nephew, who couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. In fact, I was in such a good mood these last couple of days, I decided to stream it off VUDU because it had been a while since I’d seen it. It’s not a perfect movie. We only see tiny bits of what the Karloff movie portrayed. But it’s a splendid little popcorn flick for a summer evening when there’s nothing good on TV…and the next episode of Twin Peaks – the Return is still a few days away!