Muller, Frank calls Helen back to the world of the living while the Scroll of Thoth continues to burn. This breaks the spell that had given Imhotep his immortality, causing him to age rapidly and then crumble to dust.
The statue of Isis raises its arm and emits a beam of light that sets the Scroll of Thoth on fire. She is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis to save her. Believing her to be Ankh-es-en-amon's reincarnation, he attempts to kill her, with the intention of mummifying her, resurrecting her, and making her his bride.
Imhotep encounters Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann), a woman bearing a striking resemblance to the Princess. The archaeologists find the tomb, give the mummy and the treasures to the Cairo Museum, and thank Ardath Bey for the information. He shows them where to dig to find Ankh-es-en-amon's tomb. He calls upon Sir Joseph's son Frank (David Manners) and Prof. Imhotep escapes from the archaeologists, taking the Scroll of Thoth, and prowls Cairo seeking the modern reincarnation of Ankh-es-en-amon.ġ0 years later, Imhotep is masquerading as a modern Egyptian named Ardath Bey. Despite Muller's warning, Sir Joseph's assistant Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher) reads aloud an ancient life-giving scroll – the Scroll of Thoth. The usual scar made by the embalmers knife is not there." Sir Joseph Wimple responds, "I guessed as much." Muller then deduces that Imhotep was buried alive for sacrilege. Muller (Edward Van Sloan) inspects the mummy and exclaims "The viscera were not removed. Imhotep had been mummified alive for attempting to resurrect his forbidden lover, the princess Ankh-es-en-amon.
Now looking at the score as a listening experience, I think it is full of fun moments, and a ton of thematic material that makes it worth listening to. It works for most of the scenes, except for a handful of the action sequences where I felt it dulled the excitement a bit. So as a film score, Goldsmith's The Mummy is only okay. If it works on it's own merit, that's fine and great, but that's not the point. Film music is written solely for the film in which it is used. This is one of those rare situations that don't happen often, but when it happens, it puts me in an awkward situation. There were a few moments where I felt that the music made the scene less exciting, or less scary. While this works musically to convey action and thrilling suspense, it didn't work as well in the film as it should have. More music in the film, notably during some of the action sequences, contains very fast and complex orchestrations that are similar in structure to First Knight. Plenty of choral bits and thematic climaxes ensue for the next two tracks as the prologue unfolds.
Just as this theme hits its climax, we are interrupted by Pharaoh who brings us right back to Imhotep's theme. Slowly the music turns into the romance theme for High Priest Imhotep who is having an affair with the Pharaoh's wife. is very Middle-Eastern in style, and is very dark and ominous. As the camera pulls back over the Egyptian pyramids, the music quietly swells, and hits a large brass theme as we realize we are looking at ancient Egypt in all of it's glory. With a pre-title sequence beginning in ancient Egypt, the music begins very quietly over the Universal Studios logo, and quickly turns very ominous with a quiet choral wavering in the background. Officially a remake of the original horror classic, The Mummy was updated with state-of-the-art visual effects, and the concept that the mummy wasn't a slow moving undead creature, but a fast moving, very strong, threatening monster that you were actually afraid of. One of the first films of the Summer of '99, The Mummy reunited director Stephen Sommers with composer Jerry Goldsmith, having previously collaborated together on Deep Rising.