''Pharaoh's Curse'' is a 1957 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Lee Sholem Lee Tabor Sholem (May 25, 1913 in Paris, Illinois, – August 19, 2000 in Los Angeles, California) was an American television and film director. Nicknamed ""Roll 'Em" Sholem", he is identified more than anyone else in the film industry, industr ...

and written by Richard H. Landau. The film stars

Mark Dana Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

Ziva Rodann Ziva Rodann ( he, זיוה רודן, born Ziva Blechman ; 2 March 1933), known first as Ziva Shapir (), is an Israeli-American actress. She was a Hollywood film star and a frequent guest star on television series from the late 1950s to the late 1 ...

Diane Brewster Diane Brewster (March 11, 1931 – November 12, 1991) was an American television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in television series of the 1950s and 1960s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in the Weste ...

George N. Neise George N. Neise (February 16, 1917April 14, 1996) was an American character actor. He made over 120 film and television appearances between 1942 and 1978. Early years Born in Chicago, Illinois, Neise was the son of Edwin Neise and Bertha Hagen. ...

, Alvaro Guillot and Ben Wright. The film was released in February 1957 by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

, as a double feature with ''

Voodoo Island Voodoo Island is a 1957 American horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg and written by Richard H. Landau. The film stars Boris Karloff, with a cast including Elisha Cook Jr., Beverly Tyler and Rhodes Reason. It is set in the South Pacific and w ...

''.McGee, Mark Thomas; Robertson, R.J. (2013). "You Won't Believe Your Eyes". Bear Manor Media. . Page 254

Plot

In 1902 Cairo Egypt, as a riot breaks out in the street, Captain Storm is assigned with a small contingent consisting of himself, Gromley, and Smolet to retrieve the members of an unsanctioned archeological expedition in the Valley of the Kings who are seeking the lost tomb of Rahateb. Storm's mission is compounded to escort the expedition leader's wife Sylvia Quentin as they take a planned route, the group encountering a strange woman named Simira whose brother Numar is helping the Rahateb expedition. Though Storm turns down Simira's offer to lead them on a more direct route, he relents after Sylvia is stung by a scorpion. By the time the group arrive to the site, Simira announces they are too late as Robert Quentin and his group have opened a sarcophagus with Numar suddenly collapsing to the floor. Quentin is upset about learning he is return to Cairo and that Sylvia only came to end their relationship in person. Returning to the tomb with Storm following after him, they find the mummy is missing with cat footprints leading from the sarcophagus to a solid wall. Quentin storms off to confront Numar upon realizing something was off about the guide's joining the expedition, only to learn that Numar is rapidly aging with no pulse. Later that night, Numar enters the tomb complex as Gromley found one of the animals drained of its blood. Storm confines an unhelpful Simira to her tent as the group chase after Numar, the group splitting up and later finding Gromley after Numar drained him of his blood. During Gromley's autopsy, Andrews and Brecht had translated a stone tablet which details the sarcophagus belonging to Rahateb's high priest who executed ritualistic suicide to be bound by a three-thousand year curse to kill all intruders in the tomb after possessing another body. Storm leads another venture into the tomb before finding a dying Brecht emerging from the Chamber of Bastet where he was attacked by Numar. Storm attempts to grab Numar when he falls back into Rahateb's chamber and unintentionally rips his arm off. As Farraday deduces that Numar's body had decomposed to the point of gradual disintegration, Simara warns Storm that the survivors must leave or also be killed by Numar. Later, a fearful Sylvia runs into the tomb complex after seeing a cat-like shadow prior to Simira's entering her tent. Sylvia is found by Smolet and is brought to Storm, convincing him and the others to find Simira. But Quentin forces Andrews at gunpoint to find a way to open the pathway to Rahateb's resting place, only to be let in by the decaying Numar and fall victim to a rigged cave-in. After Storm and Beauchamp confirm Quentin's death, Beauchamp finds Simira's amulet as the group proceed to leave the tomb complex. But they find the lid of the high priest's sarcophagus back in place, finding the mummy inside to be Numar. The group then realize Numar was the reincarnation of the high priest while deducing that Simira is the goddess

Bastet Bastet or Bast ( egy, bꜣstjt, cop, Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, Oubaste , Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (289 ...

in human form. Everyone agrees to cover up what had occurred and never divulge the tomb's existence.

Cast

*Mark Dana as Capt. Storm *

as Simira *

as Sylvia Quentin *

as Robert Quentin *Alvaro Guillot as Numar * Ben Wright as Walter Andrews *Guy Prescott as Dr. Michael Farraday *

Terence De Marney Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of no ...

as Sgt. Smolett *Richard Peel as Sgt. Gromley *

Kurt Katch Kurt Katch (born Isser Kac; January 28, 1893 – August 14, 1958) was a Polish film and television actor. He appeared in ''Quiet Please, Murder'', '' The Purple V'', ''The Mask of Dimitrios'', ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'', among many ...

as Hans Brecht *Robert Fortin as Claude Beauchamp *

Ralph Clanton Ralph Woodward Clanton (September 11, 1914 – December 29, 2002) was an American character actor of film, stage, and television. His most seen performance was Comte De Guiche in the 1950 film ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', the first sound versio ...

as Col. Cross

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes 1957 films 1950s supernatural horror films Films set in 1902 Films set in Cairo United Artists films American supernatural horror films 1957 horror films Films about curses Films directed by Lee Sholem Films scored by Les Baxter Mummy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Bastet Films about deities Films about reincarnation Films about archaeology