MartinHafer Considering that this film was directed by the famed German director, Ernst Lubitsch, starred the great Emil Jannings AND it's title talks about Mummies, I was certain that I would love this film--especially since I love silent films. However, in this dreary film, you see none of the famed "Lubitsch touch", Jannings is just okay, the film is NOT about mummies at all and the print from Alpha Video was so fuzzy that it was a chore to watch the thing! The film is set in Egypt, though you really don't see any mummies. Instead, it's an odd tale about a weirdo (Jannings) who has kidnapped a lady (Pola Negri) and has kept her locked inside a temple. When she's rescued by a Brit, he's smitten with her and takes her back to the UK to live with him. She is worried, though, that the crazed Jannings will follow her and exact revenge. No mummies, no curse and not a whole lot of action or excitement.I wonder. With a different title and different people responsible for the film, I would have had lower expectations and therefore liked the movie more. But, as it was, it was a HUGE disappointment in practically every way.PS--I've seen quite a few films from Alpha Video. While some of their offerings are rare and hard to find, their DVDs are rather consistently of dubious quality and are rarely, if ever, restored. They are inexpensive, but they're also no bargain thanks to fuzzy or scratchy prints. If you can find other brands, you may want to try them first.

John W Chance The title refers to Pola Negri's eyes. Captured by the evil Arab, Radu, (well played by Emil Jannings) Negri, as 'Queen Ma,' is forced to be his slave and trick tourists in an Egyptian pyramid by hiding within a sarcophagus with her live eyes showing through its eyeholes. A visiting painter, Albert Wendland, (Harry Liedke) supposedly the hero, falls in love with her and takes her back to Europe.The film works as a kind of proto- 'Hammer Films' melodramatic thriller, as Radu follows her to Europe tracking her down and stalking her to seek his revenge on her having left him. Jannings is darkly made up, but we still get to see his menacing eyes and gestures that made him such a super star in the next decade after the film was made. (For some reason, it wasn't released in the United States until 1922.) Pola Negri does a good job showing her gratitude, devotion and love to Wendland, as well as her alienation from her new European environment and hesitation to participate in it. It's only when she performs a 'native' dance at her coming out party that she relaxes and begins to mix and fit into her new culture (as a popular exotic dancer). Woo! But her dancing! You haven't seen anything this funny since the Babylonian dancers in 'Intolerance' (1916)! All jerky hootchie kootchie motions which briefly profile the curves of her cello shaped body (actually this type of female body was popular in films and soft core during the teens and twenties).The action really picks up as all the coincidences have Radu closing in on Ma. The whole movie is pretty well edited, but the last fifteen minutes are especially well done. While the hero tries to rush to Ma's rescue, Radu exerts his hypnotic Svengali power over her, kills her, and then, after kissing her, out of remorse, kills himself. The hero rushes in, but...too late! This is the kind of tight little thriller / tragedy that Hammer would do so well in the sixties.The Alpha Video DVD I have features a continuous piano soundtrack by Rachel Guches that has some interesting dissonances, but also the pop tune 'My Reverie' (?).Even though the silent miming is a little too much, the film tells an interesting story, moves along at a good clip, and features good acting by Pola Negri and Emil Jannings. I give it a five.

mccrohan Here are Lubitsch, Pola Negri and Emil Jannings back in the year 1918 at the start and before they achieved their huge fame. Of course, this is a low budget movie. The Egyptian desert scenes were filmed in a Berlin quarry and the Egyptian tomb is of absurdly cheap quality. However we can see the evident skill of Lubitsch when working with his lead actors. The fascinating personality of Pola Negri shines . I certainly wish that we had more such real women in today,s modern movies. So please enjoy this nostalgic movie. Consider that if it was remade today with millions of dollars, special effects and huge publicity ,that it might be a box-office bonanza

Paul Curtis As a piece of movie entertainment, Eyes of the Mummy is dated and unremarkable seen through current standards. There are a few nicely nightmarish moments (especially a scene when Ma sees Radu in the mirror while nobody else seems to notice) but overall, this is no Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.On the other hand, fans of cartoonist/writer Edward Gorey will be richly rewarded by a film that appears to have been designed and directed by the illustrator of "The Gilded Bat" and "The Blue Aspic." The effect is uncanny and curiously involving. It's not just the melodramatic subject matter...every detail has the Gorey touch. One almost imagines the hand-drawn texture lines. Any Gorey fan will find Eyes of the Mummy to be well worth the time spent.