It took eight years, but 1932’s The Mummy finally spawned a sequel via 1940’s The Mummy’s Hand. I guess it did well, as 1942-44 generated three more Mummy films.

We’ll discuss those later, of course. Hand follows some adventurers/archaeologists as they pursue the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka.

Steve Banning (Dick Foran) is the handsome, heroic one, while Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) comes along more as comic relief. Aided by financial support from magician Mr. Solvani (Cecil Kellaway) and his hot daughter Marta (Peggy Moran), they go off in search of treasure and fame, with some ominous elements out to stop them.

Of all the Mummy sequels, Hand probably presents the most satisfying. Actually, it might be a mistake to call it a “sequel”, as it really has little to do with the 1932 film. The connections between Hand and its three sequels seem much clearer, but these don’t link to the 1932 movie that well.

Hand does nothing to reinvent the wheel, but it provides a reasonably compelling experience nonetheless. Actually, Hand bears more similarities to 1999’s hit Mummy than to the original 1932 film. The plot line seems pretty close in many ways, and I even feel that the 1999 films echoes a few Hand shots.

While there’s nothing terribly special about Hand, it brings a fun piece. It definitely tops its three sequels, and while it lacks the elegantly creepy atmosphere of the 1932 flick, it still provides a more exciting and lively program that seems more compelling as a whole.

Hand is a nice little “popcorn” movie that doesn’t shoot for the moon, but it achieves its goals as a crisp and brisk adventure.

The Mummy’s Hand appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Like many of the other Universal Monsters releases, Hand looked great.

At almost all times, sharpness seemed strong. A flashback sequence tended to seem a bit on the soft side, but the majority of the flick looked accurate and well-defined.

I saw no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects. In addition, I detected a light layer of grain, so I didn’t suspect any egregious use of digital noise reduction.

Print flaws remained absent, and blacks appeared deep and dense. Contrast seemed strong, with a nice silvery sheen on display, and low-light shots displayed clean delineation. I felt very happy with this outstanding presentation.

Though not quite as good, the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack seemed more than acceptable given its age. Speech showed the mild tinniness typical of its era’s recordings, but the lines remained intelligible and lacked edginess.

Both music and effects displayed restricted range, but they felt clear and robust enough within their period’s constraints. The track lacked any hiss or background noise. The soundtrack held up nicely over all the years.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the original DVD from 2001? Audio seemed clearer and more concise, while visuals were cleaner, richer and better defined. In all ways, the Blu-ray blew away the flawed DVD.

In terms of extras, we get the film’s trailer and nothing more.

Though no one will confuse The Mummy’s Hand for a classic Universal monster movie, it works pretty well in its own right. The film brings us an insubstantial but generally entertaining piece. The Blu-ray brings top-notch picture and good audio but it lacks supplements. Hand turns into a mostly fun adventure.

As of fall 2018, Mummy’s Hand can’t be purchased on its own. It can be found as part of a six-film “Mummy Complete Legacy Collection”. In addition to Hand, we find The Mummy, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Ghost, The Mummy’s Curse, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.

In addition, Hand comes in the “Universal Monsters Complete 30-Film Collection”. It actually packages the Mummy set mentioned above with similar compilations for six other Universal Monsters.