LITTLE ROCK — Here continues the countdown of the most influential, horrifying, wonderfully disgusting and entertaining horror films over the last 123 years in chronological order. These are the must-sees. Look for more horror motion pictures throughout October in this month's Halloween cinema tribute: Macabre Movie Magic.

No. 8

'The Mummy' (1932)

Directed by Karl Freund, the evil mummy Imhotep (Boris Karloff) rises from his own death and begins the process of resurrecting the Princess Ankh-es-en-Amon (Zita Johann) in the form of her modern day doppelganger Helen Grosvenor.

Co-starring: David Manners, Edward Van Sloan and Arthur Byron.

Runtime: 73 minutes

Not rated.

Did you know?

• A year earlier, during the filming of "Frankenstein" (1931), Karloff was an unknown commodity for Universal Pictures. But now Karloff was promoted heavily as The Uncanny. It is astonishing what a year's difference makes. Other ads simply read: "Karloff....'The Mummy'."

• The word Pharaoh must not have been used often back in 1932 because in both the opening and closing credits the title is misspelled as pharoh. For example, in the cast listing, it reads: James Crane as the The Pharoh.

• Imhotep, of course, was based, in name only, on the ancient Egyptian architect that designed the pyramids. Unlike the Imhotep featured in the film, the real man was represented as a god following his death.

• Actress Zita Johann and director Karl Freund hated each other. The set was full of tension, especially when Freund insisted that Johann play the princess partially nude.

• "Karl Freund made life very unpleasant," Johann said in an interview. "It was his first picture as a director, and he felt he needed a scapegoat in case he didn't come in on schedule, 23 days, I believe. Well I was cast as the scapegoat - and I saw through it right away! Before shooting started."

• "I asked Freund and his wife over for dinner," Johann continued. "He told me for one scene, I would have to appear nude from the waist up. He expected me to say, 'The Hell I will!' Instead I said, 'Well, it's all right with me if you can get it past the censors' - knowing very well that the censors of that time were very strict. So, I had him there."

• Freund took his feud with Zita much further by refusing to get her a chair with her name on it. Even more shocking was that he left her unprotected in the pit of lions while he and the crew were safely locked away in protective cages. Finally, to keep her uncomfortable, Freund had Zita stand against a board on a wall for hours to keep the wrinkles out of her costume dress.

• It took makeup artist Jack Pierce eight hours to apply Boris Karloff's mummy appliances; the costume's appearance was based on Ramses III. After the makeup was applied the first time, Karloff was quoted as saying to Jack Pierce, "Well, you've done a wonderful job, but you forgot to give me a fly!" How did he use the bathroom?

• "The Mummy" once held the record for the most money paid for a movie poster at auction: $453,500.

• The working titles for the film were Cagliostro, Imhotep and King of the Dead.

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