Boris Karloff's next film after Frankenstein shows what an intensely subtle actor he was compared with the walking-dead performances of the supporting cast. He plays the ancient Egyptian Im-Ho-Tep, who has been buried alive for trying to restore life to his beloved princess. Brought back to life in the present day, he pursues his lost love, believing her to be reincarnated as the fiancée of a member of an archaeological expedition. Master photographer Karl Freund directs without shock tactics - apart from the burying alive scene - but with images of death and decay worthy of Edgar Allan Poe. However, Freund is no James Whale and this particular Universal horror lacks the brilliant touches of the Karloff Frankenstein films.

An ancient Egyptian priest named Imhotep is revived when an archaeological expedition finds his mummy and one of the archaeologists accidentally reads an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the field site and searches for the reincarnation of the soul of his lover.