The Mummy (1932)

'The Mummy' features horror icon Boris Karloff in a legendary performance as the Egyptian Imhotep who is accidentally revived by a team of archaeologists after 3,700 years. It is revealed in a flashback that he was a high priest, embalmed alive for trying to revive the vestal virgin whom he loved, after she had been sacrificed. Alive again, he sets out on an obsessive - and deadly - quest to find his lost love. Featuring groundbreaking makeup by Jack Pierce and artful direction by Karl Freud to achieve a mysterious atmosphere, this terrifying classic inspired countless sequels, spoofs and spin-offs that continue to fuel the legacy of the monster to this day.