| abstract
| - The film opens in Egypt in 2,134 BC. Imhotep, a high priest and the brother of Pharoah Seti I, engages in an affair with his brother's wife, Anck-su-Namun. The two are caught in the act of love making by the Pharoah, so Imhotep kills him. He is then arrested by the Pharoah's bodyguards. Rather than face punishment, Anck-su-Numan kills herself by stabbing herself through the heart with a dagger. Imhotep is mummified alive, but swears to one day return for his love. In 1933, Johnathan Carnahan wins a map in a card game and brings it to his Egyptologist sister Evelyn. The map leads to Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, which is where Imhotep is buried. Evely approaches her old mentor, Dr Allen Chamberlain, and they decide to a mount an expedition to find the lost city. Chamberlain's party is made up mostly of Americans; Steve Banning, Joseph Whemple, Ralph Norton and their guide Beni Gabor. The group make their way to Egypt, where they witness a crowd of people gathering in the square for a hanging. Beni is recognized by the man about to be executed, so Evelyn decides to save him. The man introduces himself as Rick O'Connell, an American adventurer and former member of the French Foreign Legion. It is revealed that he once served alongside Beni, but after a mission to Egypt went badly wrong, Beni fled and left Rick to take the fall. Knowing he can't trust Beni to look after the expedition, and taking particular interest in Evelyn, Rick decides to accompany them to Hamunaptra. They reach the city, but are attacked the Medjai, a group of warriors who protect the city in hope of preventing Imhotep's return. They meet the leader, Ardeth Bay, who warns them to stay away from Hamunaptra, but they sneak in later regardless. Once within, the group discover an ancient life-giving scroll; the Scroll of Thoth, as well a sacophagus. They open it to find Imhotep's heavily decayed corpse. In addition to this they find several canopic jars containing Anck-su-Namun's organs. The Americans decide to steal them, keeping this a secret from the others. That night, Evelyn reads aloud from the Scroll of Thoth, unknowingly resurrecting Imhotep by doing so. Beni tries to steal from the camp and then disappear, but encounters Imhotep, who decides to spare Beni when he hears him praying in the "language of the slaves." Beni then bargains with Imhotep, offering to serve him in for his life. Imhotep agrees. The following morning, the expedition is again attacked by the Medjai, resulting in a gunfight. The group then flee to Cairo. They check into a hotel, after which some of them leave to go to a bar. Whemple, who was blinded during the desert battle, stays behind. Beni enters the room and tells Whemple that a prince wants to meet with him and buy the canopic jars. Meanwhile, at the bar, the group propose a toast but soon find that the drinks are actually blood. Blood begins to leak from a fountain, and Rick sees that something very bad is happening. He finds Evelyn and they all rush back to the hotel, where they find Whemple's corpse, the life sucked right out of him and his eyes missing. Later than night, while Evelyn sleeps, Rick watches over her by sitting outside her room, but falls asleep. Banning admires himself in the mirror, when a blast of wind blows the window open and sand fills the room. Banning is lifted into the air and has his organs sucked out as Whemple did. Sand then enters Evelyn's room through the keyhole, at which point Imhotep, his body slowly regenerating, emerges. He approaches Evelyn and calls her Anck-su-Namun. He tries to kiss her, but she wakes up and screams. Rick charges into the room and shoots Imhotep, who explodes into sand and vanishes. Norton soon realizes that so far Imhotep has only killed those who stole the canopic jars, and that they were retrieved by him after the murders. He takes his own and tries to flee, unaware that Imhotep is stalking him. Norton wanders down a back alley and is then attacked by a swarm of flies. Meanwhile, Rick encounters Beni attempting to steal the last jar, and interrogates him. Beni at first refuses to answer honestly under Rick dangles him over a balcony; at which point Beni reveals that Imhotep wants to resurrect Anck-su-Namum by sacrificing Evelyn and allowing his lover's spirit to possess her body. When a crowd discovers Norton's body, Rick hears the commotion and Beni takes advantage of the distraction to knee Rick in the groin and escape. The remaining expedition members visit the local mueseum to try and find out more about Imhotep and encounter Ardeth Bay. Rick is at first wary of him, but Ardeth explains who the Medjai are and what they are doing. Rick spots Beni watching and tries to chase him. Imhotep appears and attacks the group. Chamberlain grabs the jar and tries to offer it to Imhotep, who furiously attacks him, drains him of his life force and then throws him across the room. Ardeth tries to attack Imhotep, but he has now fully regenerated and he hurls Ardeth away. Suddenly, fireballs come crashing down from the sky and destroy several buildings as well as incinerating numerous civilains. Imhotep grabs Evelyn and drags her away with him, along with the Scroll of Thoth, which he needs to complete the ceremony. Imhotep, accompanied by Beni, takes Evelyn with him back to Hamunaptra, pursued by Rick, Johnathan and Ardeth. They enter the city and make their way toward the sacrifical chamber, where Imhotep is about to begin the ritual. However, he unleashes his undead priests and a battle erupts. Rick tackles Imhotep and they fall down a flight of steps, while Johnathan and Ardeth fight of the zombies. The two are eventually cornered, but Ardeth buys Johnathan enough time to escape, although he is stabbed in the process. However, he detonates a hand grenade, sacrificing himself to take out the mummies. Rick pummels Imhotep, but seemingly to no effect. Imhotep gets up and beats Rick mercilessly. Before he can kill him, Johnathan frees Evelyn and she retrieves the Scroll of Thoth. She then lights it on fire with a torch, causing a fire to erupt from within Imhotep's body. He cries out in pain and falls to the floor, slowly burning to death before he eventually crumbles to dust, his last words being "Death is only the beginning." Elsewhere, Beni tries to loot the pyramid of it's treasures, but a series of earthquakes strikes the city and he falls into a pit of scorpions and is killed. Rick, Evelyn and Johnathan manage to escape the city and watch as Hamunaptra collapses into the sand. Rick then kisses Evelyn, and she kisses him back. The trio climb onto three camels and ride away, unaware that the camels are laden with Beni's treasure.
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