- "One night, they're doing this show, and the thing comes to life. And the few who made it out alive swore to their dying day that it still roams the bogs... these very bogs we're working in."
- ―The director
| "Mummy, Daddy" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | October 27th, 1985 |
| Writers | Earl Pomerantz; Steven Spielberg |
| Director | William Dear |
| Producers | Joshua Brand; John Falsey; Kathleen Kennedy; Frank Marshall; David E. Vogel; Steven Spielberg; Steve Starkey; Stephen Semel |
| Starring | Tom Harrison; Bronson Pinchot; Brion James; Tracey Walter; Larry Hankin |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Alamo Jobe" |
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"Mummy, Daddy" is the fourth episode of season one of the television series Amazing Stories. Directed by William Dear and written by Earl Pomerantz, the episode first aired on NBC on Sunday, October 27th, 1985. In this episode, a monster movie actor named Harold learns that his pregnant wife has gone into labor and he must hurry to the hospital to meet her. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for him to remove his mummy costume. Along his frantic journey, Harold is mistaken for a real mummy by the local town villagers.
Synopsis[]
Harold is an actor playing the role of a mummy in a horror movie. The director finishes a scene and breaks for lunch. In lieu of how much time it would take to get Harold out of his wrappings and re-wrap him after lunch, the director recommends staying in costume. Inside of Harold's trailer, the director tells him that he chose this specific location in the bayou, because rumor has it that it was once the territory of an actual mummy known as Ra Amin Ka. Harold begins laughing and thinks that the entire story is foolish. Just then, they receive a telephone call informing them that Harold's pregnant wife is about to go into labor. Still dressed up in full mummy attire, Harold races out of the trailer and hops into his car to meet his wife at a hospital in Gridley.
Along the way, his car runs low on gas and he stops to refuel. The gas station attendant, Ezra, is inside his office watching a classic mummy movie when Harold walks up. The attendant is scared out of his mind and begins screaming. Harold is startled by the man's antics and runs off into the night.
As he continues traveling, he comes upon a truck load of rednecks who mistake him for an actual mummy. They begin firing shots at him and Harold, unable to explain his situation due to the prosthetic props in his mouth, is forced to flee again.
He runs further into the bayou until he comes upon a small cabin. A blind man invites him inside and offers him some tea. Harold accepts the man's generosity until the man begins feeling Harold's hands and arms. Recognizing the sensation of cloth bandages, he turns in fear and runs towards the back of his shack. Amongst the various bric-a-brac in the cabin is the sarcophagus containing the real Ra Amin Ka. The true mummy springs to life and lurches forward. Harold is terrified and runs out into the night. Ra Amin Ka chases him through a cemetery, but the mummy stumbles and falls into a freshly dug grave.
Harold gets closer to town, but as he does so, he runs into the truck driver, Willie Joe, that he encountered earlier. Willie Joe, having already informed the town locals of the presence of Ra Amin Ka is ready to execute him. The villagers are present and they round Harold and attempt to decide what to do with him. Willie Joe posits several ideas such as putting a stake in his heart, setting him on fire or using silver bullets on him. Ezra, an apparent aficionado on monster folklore, tells him that these methods won't work on a mummy. The trucker decides to hang him, citing that lynching works on everybody. Harold protests, but his words only sound like jumbled grunts through his mask. They sit him on top of a horse and place a noose around his neck. As the driver urges the horse to bolt, the noose slips off and Harold bounds away from the scene on the back of the horse.
He eventually reaches the hospital (where he ties the horse reins to an elderly woman's walker) and rushes inside to find his wife. Searching from room to room, he scares several patients until finally a hospital security guard tries to get him to leave. Harold knows that the lynch mob is outside waiting for him. As he turns around however, he sees an orderly wheeling his wife past him on a gurney. She tells the security guard that this mummy is her husband and then shows Harold his newborn baby girl. The lynch mob are watching the event from outside and their tempers settle down as they watch Harold cradling his daughter. The gas station attendant intones in a raspy voice, "The mummy's a daddy!"
Meanwhile, Ra Amin Ka wanders all the way back to the movie set. The director and other crew members, believing that he is actually Harold, begin removing his wrappings.
Cast[]
Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tom Harrison | Harold |
| Bronson Pinchot | Director |
| Brion James | Willie Joe |
| Tracey Walter | Ezra |
| Larry Hankin | Jubal |
Co-Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Lucy Lee Flippen | Librarian |
| William Frankfather | Mayor |
| Arnold Johnson | Town Sage |
| Michael Zand | Ra Amin Ka |
With[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Len Lesser | Old grave robber |
| Billy Beck | Old blind man |
| Brian Bradley | Actor |
| JoAnn Willette | Ruta Mae |
| Pamela Seamon | Assistant director |
| Elden Ratliff | Freckle-faced boy |
| Dalton Cathey | Doctor |
| Oliver Dear | Young grave robber |
| Susan Dear | Harold's wife |
| Bill Martin | Guard |
Notes & Trivia[]
- This episode has been made available on the Amazing Stories: The Complete First Season DVD collection.
- The story is allegedly inspired by an actual event when famed Frankenstein Monster actor Boris Karloff was forced to leave the set of a film in full makeup to attend to the birth of his child.
- The film that Ezra is watching inside the gas station is The Mummy's Hand starring Lon Chaney, Jr.
- Director William Dear is the father of Oliver Dear who plays the young grave robber in this episode.
- First horror genre work for composer Danny Elfman. Elfman is also known for creating the theme song for The Simpsons and for his distinctive stylistic scores as featured in films such as Beetlejuice and the 1989 Batman film and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. Elfman's first work in a horror feature film is 1990's Nightbreed.
See also[]
External Links[]
