Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is kind of a mess in terms of both writing and the gratuitous gore. I have a pretty stout stomach when it comes to excessive gore because I know I am watching a movie, and I know no one is actually getting eviscerated or whatever, but this one got to the point where I was almost bored with the over-the-top, lingering deaths. It felt that Lee Cronin was in some kind of contest to see which horror film director could disgust me more. Yes, it was disgusting, but I experienced a more derisive form of the sensation.
Cronin both wrote and directed this film, so he really only has himself to blame for the many problems here.
Jack Reynor and Laia Costa play the parents of the Cannon family. Other cast members include Natalie Grace, Veronica Falcon, May Calamawy, and Hayat Kamille.
The film starts off when an Egyptian family find an old pyramid with a sarcophagus which contains a very ancient occupant who is not exactly completely dead. An American family living in Cairo subsequently have their oldest daughter abducted after she had befriended one of the locals named Layla. A frantic search yielded no clues or resolution until eight years later. By this point, the Cannon family had a third child and moved to New Mexico. A plane crash has occurred, and Katie is found in a sarcophagus in some strange catatonia and a tendency to cut herself. She is returned to her family in New Mexico, and as expected, matters get much stranger. The family had developed an alliance with an Egyptian detective over the years who helps the family piece together the horrific ordeal Katie suffered in her separation from her family. Meanwhile, an ancient evil is gaining strength and getting ready to unleash horrific torments on the Cannon family and anyone else in its path.
We have seen this kind of thing before. Cronin really goes for broke on the when it comes to the gore. Some of the scenes have flashes of cleverness. There are some effective jump scare moments.
The parents come off as somewhat dense at times, but that may be an unfair assessment since it’s hard to say what could be the sensible thing to do during such an extraordinary event. There wasn’t anyone in the family who I found to be all that uniquely interesting or smart. The father, played by Jack Reynor, kind of does some legwork to work with the detective and piece together what particular demon has hold of his daughter.
There is a character who suffers one of the most gratuitous and absurd death than I have seen in some time.
Cronin just seemed to sample from a bunch of these possession films and crammed them into something just to push the envelope.
There is kind of a worthwhile comeuppance in the end which was not entirely unsatisfactory.
As much denigration I have heaped on this film, it isn’t the worst I have seen. It’s just another possession movie that is trying to gross the audience out more than presenting a compelling scary story. Some may find more value than I did, but I will just consider them flat out wrong and hope to catch a better cinematic experience next time.
