Director: Lee Cronin
Writer: Lee Cronin
Cast: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Verónica Falcón, Shylo Molina, Billie Roy, Hayat Kamille

Bearing the title The Mummy isn’t a small thing as it brings specific films to mind, namely the Universal horror movie of 1932, the Stephen Sommers film of 1999, and (maybe) the lacklustre Tom Cruise film of 2017. These films all fall under the umbrella of the franchise that began with The Mummy in ’32, as well as many other sequels, prequels, spin-offs and reboots, and now writer/director Lee Cronin presents his own (unrelated) version of the classic ancient-evil-returns-to-kill trope. Does Cronin’s reimagining top the list of Mummy-inspired films, or is this just another excuse for gore and shock tactics from the Evil Dead Rise director?

American investigative TV reporter Charlie Cannon (Reynor) lives with his pregnant wife Larissa (Costa) and their young children, Seb (Dean Allen Williams) and Katie (Emily Mitchell) in Cairo, Egypt. After Katie goes missing without a trace, the family relocate to Albuquerque, New Mexico where Charlie takes a research job. Eight years go by, and in that time, they have their third child, Maud (Roy). They are soon informed that Katie (Grace) has been found, alive but catatonic after apparently spending the previous years wrapped in parchment in a sarcophagus. Larissa insists on having Katie at home, but it soon becomes apparent that something horrendous happened to Katie eight years ago, and Charlie will stop at nothing to find out and to help his daughter before she destroys them all.

The premise of the film already sets a very dark tone – a young girl getting kidnapped and having something horrible happen to her? This clearly isn’t going to be your standard adventurers-in-the-desert-seek-ancient-mummy-for-the-end-of-the-world plot. Having an ancient entity enter the body of a child is horrific enough, but things are taken further as the child is unleashed on her own family. Cronin’s experience on the Evil Dead franchise clearly inspired much of his work here – the gore, the overuse of SFX, possession, children – and at times the inspiration almost turns to outright imitation, lending the film less originality than its premise would suggest. The overuse of SFX and gore is especially frustrating in the latter half of the film, as the first act does a superb job of laying the suspenseful groundwork only for the mid-second to third acts becoming oversaturated in visuals and shock tactics and less concerned with the story. The family dynamics are also inconsistent, with Charlie and Larissa appearing to be united one moment then at each other’s throats the next rather than there being a consistent divide between them, a divide that would make sense after Katie’s disappearance. Charlie is perhaps the most consistent character, with Larissa, Seb and Maud often appearing as side characters, making him the most sturdy point-of-view for the audience through his investigation.

Although the constant sound effects and gore relating to Katie’s disfigured body and her actions become contrived after a while, the make-up and prosthetics are top tier and make for a very creepy figure in Katie. Some of the VFX also lend a hand toward the fear-factor of the film, and the set design for the original placement of the sarcophagus certainly brings up those familiar feelings of suspense and dread that we usually feel when seeing such a thing in an Egyptian horror film setting. The abduction of Katie is also made all the more harrowing by part of it taking place during a sandstorm (though Charlie’s lack of sand in the mouth bothered me more than it probably should have), and the darkness of the “safe” spaces, such as the Egyptian police station interrogation room and the Cannons’ house, induce a constant uncomfortable feeling, as though we should always expect the unexpected, though many of the events end up being quite predictable.

I believe any child actors in a horror film should be especially commended amongst their peers and their adult castmates. It cannot be easy to perform under such circumstances, but I imagine it must have elements of fun, too. Billie Roy as Maud took on a lot, as Katie has a penchant for messing with Maud, and she gives a strong and often darkly comical performance for one so young. Shlyo Molina also does well as an older Seb, though the character could possibly have been pushed further emotionally after losing his sister at a young age, and Emily Mitchell as young Katie will put the fear in parents and reconsider how closely they guard their kids. Natalie Grace is utterly terrifying as older Katie in her mummy-state, her physical performance perhaps more disturbing than the dialogue she delivers. Jack Reynor cuts a solid figure as Charlie and has the more interesting scenes in the film, and Laia Costa as Larissa is at her best when opposite Reynor and challenging Charlie as the head of the family.

If you like a pretty straight-forward creepy, gory horror flick, this will likely be right up your street, but if you prefer a little more bark to your bite, you might come away a little disappointed by the end. The film could have had more legitimacy had more depth been considered where the Cannon family are concerned. Cronin’s Mummy easily builds momentum and gives quite a shock as it falls into the second half, but then peters out before reaching a somewhat satisfying, if rather restrained, climax. There’s plenty of room for a sequel, and I wouldn’t be mad about it if they decided to keep going, but with another Stephen Sommers’s Mummy film on the horizon, this particular mummy may perhaps be better left to rest before being risen again.