Lee Cronin’s The Mummy review: Relentless hardcore horror
‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ is a spine-chilling reimagining of the classic monster story that keeps audiences on edge until the end.
There are a lot of standard stories repeated in pop culture. They may get contemporary updates or be reimagined to reflect current events. But they’re still recognizable versions of the original, even when fresh perspectives result in significant changes. It doesn’t make one better than another, but they may appeal to different audiences. Most modern-day genre fans appreciate the Universal Monster franchise, but don’t consider them frightening. Recently, Blumhouse began producing creepier remakes of pictures from the catalogue with general success. Lee Cronin’s The Mummy delivers a startling update to the creature classic.
Charlie (Jack Reynor), his pregnant wife, Larissa (Laia Costa), and their two children, Sebastián (Shylo Molina) and Katie (Natalie Grace), are living in Cairo, where Charlie works as a TV reporter. Knowing the move is temporary, everyone is making the best of their time before heading back to the U.S. But on the verge of their return, Katie disappears. Eight years later, they find her alive in a 3,000-year-old sarcophagus. Nearly catatonic, she can’t tell anyone what happened to her. While Larissa focuses on caring for their daughter, Charlie’s instincts push him to investigate her kidnapping. With the help of an Egyptian detective (May Calamawy), they find out the truth can’t be unseen.
A movie from producers James Wan and Jason Blum is not going to be light on horror. In fact, this film uncompromisingly delivers scares, gore and an eerie atmosphere. It’s hard to believe Cronin, who also wrote and directed the surprisingly creepy Evil Dead Rise, could create a more unsettling film. Yet he does exactly that in this movie. He depicts things that will make audiences squirm, while planting them firmly on the edges of their seats.
The film is unlike any recent horror movie, which makes it unpredictable. There are some standards of the mummy lore, such as sandstorms, scorpions and mystical wrappings. But it goes beyond anything else ever made about the Egyptian monster. Cronin slowly builds tension so viewers know something is about to happen, but can’t guess what exactly is coming. The film is constantly escalating, compelling audiences to wonder how much worse it can get. It finally reaches a boiling point in the third act. Then it plateaus because everything that’s happening is so horrifying, there’s no longer a measure of worse.
Katie’s kidnapping is the alarming catalyst for the rest of the narrative. Audiences see who takes her, but the rest of the details are fuzzy. Gradually, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit into place, revealing the bigger, haunting picture. The mystery unfolds in parallel to the possession story. Katie’s captivity deformed her body and it deteriorates further as the evil inside her grows stronger. It’s a visceral form of body horror amplified by the frailness of her small form. In the meantime, the malevolence spreads its tentacles through the house, latching onto everyone Katie loves.
This film is a horror movie in the truest sense of the word. It’s designed to make audiences uncomfortable, while using their curiosity to keep them glued to the screen. The unconventional yet skilful set designs make hiding and evasion another way to unnerve viewers. Even normal sounds, like footsteps, boom through the house, quickening heartbeats. By the time it gets to the last act, there’s no relief from the tension that’s gradually drawn tighter over the course of the picture.
Cronin’s take is not for the faint of heart. But it spoils fans looking for the genre trinity: horror, terror and gore.
Director: Lee Cronin
Starring: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa and Natalie Grace
