After going missing in Cairo eight years ago, Charlie & Larissa Cannon’s daughter Katie is found alive but was discovered partially mummified in a sarcophagus, and the family quickly starts to realize that something supernatural might be at play and involved with their daughter and her disappearance.
Not to spoil anything, but as you would expect in a mummy movie, there is a tomb, and I really enjoyed not only the design of it, but also the use of shadows and darkness, which was very effective and a cool visual; it’s definitely one of the creepiest-looking mummy movies. I’ve ever seen
For the most part, I enjoyed the family in this. The director is really good at getting natural and funny performances out of his actors, and he is especially good with children. He knows how to make them funny and cute but not to the point where it seems like they’re trying too hard; it comes out very genuine.
I also enjoyed how the story built the mystery of who and why Katie went missing, like the kidnapper seemed like they didn't want to do this, but something was compelling them to, and that certainly hooked me to want to know what was going on.
Just to warn people ahead of time, but this movie gets nasty. Cronin took a lot from his last Evil Dead film and applied it here. The direction and style feel very Sam Raimi-inspired (which I like that style also; I was cool with it), with a lot of wild camera movements and extreme close-ups, not to mention a lot of contouring body parts, squishy guts, and crispy skin, not to mention a good amount of blood and projectile bile. Big props to the Foley artist for going above and beyond on this one lol.
I would have to say my favorite character is Dalia Zaki, a detective (played by May Calamawy) who is investigating Katie’s reappearance, and she was very straightforward, down-to-earth, sympathetic, and smart. Plus, it was just kind of fun watching her unravel the mystery of what’s going on.
So in the first third, I liked how we were developing this family and their unique dynamic, and then in the second half, while still interesting, I do feel like the story started to hit a lot of the clichés of “possession movies"; you’ll have the possessed person say something creepy in a very low demonic tone, creepy things start happening around the house, people float, and jump scares are aplenty. And like I said, Cronin has enough unique camera shots and gross-out moments to keep it interesting and engaging.
But it does lean more on the familiar.
Another standout for me was Verónica Falcón as Katie‘s grandma; she brought a lot of humor and sass to the role. It was a very sympathetic and grounding character amongst all this supernatural craziness.
Like I mentioned, all the special effects and gore were very well done, so big props to the special effects department; you guys killed it… Literally in some cases lol.
I can see some people getting frustrated with the parents in the second half, and I understand that after so long, finally getting their daughter back, they become very protective of her, but they also ignore some pretty red flags the size of a barn in the process, so I can see some people feeling disconnected with that, but it doesn’t get too bad, I will say.
There are some interesting set pieces. I will say there is one with a nail clipper that had me squirming and another one that takes place in these little tunnels in between the walls that was pretty neat.
There’s a creepy VHS video that’s brought into the story, and I always enjoy when that story element is brought to a movie; something about VHS in the grains just adds to the unsettling factor that I enjoy.
The movie also could’ve been a little bit shorter, not too much, but it does run a little long, and with maybe a tighter edit the film could’ve popped a little more, but what we got for the most part did have pretty good pacing, and I was engaged throughout, so it’s always nice lol.
The third act is a little predictable and definitely leans more towards the demonic possession cliché than mummy clichés, but I did kind of enjoy the final part in a sort of Twisted Tales from the Crypt (no pun intended, lol) twist ending kind of way… If you think about it too hard, there are a few plot holes, but for the most part you can go for it, and it is a very cathartic moment, which is nice.
This film has definitely been getting mixed reviews from critics and audiences, and for me personally, I enjoyed the film. I can understand people‘s criticisms of it feeling more like an exorcist movie than a mummy movie, especially with that last exorcist movie, “Exorcist: Believer," and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice a few shared plot points between the two, but being mummies and demons are very similar supernatural creatures, so I’m having some gimmick was never too distracting to me. Plus, the story was done better than Believer, so the movie definitely gets extra points for enjoyment value. But the story isn’t anything mind-blowing either, so I guess it depends on what you want out of this movie. I wanted just a well-told creepy mummy movie, which I got, so I’m satisfied. I give the film somewhere between 3 1/2 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 and four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. What can I say? I was really… Wrapped up in the story lol
No comments:
Post a Comment