Tale of the Mummy (1998)

Centuries ago, under the sands of ancient Egypt, a prince was buried and his tomb eternally curses so that no man would ever again suffer from his evil ways. But hundreds of years later on ... See full summary »

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writers:

Keith Williams (story), Russell Mulcahy (story),

Stars:

Jason Scott Lee, Louise Lombard, Sean Pertwee

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Scott Lee	...	Riley
Louise Lombard	...	Samantha Turkel
Sean Pertwee	...	Bradley Cortese
Lysette Anthony	...	Dr. Claire Mulrooney
Michael Lerner	...	Professor Marcus
Jack Davenport	...	Detective Bartone
Honor Blackman	...	Captain Shea
Christopher Lee	...	Sir Richard Turkel
Shelley Duvall	...	Edith Butros
Gerard Butler	...	Burke
Jon Polito	...	Parsons
Ronan Vibert	...	Young
Bill Treacher	...	Stuart
Elizabeth Power	...	Mary
Roger W. Morrissey	...	The Mummy (as Roger Morrissey)

Storyline

Centuries ago, under the sands of ancient Egypt, a prince was buried and his tomb eternally curses so that no man would ever again suffer from his evil ways. But hundreds of years later on a greedy search for treasure, a group of archaeologists break the curses seal of the tomb. Every man vanishes without a trace, leaving behind only a log book - and a deadly warning of the legend of the bloodthursty TALOS. Fifty years later the log book ends up in the hands of the granddaughter of the head archaeologist, and she defiantly sets out to retrace his steps. Discovering the forbidden treasure, she recovers a sacred amulet and once again unleashes the savage power of the tomb. Racing through the streets of London, and against the force of a rare interplanetary lineup, she, along with the help of her original dig team and an American detective, desperately try to turn back the inhuman curse and to keep Talos from destroying all in his path in an attempt to gain immortal power.

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Plot Keywords:

egypt | dog | impalement | split head | supernatural | 

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Taglines:

The curse is legend. The terror is real.

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and gore, and for some language

Details

Country:

USA Luxembourg UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 1999 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

7th Voyage, Cine Grande Corporation, K.N.B. Effects Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Louise Lombard was a late casting choice replacing another actress who had to drop out because she had been bitten by a dog with Rabies.

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Quotes

Sir Richard Turkel: Richard Turkel, August 15th, 1948, Day: 262. Nine months of digging, finally an entrance has been discovered. My hunch proved correct that along this secluded stretch lie a series of tombs but who would be buried here? A Pharaoh I presume? Hidden Safely from ancient thieves. Today We uncover the truth!

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Connections

References The Mummy (1959)

User Reviews

Somewhat of a disappointment, but still alright

"Tale of the Mummy" is a better than expected though somewhat problematic entry.

**SPOILERS**

Discovering a long-lost Egyptian tomb, Samantha Turkel, (Louise Lombard) and her team, Bradley Cortese, (Sean Pertwee) Burke, (Gerald Butler) and Claire Mulrooney, (Lysette Anthony) bring the contents back to the British Museum. Putting it on display, a strange series of deaths around London being in Detective Riley, (Jason Scott Lee) from the US Embassy to help solve the case, as each victim was found to have a specific organ removed after death. Discovering that it is the work of Prince Talos, (Enzo) claimed to be one of the most ravenous men in Egyptian history, trying to collect the body parts required to resurrect himself, they race to stop him and put an end to his plans.

The Good News: this wasn't all that bad and had some good moments to it. One of the good things here is that the mummy is pretty interesting. Rather than being the slowly lumbering type, as this one can move about fairly quickly, it has two additional powers that are fun and really sets him apart. This one can fly about, which is a clever concept and visually impressive since it's something new. The other new factor is the ability to use it's bandages as tentacles, using them to ensnare it's victims and trap them like a cocoon. Even more impressive is the ability to unravel itself and reform using the tentacles to do that. It's a fun trick that looks impressive and is a real treat to watch. Another big plus is that there's a couple of rather well-done attacks in here, as the sequence at the police station is really nice, a pretty decent chase comes out of an encounter in the motel as the mummy really shows off some nice powers and there's a couple kills as well. Even the encounters in the subway and parking garage are really good and much better than expected. The best, though, is the film's opening, with there being a couple great things about it. The atmosphere is great, the setting is perfect and creepy with the usual business about a curse and the decorations used around the chamber. Once the curse is mentioned, it's all pretty fun watching the brutality emerge. Then, segueing into the recovery scenes of the later expedition being just as creepy is a big plus. The last positive here is the rather sizable body count. While there's only a few that are worthwhile, there's a lot that actually do get knocked off, and it does deliver the gore nicely on some of them. These here are what make the film somewhat entertaining and enjoyable.

The Bad News: This one didn't have a whole lot of problems going for it. The main one here is that there's a decided lack of gore to many of the kills. Despite the big body count, not a whole lot of the kills are all that graphic, mainly by design since it oddly uses the off-screen method for a lot of the kills or just dragged the victim away and leaving the sounds as the only clue that something is happening. There's a few of them which are done on-screen, which is enough to get them over but it really could've had much more in here by simply using it's kills a little better. The other area that this doesn't work is the rather odd and confusing ending. There's hardly anything about it that makes any sense, between the twist that doesn't seem logical or even makes sense, to the actions of the ceremony and the specific guidelines which are required, the whole thing is just confusing and doesn't really have anything all that logical about it. These here are what lower the film and keep it down.

The Final Verdict: Some good stuff in here and a couple of somewhat troubling flaws lower this one somewhat but not all that much. Give it a shot if you're into the genre or have an interest in the film, while those who aren't that big on the genre will probably find this one to be more problematic.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity