The Mummy: Resurrection

THE MUMMY: RESURRECTION is another film where the video cover looks like it cost more to produce than the movie itself. It's a British horror indie which seems to have been filmed entirely in a small enclosed set with a single character sitting behind a desk and chatting to others. There's the briefest of effects to animate the title character, but it's as lame a scene as you'd expect. The camerawork is okay - what little there exists of it - but the almost absolute dearth of action and incident makes this talky, overlong, and entirely without merit. I suppose the actors are slightly better than expected given the genre, but this really isn't good.

Needless to say that I had actually never heard about this 2022 horror movie from writer and director Steve Lawson titled "The Mummy: Resurrection" prior to getting to sit down here in 2023 to watch it.

I found the movie's cover interesting and since it was a movie that I had never seen or heard of before, and it being a horror movie at that, of course I opted to watch "The Mummy: Resurrection".

And I did manage to sit through the entire movie, but I was not even adequately entertained. The storyline in the movie did have some promise to it, but writer Steve Lawson just never really put any real force behind the drive, which made for a somewhat monotonous and dull movie experience. There were elements to the storyline that was interesting, for sure, but the overall impression of "The Mummy: Resurrection" was a less than mediocre movie experience.

The acting performances in "The Mummy: Resurrection" were fair enough. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble, and while you're not in for a stellar top notch performance, then I will say that the cast did put on a fair enough performance. It was a rather small cast ensemble, and they were restricted by a subpar script.

Visually then "The Mummy: Resurrection" was okay. I mean, it is not an over-the-top special effects movie, and whatever little effects were there seemed to do their job well enough. It was, however, really difficult to take the mummy seriously, especially since it was a rather well-preserved, plump and pristine body for something that was supposed to have been dead for more than 4000 years.

As for "The Mummy: Resurrection" being a horror movie, no. This wasn't a horror movie, it was a supernatural drama at best, not even close to being a thriller.

My rating of "The Mummy: Resurrection" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars. The narrative in the movie was just simply too slow paced and uneventful.

I was surprised to find that they can still make good mummy movies in this day and age where they are usually trying to be politically and ethically correct.

There is nothing gratuitous or over exaggerated. We do not get long Ayn Rand type dissertations. Well maybe "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle. She died young."

A treasure or antique hunter Felix, played by Melvyn Rawlinson, discovers a jewel encrusted sarcophagus. Naturally, it is cursed and everyone that touches it dies a thousand deaths.

Destined to die Felix left strict instructions to hide the deadly sarcophagus. But will his nephews, one greedy and the other fascinated with reanimation obey Felix's wishes or will there be havoc?

Will there be a twisty type ending?

Cover your eyes.

Arriving at his uncle's house, a down-on-his-luck gambler hoping to gain an inheritance instead receives nothing and decides to stay there with his cousin to look over the remains left behind in their care including a cursed mummy that threatens to pull them into a deadly scenario.

This was a pretty fun and generally enjoyable genre effort. Among the films' better qualities here is the rather fun setup here featuring some pretty intriguing qualities. As we're initially given quite a fantastic insight into the need to repay his bookie that goes alongside the news of the inheritance, which is a way out of that situation, the need to visit the family house where everything takes place. The knowledge about his ailing condition and how the curse starts to take shape all combine together to give the film a highly impressive starting point. That provides a great launching pad to undertake the curse aspect as a central part of the film. Conducting a series of intriguing deductions based on the behavior of others they've been around, the investigation into the cause of what's going on provides the reveal about the potential cause of the curse as a hallucinatory experience rather than a physical being. This approach to a mummy genre effort is a unique enough spin on the formula that allows for the typical shuffling scenes to appear as hallucinations in the midst of the cause. Due to this, there's some controversial action here as it moves into the final half. As this is more about the process required to bring it back to life through some highly controversial methods of getting the necessary fluids required for the performance and how that's going to affect the rest of their interactions, there's a quite unique and unconventional approach taken here. Introducing the real creature at the end is a great concept and brings about the few bits of gore here which is a rather fun time while setting up the highly enjoyable factors here. There are some factors that bring this one down. What hurts this one is the strange introduction of the reanimation plotline at the very end when it could've made a more intriguing addition to the film had it not been seen as a means of continuing the storyline about needing to pay back his debts. It feels way too big of a concept to be introduced as an afterthought like it is, while the concept of what the film does during this whole section holds up the traditional shambling mummy so it might upset some genre fans. Alongside the low-budget feel of this one, these factors are its drawbacks.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Ageing "Uncle Felix" (Melvyn Rawlinson) isn't feeling up to snuff, so consults his physician who tells him that he hasn't long for the world. He's been an explorer and archaeologist all his life and has decided to leave everything to the British Museum - whether they want it or not - save for one mysterious box that is to be bricked in, permanently, to the cellar of the home which he is leaving to nephew "Archie" (Rafe Bird). Meantime, the slightly dodgy "Everett" (Chris Bell) is having some trouble with some local nasties and when he learns of this sarcophagus to be encased, he decides to explore. Might it be cursed? Might it contain the vengeful remains of a long-buried Pharaonic princess? Well it might but to be honest the mummy clearly read the script and decided to skip as much of the proceedings here as possible. This is essentially just a nicely filmed "Tales of the Unexpected" style eighty-odd minutes of verbiage. There isn't the merest hint of menace or peril, the visual effects really do smack of the proverbial smoke and mirrors and the pace of this film rivals that of a terminally ill tortoise treading in treacle. It's clearly made for television, but quite whose is anyone's guess. Indeed, it is actually all a pretty pointless, meandering, story devoid of anything substantial - by way of writing, acting or mythology, and the ending made me think that surely auteur Steve Lawson wasn't thinking of a "Return of...". Sorry, but you ought not to waste your time on this, however much you may like the genre.