Dawn of the Mummy

Dawn of the Mummy (1981)

** (out of 4)

Rather stupid but interesting American-Egyptian-Italian co-production has a group of fashion models heading to the pyramids of Egypt for a photo shoot. Sadly for them they show up just as a curse has been released with a mummy looking to eat people. Not only that but this mummy brings some zombie servants with him.

DAWN OF THE MUMMY, as the title suggests, is trying to cash-in on Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD but it goes a step further and appears to have been really influenced by Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE, which of course was released in Italy as a sequel to the Romero movie. This film isn't all that well made and features several flaws and boring moments but at the same time it's rather unique and has enough going for it to make it worth sitting through.

What I enjoyed most about the film was the actual mummy. The actor playing the part was extremely skinny and this gives the mummy a very unique look and helps separate it from other films in the genre. I also liked the actual look of it with an almost tar-like quality. The zombies aren't quite as interesting but who's going to frown on a mummy and zombies in the same film? The gore is scattered throughout but once the finale hits we get some very good gore effects with several people bitten and chewed up.

The performances really aren't anything special and there's no question that whenever the mummy isn't on the screen that the film becomes boring. Still, DAWN OF THE MUMMY has a great monster and enough gore to keep it entertaining.

Usual plot of an ancient Egyptian prince having his tomb broken into - this time by gold hunters AND a group of American models on a fashion shoot - and wreaking his revenge. The good points are that this was actually shot in Egypt, the sight of the Prince's zombie servants rising out of the sand is really good and there is, eventually, a fair smattering of gore. The soundtrack is pretty groovy too. Bad points are - terrible acting/dialogue, it's quite slow for it's first half & the gore is pretty cheap looking, not a patch on say Dawn of the Dead or Zombie Flesh Eaters. The film was seized by police under Section 3 in Britain during the Video Nasties era, before being passed with cuts. Now uncut. It is pretty tame by today's gore standards. No question, this is a bad movie but for those of us who enjoy an Italian gorefest then it makes fun viewing. I watched it uncut on pre cert VHS which adds to the experience.

You might actually get into this grade-z cannibal mummy movie. I know I did. The plot concerns the desecration of a centuries-old tomb, with the standard curse on it (an obligatory pre-credit sequence establishes that anybody who desecrates the tomb will be folded, spindled, and mutilated). The moron who unearths the tomb centuries later allows an equally moronic crew of fashion models and photographers to conduct a photo shoot amid the ruins, despite the fact that a priceless collection of spray-painted flowerpots and dollar-store statues is reportedly stashed somewhere in the tomb's two or three corridors. OK, there wasn't much of a budget.

So guess what? There is a mummy that comes back to life, but more importantly the mummy brings with him a whole bunch of zombies in rotting leisure suits (not very fashionable at all, really). They don't really do anything for a while except hide in the shadows and stare at people, but they do manage to kill off one or two dumb bunnies, like in one outrageously stupid set piece that takes place in an oasis. Yeah...these two models leave camp and ride their horses to the oasis to do a little skinny dipping, then one of them gets out of the water and discovers that the horses have bolted. So what does she do? Heads back to camp on her own, leaving the other one behind. Enter mummy and cohorts, stage left.

A lot of inspiration is drawn from Fulci's "Zombi 2", particularly one sequence involving a zombie attack during a wedding party. The groom unveils the room where his bride is preparing herself, only to discover mummy zombies eating her corpse, just like Mrs. Menard in "Zombi 2". Some of the makeup even resembles that film, only Fulci obviously had a lot more to work with than this director did.

The attack of these mummy-zombies has to be seen to be believed, especially the climactic village raid following the wedding party. I don't know how many of these undead assailants there are supposed to be, since they only really show about four or five of them on screen at the same time, but they are pretty nimble for being zombies and all. They are able to pluck people out of moving vehicles, chase running people down, and more importantly, they are able to strangle their victims in mere seconds. Oh yeah, they are able to make flesh rot with just a single touch, too, a concept that gains some points for originality. Watch for the two zombies who fight over the dead bride's severed forearm, proving that social problems continue on after death.

My review was written in December 1981 after a 42nd St. (Anco theater) screening: Latest in the longtime series of mummy films (over 30 so far worldwide) is a gory, low-budget exercise filmed on location in Egypt. Producert Frank Agrama (whose last presumably completed effort, "Queen Kong", has sat on the shelf for the past five years), took over directing this opus from original helmer Armand Weston during production, and resulting picture is a disconnected series of corny scenes. Commercial prospects are grim, with only the gore as a selling point.

Weak premise as an Egyptian royal personage entombed circa 3000 B. C., with his guards also buried. All will rise with him some day and kill any desecrators of the sealed tomb. Pic's tone is set immediately with camera recording the removal of organs from the royal corpse as part of the mummification process.

Three present-day graverobbers searching for gold open the tomb and in a ridiculous coincidence are joined by a U. S. crew shooting glamor mag photo layouts of pretty models, looking for interesting backdrops. Instead of using sacred Tana leaves, this mummy is revived by the heat of the photog's lights.

Mummy is an impressive dude, tall and thin, with body bandaged and face uncovered. Besides the usual choking, his aides are into cannibalism, biting chunks out of the graverobbers (and numerous bystanders) and feeding gruesomely on entrails in the manner of recent film zombies.

Cast overacts miserably, with direct-sound English track instead of the usual dubbing. This picture should be entombed permanently.

Since HBO/Thorn EMI's domestic video release has long since been retired, the film itself has become a rarity and sought after by many a horror fan. And, I was no exception. Even when the film was in print, I still had trouble. When I was a kid, all the "cool looking" horror films I wanted to see where never available at the video store my family went to, but rather at video stores in other cities and such. This was the case with "DAWN OF THE MUMMY" and I finally secured a copy after all these years. Less than one hour later, my unknowing plight with insomnia had been cured.

First of all, I don't care what anyone says, this is NOT an Italian horror film. This common rumor is not only inaccurate but inappropriate to an established style of filmmaking. What we have here is an American and Arabian co-production, and it shows.

The pacing is absolutely horrible. After spending 40 minutes of ridiculous padding, we finally see the resurrection of an actual mummy. This particular shot is edited quite nicely and stands as one of the two interesting sequences throughout the film. The other, takes place several minutes later, when a horde of flesh hungry mummified zombies rise from the sands of the desert. And, there you have it. That's it. Back to the slo-mo carnage.

If you want blood, you've got it... Sloppy Joe style. Most fans of zombie films crave the gore sequences, and I suppose I do as well to some extent. If it is handled in the right way, it can add to the film, but if it maintains the inept "BURIAL GROUND" approach, as this film does, I soon lose interest.

All in all, I can only recommend the film for it's terrific poster artwork (which lured me to watching it in the first place), a great score and the two sequences mentioned earlier.

That's all for now.