LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is never short on wickedly gruesome and blood curdling moments, largely thanks to the film’s outstanding technicals and brilliant performance of Natalie Grace as the titular monster, which as a whole are enough to compensate for its narrative shortcomings that sadly relinquish Cronin’s second feature as standard horror fare that stands out amongst the many offerings of the genre.

It is not a common occurrence for director’s names to be attached to the title of a film. This usually signifies a significant artistic vision of that director and a brand recognition that based on the director’s name alone, audiences will venture out to the cinema for the film. Directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Zack Snyder and Guy Ritchie have all had this honour, each a formidable force in their own regard who have crafted their signature style to warrant such treatment. After rebooting the Evil Dead franchise to great success with 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, writer and director Lee Cronin turned his eye to another historic horror property: The Mummy. While it is still early in his career to have this prestigious name treatment on only his third feature film, he works hard to earn it with what he conjures up on screen in Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. There is no denying the visual effects, makeup and sound design of the film are impressive and help Cronin to deliver a frightening nightmare on screen, but the rather generic possession based narrative that unfolds fails to truly capitalize on the lore of this legendary horror monster.

When audiences think of The Mummy, instantly Egypt, the pyramids and ancient curses come to mind as well as the bandaged wrapped, titular creature. And while Cronin uses all of these tropes and more in setting up the premise of his film, what he has written in terms of the horror moments and where the story goes, it never truly feels like a Mummy film. Playing with the possessed child trope, with a gruesome wickedness and hint of gallows humour, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy feels like a rejected Evil Dead script (in a good way) with elements of The Exorcist sprinkled in, as Katie takes a gleeful pride in the way she torments her family. Not helping Cronin either is a bloated runtime of two hours and fourteen minutes, as the screenplay spends too much time in the middle act, lingering unnecessarily long exploring the mystery of what happened to Katie and showing creepy moments within the Cannon house, which could have been reduced to result in a tighter paced film. As whole, it’s not a bad story especially in the final act where Katie unleashes her true wrath (even if that wrath feels more similar to a deadite than a mummy), delivering a twisted big screen spectacle that will have audiences covering their eyes constantly throughout the film, but apart from the sand storm of the final act, all of the hijinx’s caused by Katie feel far too generic and commonplace to make this film worthy of Mummy branding.

What is undeniable about the film is the below the line craftsmanship on display. Horror works best when it is not reliant on CGI, and Cronin understands this with a heavy emphasis on practical visual effects for the majority of the film apart from a few moments of necessary CGI. It gives the film an unnerving quality as while your mind tells you that this story is not real, but visually it feels real on screen. The makeup design and prosthetics work to turn Natalie Grace into the mummified Katie is outstanding, turning this young actress into a true monster that only helps fuel her chilling performance. Every disturbing set piece in the film is complemented by copious amounts of fake blood, skin peeling prosthetics and with the incredible sound design that roars through the speakers, there is a high probability that Cronin’s twisted vision will have you watching a large portion of this film between your fingers as you cover your eyes due to the horrifying imagery on screen.

The horror genre has seen lots of great performances recently, and while they are not the requisite for a great horror film, it never hurts to have a strong cast, and Cronin has assembled one to mixed results. As the film’s parents, Jack Reynor and Laia Costa give decent performances, capturing the overwhelming and mixed emotions faced by their characters. But, the writing gives each of them one emotion to play constantly throughout the entire film, causing their work to become tired as the story progresses, resulting in their efforts to feel one note and become ultimately forgettable. May Calamawy is decent as Dalia Zaki, the Egyptian detective investigating Katie’s mysterious re-appearance, helping to create the most intriguing protagonist of the entire film with a strong screen presence , even if the screenplay does not give her character enough of a meaty role. While all of the child actors in the film are good, the entire film belongs to Grace as Katie who gives a career-making performance. Lots of the film requires her to remain silent, but the undeniable dread and unflinching terror that Grace brings to the film, making every contortionist movement of her body or clicking sound scream louder than words as Grace delivers a terrifying performance that will rattle viewers to their core. Not only is her work the best performance of the film, but Grace is the linchpin of the entire film that allows Cronin’s vision to effectively come to life on screen.

Down right diabolical and gruesome to say the least, Lee Cronin has doubled down on the madness and torture that he displayed in Evil Dead Rise in his latest film, and that is reason enough to celebrate. Though it is far from perfect, stumbling in the narrative department with a film that overstays its welcome and never truly lives up to the legacy of the titular monster with a rather generic story that could fit a number of different horror stories not related to mummies, the set pieces are beyond disturbing and brought to life by excellent filmmaking that ensures that Lee Cronin’s The Mummy has the right amount of gas in its tank to give viewers nightmares. With outstanding visual effects, makeup and prosthetics and an immersive sound design that all work together to amplify the terrifyingly brilliant performance of Natalie Grace, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy becomes a scream worthy vision of unrestrained horrors that has the right amount of twisted and bloody imagery to overcome its familiarity and inability to fully capitalize on the legacy of the horror property.