Ancient evil Bram Stoker’s name is most often featured in the news about new film adaptations of his immortal vampire classic, Dracula. However, he has many equally outstanding works. According to one of them, this film, called “The Legend of the Mummy”, was shot.
The plot begins with the fact that the famous Egyptologist Abel Trelawney is found in his own house, mutilated with some scars. While Trelawney is in a coma, his daughter Margaret summons her ex-boyfriend Robert White to the ancient family estate to help her survive the tragedy. Upon arrival at the mansion, Wyatt immediately notices that his other tenants are extremely frightened by the very pressing atmosphere of the house and the strange mystical events taking place in it. It turns out that Abel brought to the house many artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs, including mummies, which were revived by an ancient curse.
The film is very atmospheric: the action takes place in a really gloomy house, and only occasionally moves to San Francisco. Actually, “The Legend of the Mummy” belongs to the pantheon of mummies films, which are set not in Ancient Egypt, along with “Prince of Egypt” by Russell Mulcahy, “Ancient Evil” by David De Coto and other films. And is not lost against their background - the picture is very qualitatively made, brilliantly shot and played out, and, in addition, simply interesting. There is something to see and in addition to mummies, which, I must say, appear in the film only periodically - the whole film is a kind of investigation of the main character of the circumstances of the tragedy.
As for some technical aspects, there are no complaints: the authors pump up the atmosphere as it should, wonderful actors are very convincing in their roles, disturbing music adds a degree of tension, and periodic reprisals of mummies over the residents of the house add to the film pluses. It should be noted, however, that there are no particularly disturbing scenes of violence here - the attempt from the introduction takes place behind the scenes, but at the same time there are very impressive and terrible episodes of strangulation with bandages, pulling a person into a sand tank, burning alive and much more - death in the tape is exclusively original, and, again, it is clear that the creators of the "legends of the mummy", first of all, focused on the atmosphere.
The actors are incomparable: the main character is played by Eric Lutes, who at one time starred in various kinds of “road-to-dvd” horrors such as chic “Marabunta” or “Abode of Evil Beasts”. His lover is played by Amy Lockein, now known for her criminal history, who gives her character a kind of “demonic” with her specific appearance. Mark Lindsay Chapman is persuasive as a slightly paranoid detective, while Louis Gosset Jr. shines as Abel Trelawney’s fanatical companion and Ancient Egypt expert. There are relatively few characters in the film, but they are all very memorable.
In general, it is a very, very good horror movie for those who, firstly, love the work of Stoker, secondly, love films about mummies and generally paintings on Egyptian themes (albeit indirectly shown), and thirdly, connoisseurs of good atmospheric stories. To the highest score, the tape is slightly short, but the score is still very, very high!
9 out of 10