Lee Cronin’s ‘The Mummy’ – Review Thread

The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she's returned to them. However, what should be a joyful reunion soon turns into a living nightmare as she starts to transform into something truly horrifying.

Director: Lee Cronin

Cast: Jack Reynor, May Calamawy, , Laia Costa, Billie Roy

Rotten Tomatoes: 53%

Metacritic: 36 / 100

Some Reviews:

DEADLINE – Gregory Nussen

Most damning may be that the film is just not very scary. It is appreciably nasty, with bouts of peeling skin and mangled toenails and pools upon pools of vomit leading the way. The final act does more to demonstrate the rot of the family unit — in not dissimilar ways to Cronin’s previous work — than the previous two hours and change. But it would’ve been nice if that narrative work and characterization was more readily visible. Instead, too much of the film is hidden away behind layer upon layer of mummification.

IGN – Siddhant Adlakha – 7 / 10

There are better horror films out there, but few represent such an unhinged tonal swing from a Hollywood studio, as though Lee Cronin’s The Mummy had slipped through the cracks of good-taste PR and carefully crafted brand consciousness. When was the last time the multiplex played host to something that not only contained some semblance of a soul, but was also this boldly repugnant?

IndieWire – David Ehrlich – 'C-'

Anyone eager to watch a possessed child peel semi-congealed strips of rotten flesh off their leg could certainly do worse at the multiplex this weekend (“You, Me & Tuscany” falls woefully short in that department). But this dull and labored attempt at reviving one of the movies’ oldest monsters is too derivative where it counts. Its characters are thin, its setpieces and sick delights are nakedly borrowed from much better films, and its titular evil has never been less threatening. I don’t have any particular brand loyalty to the ancient likes of Imhotep and Ahmanet (remember her?), but, to his credit, Lee Cronin has inspired my first strong opinion about the mummy: It shouldn’t be an eight-year-old girl named Katie.

The Guardian – Benjamin Lee – 2 / 5

I do appreciate Cronin’s bold, Imax-sized ambition, his Mummy feeling and sounding far more epic than the standard Blumhouse horror, a hark back to a time when studios would treat monster movies like high-craft blockbusters and his film is often quite stunning to look at. But the feel of a real movie isn’t enough to rival the thrill of all the other pieces also falling into place as once again, the one thing a horror director has been unable to conjure is a terrifyingly good script.

CBR – Nicholas Brooks – 7 / 10

It's great that Lee Cronin's The Mummy offers something new, and that's what makes it a standout and easier to accept in regard to how different it is, even with its misplaced Evil Dead-esque humor. Coupled with so many amazing performances, it's a film that's worth watching and helps keep the legacy of the classic monsters alive. However, in being a great possession movie, it doesn't succeed in being a mummy movie worthy of sitting beside other great examples.

AV Club – Simon Abrams – 'C-'

Eventually, it becomes clear that Cronin only really wants to needle his audience, whether it’s through a heap of split diopter shots or obnoxiously loud song cues, like when they play “Blinded By The Light” right after Katie wakes up screaming from her years-long slumber. A good cover band can really hit the spot, but not when the band’s only mastered one emotional register and keeps playing that way for a longer-than-average set. It’s this tonal blandness that’ll lead to even the most forgiving gorehounds finding their patience tested by Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.

Slash Film – Chris Evangelista – 6 / 10

As uneven as "The Mummy" might be, I was mostly on board with its unapologetically vicious thrills and chills … until the last ten or so minutes. I won't dare spoil what happens, but Cronin and company tack on a finale that seems almost certainly the result of test screening reshoot requests. Worse than that, it also feels like the producers pushed the director to set up some sort of franchise potential, which is wholly unnecessary. But Cronin deserves credit for trying to do something different with the "Mummy" scenario, and he's certainly more successful than that Tom Cruise movie. At the same time, I can't help but miss the old school charms of the Boris Karloff or Hammer Horror days. Ultimately, "Lee Cronin's The Mummy" delivers plenty of blood and guts. But is that enough?

AwardsWatch – Erik Anderson – 'C'

The scares may be visually effective, if all too brief, but they’re not supported with particularly inspired writing. The dialogue that the possessed Katie is tasked with delivering is particularly clichéd, and won’t shock anyone who’s seen just a clip of The Exorcist (or even Scary Movie 2). These scripting issues, combined with laughable characterizations and an unearned, excessive runtime just made me wish the film would make like a mummy and wrap it up.

Slant Magazine – Taylor Williams– 1.5 / 5

The film’s gore is often creative and darkly absurd, but the stylistic excess eventually starts to feel like a crutch. In one innocuous moment, Dalia turns up the volume on a television set, and even here Cronin can’t resist cutting into a split diopter shot, in this case so that we see both the remote and the TV in focus. One can imagine that the intent is to build mystique around the tape that the detective is watching, but by this point in the scene, any and all tension has been beaten into the ground. So the moment is more likely to leave you with the profoundly numbing impression that Cronin’s aesthetic approach is a show of overcompensation.

CityHub Sydney – Josh Kerwick – 3.5 / 5

Where Cronin’s Sam Raimi-isms in Evil Dead Rise film felt like slavish devotion, here they feel like loving homage when mixed in with other horror and thriller influences. Lee Cronin’s The Mummy doesn’t even try to be unique, but a cocktail of horror influences that’s much more than the sum of its parts.  Besides some other minor flaws – this thing probably didn’t need to be 2 hours plus – this is a surprisingly fun take on The Mummy as a cinematic institution. It’s willing to be truly gross in a manner equally stomach-churning and entertaining; a fact which has earned Cronin newfound respect in my book.

The Upcoming – Antonia Georgiou – 4 / 5

There’s much to enjoy in Cronin’s reimagining, which starts off as a tensely paced meditation on grief before reaching a gruesome crescendo. With blood, guts, pus and flaying, no organ or secretion is spared from this bold evisceration of a previously PG franchise.

The AU Review – Peter Gray – 3.5 / 5

The Mummy is less concerned with resurrecting a monster than it is with examining what resurrection does to the people left behind. It’s eerie, emotionally grounded, and anchored by a breakout performance that signals a formidable new talent. Cronin may not reinvent horror entirely here, but he demonstrates a clear command of tone and tension – and, more importantly, a willingness to let discomfort do the heavy lifting.

Next Best Picture – Josh Parham – 5 / 10

What’s most frustrating about “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” is how tonally inconsistent it becomes. Yes, it finds a way to inject some delightful horror imagery that’s captivating, at least in the way that repulsive acts of over-the-top carnage can appease those sickos out there. However, this story does not come across as if that tone was top of mind. Had it committed to such convictions, perhaps a breezier pace would have been instilled and a more entertaining effort would have been seen. Instead, those instances of punctuation are more like desperate attempts to infuse some energy into a narrative that is lethargically paced. Not even the alluring central performance can elevate this material. It is still commendable that this new direction has provided a wider variety of storytelling with these familiar tales, but the heights of “The Invisible Man” have not been met with “Wolf Man” or this particular outing. The beauty of horror is that it allows for variation, and that’s certainly the case here, with results that are less than desirable.

The Film Verdict – Alonso Duralde – 25 / 100

At their best, mummy movies can contemplate mortality and history and the passage of time and the horrific demands of the wealthy and powerful. Otherwise, you get something like Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, so tirelessly dedicated to gutter-level grossness that it resembles a church-basement haunted house rather than a millennia-spanning tale of terror.