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DAWN OF THE MUMMY Starring Barbara King, Joan Levy and Ellen Farson.
Of all the mummy movies ever made, this is the only one that features both gore and zombies. Dawn of the Mummy, directed by Frank (Farrouk) Agrama, was a staple in the mom-and-pop video stores. It was THAT OTHER video on the shelf next to Dawn of the Dead. After several years of being out-of-print on video, Madacy Home Video released a budget version of this movie on DVD. Unfortunately, it shows.
The complicated plot involves an American entrepreneur who breaks into an ancient Egyptian prince's tomb along with a few other business partners to steal the mummy's hidden treasure. The tomb is cursed, causing the mummy to rise again, and seek revenge on all who are in his path.
A group of models and their photographer/manager show up to shoot some award-winning pictures for their magazine. They camp outside of the tomb with the grave-robbers after shooting with the sarcophagus as their backdrop. The mummy is not alone, however; his flesh-eating zombie servants rise and attack the group. The action ends up at a local village wedding, where the zombies come to feast on the guests.
This film, as one would notice, is not merely a mummy movie, but another Italian cannibal/zombie film. The majority of the movie seems to move very slow. The gore is packed into the last 15 minutes of the movie, where the crudely made-up living dead eat their way through the village.
The video is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (as opposed to the DVD by Anchor Bay UK, which preserves the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1); the quality is relatively low. It appears to have been taken from a video source (possibly an old 3/4" master). Video dropout lines are present (but brief) at a few moments toward the start of the movie (11:47; 12:32; 12:54; 13:11). Digital "ghosting" happens from time to time as well.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is decent. The dialogue is clear and the general soundtrack is loud enough, but not too punchy; some studios have a bad habit of creating too much difference in volume level between dialogue scenes and music/action scenes, causing the viewer to use the volume control over and over again to compensate for inaudible dialogue and loud gunfire.
The commentary track with Frank Agrama is a bit low on volume, but is very informative about Agrama's career and the making of the film. Although the package claims that a trailer for the film is on the disc, there is only one trailer; it is for a film for a movie titled Road Ends, starring Chris (Fright Night) Sarandon. There are also brief cast and crew bios. Though an entry in the Italian zombie subgenre, Dawn of the Mummy delivers the gore late in the film. Apart from the lack of energy the film carries, the film has a certain charm all its own. It is disappointing that the DVD presentation of this film is sub-par, but at a retail price so low (it can be found for as little as $5.99), one cannot criticize too harshly. |
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