Customer Reviews

Dawn of the Mummy

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Too much crummy acting in this one, and not enough quality make-up effects makes this hard to recommend. Most of the gore is a person lying stock-still with blood and meat poured on them while (Egyptian!?) zombies sit around chewing. This way-low-budget flick doesn't really have set-piece effects where you see the ripping and tearing (think Savini's work in Day of The Dead), so it flops as a gore shocker. Even the machette in the head scene is very poorly done, with a quick edit to a laughable 'dummy' head for the hit. Still, for the price, it's a cheap ride, so you can add it to the collection without much buyer's remorse.

One thing I seriously do not like is a page of reviews recommending that I buy a bad movie. I bought the DVD of 'Dawn of the Mummy' only to be seriously disappointed. I can take bad acting, a dumb plot, and even poor make-up effects; but not when it is this boring. This is the story of an archeologist who ignores the warnings of the locals regarding a tomb he blasts open and the models who discover his dig and think it would be an ideal place for a shoot (every fashion models dream). At least when the mummy finally rises (which takes way too long) the pace picks up; alas, not the same for the intelligence of the script. There are of course scenes that are just outright laughable: one where the mummy is after one of the models as she keeps running at a good pace as the mummy walks slowly after her and she is still not able to outrun him: another is a meat cleaver to an obviously fake head. If someone likes bad movies, they may well like this. This is not a 'Classic' and certainly not something I would irresponsibly recommend to others.-Bob

Neither the best of it's kind nor the worst, "Dawn of the Mummy" is notable for having been filmed mostly in Egypt which does give it a kind of grisly realism. Using a cast of no-names, it presents an egomaniacal fashion photographer gathering the "world's top models" for a photo shoot on location in the Egyptian desert. While shooting, they stumble upon tomb raiders invading a cursed pharaoh's tomb searching for gold. The greedy photographer pushes the group in for a rare photo-op in a "real Egyptian tomb". There they find the mummy of the pharaoh the raiders have disturbed and the heat from the set lights cause it to slowly ooze to life. Once the mummy is up, so are his buried minions who return as flesh eating zombies. The mummy strangles and uses weapons to kill while the zombies just attack and eat. If you are watching this for gore, you will not be disappointed as it is plentiful...especially during the horrific climax where the zombies attack a wedding party. As for the print, it isn't bad but could have been better as it gets a little too dark. Assuming you're not watching this for the acting, it's pretty laughable. But you do get two strong heroines that outdo their male co-stars who end up getting slaughtered anyway. So, for the price, this is an OK time killer with some interesting qualities and should satisfy the gorehounds out there. The mummy and his zombies are well done and "Dawn of the Mummy" does have it's scary moments as well as guts galore.

Well, it's been awhile since I've seen something as bad as Dawn of the Mummy (1981)...and as one of my esteemed colleague mentions `It's not the best, it's not the worst'...to which I would agree, with a clarification...it's a lot closer to `the worst' rather than the `the best'. I certainly don't mind cheaply made exploitation films as long as there's heart involved, but I didn't get a sense of that here. All I got from this film was a sense of someone trying to cash in on the popular genre of the time, and not doing it very well. Produced, written and directed by Frank `Farouk' Agrama (Queen Kong), the film stars Brenda King (SeaQuest DSV), Barry Sattels (Number One with a Bullet), and George Peck (Curse of the Puppet Master). Also appearing is John Salvo, Joan Levy (The Bumblebee Flies Anyway), Ellen Faison (New York Nights), and Dianne Beatty (Hot Heir).

As the film begins some text is shown on the screen informing the audience the year is 3,000 B.C. and the location is Egypt. We see slaves being abused and the abduction of a young boy, neither of which seems to relate to anything as the next scenes involve some pharaoh being mummified, and thus the obligatory curse is spewed forth...you know, the one that states anyone who desecrates the tomb will meet with an untimely end. Fast forward to the present day (must be the 80's as a number of characters are wearing Jordache jeans, or cheap knock-offs)...during which we see some treasure hunters breaking into the tomb. Soon afterwards we see a separate group made up of fashion models and photography crew shooting photos in the desert, they happen upon the newly opened tomb, and decide to use it as a location for their shoot, much to the treasure hunters consternation but since they're probably there illegally, they really can't complain too much. And who the heck sets up a photo shoot in the middle of the desert? If you were going to bother going all the way to Egypt to shoot pictures, I would think you'd want to use some popular monuments, but then again, I'm no expert. Anyway, the mummy comes to life (along with a bunch of slaves buried with the pharaoh), and they begin to wreak havoc on the local population, killing anyone they come across. Now it's the fashion models vs. the undead...who will win? Well, after spending an hour and a half watching the film, I know it won't be the audience...

I'm not going to get into a whole debate on the distinctive differences between zombies and mummies, but in all the films I've seen featuring the latter of the two, this is the first time I've seen them actually feasting on the corpses of the recently deceased (of whom the mummies were the cause of the untimely demise). And I have to say, some of these `mummies' look pretty well preserved for being dead some 5000 years...oh, the pharaoh himself looks appropriate (except for his eyeballs being completely intact and untouched), but his minions look much fleshier that I would have expected. And another thing, as the film progresses, we see the `curse' isn't just limited to those who violated the sanctity of the tomb, but to all in the area, including a small, nearby town. Perhaps this isn't a big deal, as it allows for much carnage to be enacted later in the film, but since the makers of the film when to a lot of trouble informing us of said curse in the beginning, I thought it odd that it should apply in such a random manner rather than specifically to those who were in the tomb. As far as the film goes, you can see I had some problems with the story itself, but compared to other elements, these points are pretty minor. The aspects that hurt the film the most are the incredibly poor acting and equally shoddy dialog. Halfway through the film I begging for more of the characters to turn into victims...and when some of them finally started biting the proverbial dust, I let loose a cheer from within...never was I so pleased to see such annoying characters get what they deserved, which is interesting as generally the intent from the filmmakers standpoint is to draw a sense of empathy from the audience for the characters so we actually care when they are in dire situations. The directing isn't bad (there are some interesting visuals far and few between), but more like passable. There was a sense of continuity and forward movement, but this was hampered by unnecessary and meaningless material (particularly the numerous obligatory shots of the mummies/zombies crouched over a dead body feeding on fleshy items meant to represent internal organs). One aspect in particular I found really annoying was the ineptitude of whoever did the finishing sound work on the film. There was very little sense of perspective and distance between what was happening on the screen and the voices and sound effects. What you end up having is characters in the foreground speaking, and then another in the background who sounds like he/she is right next to the other characters, even though there may be a good deal of distance separating them. I will give credit to whoever did the effects on the main mummy, as they did look pretty good. Also, if you're looking for visceral thrills, you'll find some here, if you don't mind wading through a whole lot of pointless material.

The picture quality of the full screen presentation on this DVD looks like it was taken from a mediocre VHS tape. I think I even saw some minor tracking type issues generally inherent slightly worn videotape. As far as the audio, it's listed on the DVD case as being in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, but given the craptacular nature of the original audio, it comes off as so-so. As far as extras, I was surprised to find a director's commentary track. Also included is a trailer for another Agrama film titled Road Ends (1997), but not one for this film.

Cookieman108

By the way, if you watch the end credits all the way through, count how many Agrama's are listed...do you think any of them are related to the director?

I was quite thrilled to see that this movie was finally available on DVD and as a budget priced release to boot! I was afraid that the content was going to be some multi-generation TV print but was pleasantly surprised. The print and transfer quality are excellent and when compared to my 20+ year old video copy-the content is identical. My video copy was originally rated "X" for violence but shows up here in an "R" rating with no edits made to the film.Maybe we've become desensitized to violence over the years. The plot is threadbare and the acting is marginal but what makes this film are the atmospheric scenes of the army of the mummy rising from the desert sands at night. The special effects (done by an Italian crew) are mostly standard zombie genre-lots of biting, blood spurting and munching down on the victim's intestinal tract. Excellent mummy make up effects and Egyptian location shots are also a highlight. Sit back and enjoy this low tech precursor to the computer effects laden Mummy movie from a few years back. You could do a lot worse.

Ohh god make it stop the mummy will rise and kill as the ugly old woman say in the begening of this movie, sure the mummy rise and kill in the last 10 or 15 min of the movie, this piece of junk is a pure excercise in endurance if this film will be mutch slower it will be a photograh! nothing happen in this film nothing!! did i said nothing happen?? if you love this film you must fell asleep
and did wake up in the last min of this borefest, no really i got nothing against a soo bad it's good movie but this movie has nothing please, boring caracters boring plot sure you got some murders that occuring during the film but it move at soo mutch slow pace that there is nothing that make this turd interesting, i wonder why troma did not put out this crap yet?? the ony cool thing about this film is the other cover art on some other versions, please do not waste you time on this one don't downloasd it don't buye it just listening to me here lol... if you think you where getting riped off when you saw zombie island massacre and oasis of the zombies wait t'ill you see this one you have been warned.. even at 0.99 cent this a waste of money buye yourself a candy bar instead....

I usually refrain from leaving an all-out pan of a review, BUT, consider this a warning- I strongly suggest curious horror fans refrain from spending hard-earned money on a dvd of this dreadful bomb. I consider myself pretty open-minded when it comes to low-budget horror films. Often, the limited budget can lend a film a certain gritty, unrehearsed, documentary style, which can work in its favor and help create a believable atmosphere. Sadly, that is nowhere near the case with DAWN OF THE MUMMY. The dialogue is universally cringe-inducing, the acting is abyssmal, the direction and editing is frustratingly sloppy and inept, and the gore is poorly executed or so badly-lit it can't be made out. Bad over-acting abounds, and characters tend to stand still and wait for staged attacks to happen. I was truly disappointed, as I'd read a few reviews referring to this film as "underappreciated". I suggest you avoid it and check out something else instead. Hilariously, the credits on my copy state that the soundtrack is available! I shudder to think funds were spend pressing THAT sorry collection of "music".

An attempt to merge mummy movies and living dead zombies. The acting is just awful, with hardly a shred of unchewed scenery by the end. For instance, one of the leading ladies finds a severed head in the desert, and begins to screetch and whoop while running in a circle around the head (as opposed to running away from it) until she finally launches herself at one of the guys and slides down his body like a cheap party dress in the back of a shag-carpeted van. In fact, both the story and effects are pretty threadbare. The wacky gang of thieves keeps talking insanely about the gold they are looking for until they finally pull out two or three small gilded thingies from the mummy's body. The thieves are so thrilled to find three tiny little pieces of gold they whoop, they beat the lid, they dance, they laugh. Oh yeah, they're in the money now. Why, those three itsy-bitsy pieces of gold might bring as much as $50! Good times, good times... The mummy itself is kind of gooey, and doesn't seem to eat much flesh, but as legend would have it, when the mummy arises, his buried minions also arise. The minions were not in the tomb however--they apparently spent the last 3,000 years buried in just 3 inches of sand outside the tomb. Once they sit up, they immediately shamble around like extras from one of the Living Dead movies. Are they mummies? Zombies? Mumbies? Pretty soon, things finally get icky. Classic scenarios abound, like opening the door to the room where a bride is getting ready for her wedding and finding three or four mumbies chowing down on her. Finally, a building burns, a group of bad actors limp away, and a cloth-covered hand rises in the foreground. The end?

Now this movie has a brilliant concept: A zombie movie, but with mummies instead. The execution of it all is, um, flawed, but it's good campy fun anyway.

Lots of people out there who are horror fans are unable to take horror movies seriously- they just like them as camp or whatever. I am not one of these people, and while I certainly can enjoy good-bad movies, I prefer them to be genuinely good. Sadly, 'Dawn of the Mummy' cannot be taken seriously, at all. It's just way, way too amateurish and silly. So make no mistake, you aren't getting any Romero or Fulci here.(`City of the Living Dead' falls into the good-bad category, but it's still a cut above this.) Frankly, I cannot imagine why anyone would be expecting anything above about D-grade stuff, but I've read a lot of complaining, so I figured I might as well clear it up.

Alright, the plot's like this: There's a bunch of models who go to Egypt for a fashion shoot around some pyramid's, where there are also some grave robbers out to make it rich. Both groups end up in the actual tombs, which upsets the mummies, which eventually leads to a veritable mummy apocalypse. I say eventually cause it takes quite a while to really get going. I was worried that it was going to be a bit padded at 95 or so minutes, and I was right. Most of the film consists of the models standing around and complaining, or the grave robbers looking for the gold in the tomb, and complaining. They coulda clipped 20 minutes or so and lost nothing of particular interest. Still, most of it is reasonably amusing, particularly due to some outrageously over the top acting on the part of some of the graverobbers, and the later stuff is amusing enough to make it worth the wait.

This film does not look very professional, as you'd imagine. Each individual shot looks passable enough, but it doesn't flow right and doesn't exactly feel like a movie. Kinda like a TV movie. A cheap one. Still the eventual mummy massacre is entertaining enough. The mummies actually look better than you'd anticipate. Well actually, they're mostly henchman, who may or may not be actual mummies, but whatever. They're cheap with a hard, crunchy look like what you'd see in 'The Beyond' but I think they look pretty good, particularly their ragged outfits. Their rising out of the sands is one of the few genuinely effective moments in the film. The head mummy is more conventional, with bandages and all, and he's pretty damn cool. He's also real damn tall.

Well, after all the silly, campy crap we get to the final showdown, which is quite amusing. Mummies run amuck in the city, ruin a wedding, and eat lots and lots of guts. There's not much more to say about it then that. If that description intrigues you, you oughta check it out.

Oh yeah, it's also got a brilliant titular line, which is given during the prologue telling us about the tomb which will soon be invaded. It goes something like, `Those who violate this tomb will die on the dawn of the mummy!' Now that is awesome.

I saw this on TV back in the 1980s and while it takes too long to get going, once it does (about 38 minutes in when the mummy finally rises from his tomb), you are in for some fun gore and zombie action. The mummy leads a horde of flesh-eating zombies on a rampage through the streets of an Egyptian town. We get a meatcleaver to the head, gut-munching, biting chunks of flesh, and a fiery climax. The soundtrack is especially good.

The new Madacy DVD release is a nice, clean but slightly dark print. The only bonus feature worth mentioning is a surprisingly fun and informative audio commentary with director Frank (Farouk) Agrama, who obviously had a lot of fun making the film (this was his final directorial effort, and he wistfully talks about making a sequel now). Listening to the commentary really increased my appreciation both for the film and for the director. For under $10, you won't do much better for 80s flesh-eating zombie horror on DVD. I would have liked to see a trailer for Dawn Of The Mummy, but as it was never released theatrically in America, I suppose hunting down the foreign trailers was too much to ask. A poster or image gallery would have been nice (even if just a few images), or the inclusion of the excellent Shuki Levy soundtrack (which was originally released on LP). Maybe we'll get lucky and have a Dawn Of The Mummy: Special Edition someday!

By the way, Dawn Of The Mummy was not the first mummy gore movie. That dubious honor goes to Paul Naschy's 1973 film La Venganza de la Momia ("The Vengeance of the Mummy").