Customer Reviews

Tale of the Mummy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I had never heard of this movie until three days ago, but given my interest in the original "Highlander" (which Russell Mulcahy also directed), a like of the Sommers Mummy movies and an appreciation of Christopher Lee movies I decided to give 1999s TALE OF THE MUMMY a chance.
I am glad I did! This movie was not at all scary but like the Sommers original MUMMY movie a lot of fun with a good dose of suspense, intrigue and (something the other movie lacked) a great twist in the end.
Actually, in some respects I prefer this Jason Scott Lee fantasy adventure horror suspense movie.
Firstly in addition to the prelude which includes the Lee cameo, there were a number of recognizable names from British cinema - notably Honor Blackman, Jack Davenport and Sean Pertwee.
The movie lacked the flashy special effects of its more famous counterpart, but what it lacked in effects it more than makes up for in plot and real suspense. In many ways it is a superior movie with some great performances by all the principals - including the very beautiful Louise Lombard (who I felt bore a striking resemblance to Amanda Tapping of STARGATE SG-1 fame). Jack Davenport (often mentioned in fan circles as a possible replacement for Pierce Brosnan for the part of 007) also made an impression as a English detective attempting to solve a series of grisly murders in the British capital.
The story begins in 1940 with an expedition to Egypt. Sir Richard Turkel (Lee) is excited to hear that after nine months of digging, an entrance has been discovered to a tomb. Moments later however it is up to Turkel to sacrifice his own life in a (successful) attempt to seal off the tomb for (he hopes) all eternity.
Skip forward 59 years (it's never explained why it took over half a century) and Sir Richard's granddaughter Sam Turkel (Lombard) is on the verge of entering the tomb first discovered by her illustrious ancestor. The tomb we learn is that of Talos, a Greek religious cult leader who was sent into exile for practicing dark magic, and who subsequently found a new home in the Pharoah's Egyptian court.
The finds are transported back to London where they are put on display at the British Museum. Then, after what is believed to be a "break-in" a series of paticularly gruesome murders begin across the city.
The murder mystery is an interesting element in this movie, something that is missing from the Fraser-Weisz vehicle that was playing to packed theaters that summer. In fact, without giving too much away it's interesting how this mystery develops in the closing moments of TALE OF THE MUMMY.
Overall, I found this a very entertaining and enjoyable movie that should satisfy not only fantasy horror fans, but also mystery fans. Highly underrated it makes good use of location shooting and offers strong production values and an intelligent, engaging plot. You may not have heard of TALE OF THE MUMMY before but one things for sure - you will not soon forget it.
Recommended.

Forget that shallow eye-candy, George-of-the-Jungle-starring-theatrical piece of fluff; "Tale of the Mummy" is the years best 'mummy' film!!! This has a truely original story, giving the mummy sub-genre a breath of fresh air. The acting is first rate, the script well-written and intelligent, and the special effects are the stuff nightmares are made of. This film is a must-own for anyone who collects genre films... and even for those who don't.

Being released at around the same time as Brendan Fraser's 'The Mummy' put this British offering at an imediate disadvantage. It might not have had the flashey special effects of it's mainstream Hollywood counterpart, but it was I felt superior in every other way. The digital morphing effects of the mummy wrapping were excellent, but some of the physical effects were a little disapointing. But in general the engaging storyline made up for this. Released in the UK as Talos The Mummy, it was out here before 'The Mummy' but went by mostly unnoticed, (not even being available to buy on DVD) and probably would have done no better in America if it had been released earlier. I, myself only rented it becasue I was a fan of Louise Lombard's earlier television appearance in the 1920's period drama 'The House Of Eliot'.

For much of the film Jason Scott Lee did seem somewhat out of place, not really pulling off his attempts to make Riley the enigmatic character he seemed to want him to be. Jack Davenport giving a much more rounded preformance as Detective Bartone. Also, much better use could have been made of Honor Blackman as hard-nose Captain Shea. Though it's interesting, perhaps for the benefit of an American audience, that the American police ranking system is used for the chacters rather than the British one. The film benefited from a cameo appearance from Christopher Lee, giving it a very Hammer-esque feel from the start. Sean Pertwee as cocky Bradley Cortese, driven mad by visons of horror is truely unsettling. The flash backs to Talos before he died work for the most part, but at times ditract from the tension of a scene. Visually, they're very striking, and while explaining the origin of the myth Sean Pertwee is all the more unsetteling because we know he's right. Louise Lombard compensates well for Jason Scott Lee's unanimated preformance in the scenes they share, but neither I think gave the best that they're capable of. It was Lysette Anthony's wonderfully understated prefomance that stole the film for me, but unfortunately did fizzle out a bit at the end.

The idea of setting the super-natural aspects of the film against the back drop of a murder mystery was a good one, it gave the film a fresher, more modern feel as opposed to a more Indiana Jones style action-adventure. But it perhaps wasn't excecuted as well as it could have been, because the mummy is such a large presence in itself, as the viewer there was never really a feeling that anyone else could have been responsible. The London setting as well added to that modern feel, and the deaths all taking place in confined places: a nightclub, and underground car park, even on the London underground; it all added intesity and the feeling of no escape. It did seem a little implausible that so many of the characters carried guns, but somehow it all added a sense that these were events taking place in some parallel universe, harder and less inviting than our own. For a British audience there were wonderful camoes by Bill Treacher and Elizabeth Power as Louise Lombard's next door neighbours, unknown in America but famous in Britain for there roles in a weeknight soap opera playing a philandering husband and his mistress. On this DVD some of their scenes which appear in the UK vesion had been cut, as have some other early scenes in favour of a death scene which is only refered to and not seen in the UK version. Which is a shame really, as one of the scenes cut is a lecture on how to preform a post-mortem given by Lysette Anthony's charcter, which provides an important added layer to the charcter. Indeed, the DVD itself might have benefited from some bonus material like deleted scenes. As it is it's a little bare, with just some recommendations of other films. As a viewer used to Hollywood endings I was pleasantly surpised by this film, and the second twist coming so quickly after the first I hardly had time to catch my breath. But personnaly I always perfer to watch a film that keeps me thinking about it after it's finished, rather than have forgotten about it before the end credits have finished.

Having read most of the other reviews given to this film, there seems to have been a genarally negative response. It not ever going to be a cinema classic, and the best advise I can give is rent it before you buy it, but keep an open mind. If you're expecting a carbon copy of 'The Mummy' you'll only be disappointed, but try and put aside any expectations and you might just find a really enjoyable film.

Russell Mulcahy's flashy retelling of the mummy legend is to be credited for its unusual approach to a timeworn legend. It's a visually stunning film, but it ultimately is empty and hollow. Credit the screenwriters, too, for their mystery-serial killer aspect, as it proves to be the ultimate red herring in the unexpected climax. Jason Scott Lee IS pretty wooden, and a more believable hero would have upped the movie's effect. Louise Lombard does well as Sam Turkel, the descendant of Christopher Lee's Sir Richard. Sean Pertwee as the demented (or is he) Brad Cortese chews up the screen and most of the time is very hard to understand, heavily accented and manic. Lysette Anthony (Krull, TV's Dark Shadows remake) is lovely as Clare, the doctor, and her ultimate role pretty unexpected. Jack Davenport's partner to Lee is good, and should have had Lee's role. And where in the world did Shelly Duvall come from, and exactly what is her role?
Lots of confusing plot loops, but maintains a chilling atmosphere and is ultimately entertaining, on a visceral level.

Jason Scott Lee (No relation to Chris Lee who has a cameo in the film, along with Honor Blackman and Jack Davenport) plays a cop investigating a series of murders that has origins of an ancient curse a la King Tut. Also with Gerald Butler, Lysette Anthony, Sean Pertwee and Shelly Duvall. The movie starts in 1940 with an expedition in Egypt under Sir Richard Turkel (Chris Lee). After months of digging they have discovered an entrance to a tomb. Sometimes goes horrible wrong after they enter the tomb, with everyone crumbling to dust. Turkel valiantly by blowing it up, giving his life breath to save mankind from the horror that was unleashed in the tomb.

It jumps nearly 60 years (no reason why it took so long to get around to it again), and Turkel's granddaughter (Louise Lombard) is leading a high tech team to the very tomb grandpop tried to seal for all time. Naturally, meddling grandkid is determined to open the tomb. We learn the tomb was the final burial place of Talos, a Greek cult leader who was banished for conjuring with the dark arts. He found his way to the Pharaoh's Court in Egypt where he held sway. No one turns to dust, but one team member freaks out and is never sane again and another dies reaching a pendant.

Everything is sent back to London where they are put on display at the British Museum. There is a break-in, a gruesome murder, and the mummy of Talos is stolen. After that, grizzly murders begin to happen across the city and Turkel's granddaughter and the "other" Lee try to stop the Talos before it's too late.

Great popcorn flick.

FULL OF ACTION AND SUSPENSE THIS IS A MORE SERIOUS MUMMY PICTURE. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOME SEMI-CUTE MUMMY SLOWLY GROWLING AND ATTACKING, THIS WILL NOT BE YOUR IDEAL MUMMY MOVIE, BUT IF YOU WANT SOMETHING MORE CREATIVE CHECK OUT THIS FILM.

They should call it "The Mummy's Wrappings". Ahhh...look out, bandages are coming after you, flying through the air. Worst Mummy movie I've seen, I gave it 3 stars only because the Mummy is my favorite movie monster. Stick to the Brendan Frasier movies if you're just a casual watcher. ******Spoiler Alert*******If you are a Gerard Butler fan, he's not even in the opening credits. So, of course he gets killed off early. Too bad, he and the crazy guy seeing visions are the only interesting characters in the whole movie. Lee is supremely unimpressive. The ending is lame too.

It is just a little scary but has a good story line and an intriguing ending.

"Tale of the Mummy" starts like most all mummy movies should. In the mid '40's, bunch of greedy archeologists stumble on the tomb of an cursed old guy and pay for it. Then, the story moves to the 1990's where (using high tech devices) some other scientists find the tomb again, and take their findings back to London. But, instead of a mummy, they find just the rappings of an ancient witch doctor named Talos. The wrappings come to life, and start their rampage. The wrappings! Seriously, just a bunch of bandages come alive and shape-shift around London, killing a bunch of people we hadn't seen previously. The victims will come on screen and after three of so sentences of diolague and two minutes of screen time, those whiley bandages come in and band-aid them to death! It's quite boring and VERY drawn out. The main characters aren't much better. Jason Scott Lee looks pretty bored as Detective Riley, protecting some dame archeologist caught up in it all because her great grandfather accidentally opened the damn tomb. Still with me? Eventually though, we see an actual creature, but it has nothing to do with a mummy! Or what Talos looked like before! Is it Talos? I was pretty sure the bandages were, but I've forgotten now. I think it had to do with the alignment of the planets or something. Don't ask me! All I'll say further is that this movie is pretty boring. The ending makes even less sense then the rest of the movie and the visual effects are really third rate. If you are seriously bored, and have nothing better to do with the couple bucks in your wallet, then go out and rent it. Just to give yourself a bit of a brain teaser.

...and amen to that. As has been mentioned in other reviews, this movie is a throwback to the Hammer Mummy films of yore (most notably BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB) with a prologue that even features Christopher Lee and a young but easily recognizable Gerard Butler. Russell Mulcahy (of HIGHLANDER fame) has crafted his own take on the Mummy mythos that incorporates ideas from several other films and then presents them in an original way. While some CGI is used, this is primarily a story driven as opposed to an effects driven film and that's what made it more than just another offering in the long line of cheap thrills for me. The performances are solid (even Jason Scott Lee fits his role especially when you see the flashbacks and the surprising finale) with a wonderful OTT turn from Sean Pertwee as a haunted member of the expedition and a surprisingly sympathetic one from Shelley Duvall as a medium who helps him.

Much has been made of the concept of Talos, the Mummy (the film's original title) as bandages come to life but it's original and effective and shows what can be creatively be done on a small budget. Partially financed but abandoned by Disney, this film was made at the same time as Stephen Sommers' big budgeted Brendan Fraser epic and consequently never got an American release until much later when it was cut from 115 minutes to 88 minutes. Although I would be curious to see the full length European version, longer is not always better for I can't imagine this film being much longer than it already is. If you're looking for lots of gore and high tech special effects then you won't find them here (the principal reason for the film's overall low ratings I suspect) but the widescreen transfer from Dimension Films looks great and it makes a perfect matinee style movie for any time of day (or night).