22/04/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

“Lee Cronin? Who’s that?” I hear some of you ask. And it’s a fair question. The Irish director only has a few screen credits thus far, most recently a fairly decent reboot of the Evil Dead franchise. But, with a bigger, glossier, Brendan Fraser-led Mummy 4 on the cinematic horizon, his producers were clearly worried that there might be some confusion if the director’s name weren’t attached. And, before you argue that it’s pretty unlikely anybody would confuse the two projects, allow me to mention that I was recently at a screening of Riz Ahmed’s Hamlet, where several members of the audience stood up about ten minutes in and announced (loudly and indignantly) that they thought they’d booked to see Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet.

Go figure.

This version of the story is quite unlike any that’s gone before. In Cairo, Katie Cannon (Natalie Grace), the youngest daughter of news reporter Charlie (Jack Raynor) and his wife, Larissa (Laia Costa), is abducted by a mysterious woman, shortly before the family is due to move back to America for Charlie’s work. We know the kidnapping has something to do with Egyptian mythology, thanks to a short and fairly bloody opening sequence that’s not fully explained until later on. (Be warned: the film has an 18 certificate and is happy to flaunt it.) Meanwhile, Detective Dalia Zaki (May Calamawy) is determined to discover who kidnapped Katie and why.

Six years later, Katie is found wrapped up in bandages and lying in an ancient sarcophagus, which has been recovered from a plane crash in the desert. She’s somehow still alive but has changed dramatically both in looks and demeanour – and not for the better. Determined to do their best for her, Charlie and Larissa bring Katie home to Albuquerque to reunite her with her older brother and her new little sister. Yes, I know. Very bad idea, but then this is the kind of decision that parents always make in horror movies.

Katie is uncommunicative and has a nasty habit of getting out of her room at night to creep through the house, catching and eating insects – and it soon becomes clear that she has big plans for her family…

It’s pointless to say any more about the plot other than to mention that, if this film resembles any other horror franchise, it’s The Exorcist. Katie is to all intents and purposes possessed by an ancient demon and herdevout Catholic granny, Carmen (Veronica Falcón), is on hand to seize every opportunity to pray for her deliverance, usually with catastrophic results. While on the one hand, I do applaud Cronin’s attempts to steer the franchise away from its familiar roots – an approach he took with Evil Dead Rise – I have to say that transplanting it to the well-trodden territory of another cinematic classic may not have been the wisest move. Furthermore, though the film starts confidently enough, it becomes increasingly unpleasant, yet somehow never manages to be convincingly scary.

There’s a nail-cutting sequence that will definitely have you wincing and there’s enough blood, vomit and pus flying about the screen to put you right off your cinema snacks – but grossness isn’t the same thing as terror. I also worry that some of the scenes featuring Egyptian characters venture dangerously close to ‘othering’ territory.

Most damning of all, there are moments in the endlessly protracted climax that come across as downright laughable, as though Cronin is determined to gross out anyone who is still watching. Opinions are going to be divided. Those who judge a horror film on the amounts of type O that are spilled may be more supportive than me, but for my money this is a valiant effort that ultimately doesn’t come off. A shame. It remains to be seen if the upcoming Mummy 4 is worth the price of admittance, but I can’t help feeling that maybe it’s time somebody uttered those famous words.

‘It’s a wrap.’

3 stars

Philip Caveney