Average customer rating:
- WARNING- absolutely dire
- Mumbies On The Loose!
- There's a reason why this is a 'rarely seen' film...
- George A. Romero influenced gore cheapie...
- Now this is how you make a crappy movie.
|
Dawn of the Mummy
Starring:
Brenda King ,
Barry Sattels ,
George Peck ,
John Salvo , and
Ibrahim Khan
Director:
Frank Agrama
Manufacturer: Madacy Records
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The Church
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Anthropophagus - The Grim Reaper
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Oasis of the Zombies
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Re-Animator
ASIN: B0000V48LG
Release Date: 2003-12-09 |
Customer Reviews:
WARNING- absolutely dire.......2007-07-10
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".
Mumbies On The Loose!.......2007-07-09
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?
There's a reason why this is a 'rarely seen' film..........2005-05-31
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?
George A. Romero influenced gore cheapie..........2005-03-08
First saw this film on VHS in the mid-eighties when it was released by either Vestron video or Thorn/EMI, and due to a combination of my young, impressionable age and the over the top violence of this gore classic it left a huge mark or should I say scar on me.
Is the film any good? I would venture yes, in a 'so bad it's entertaining, Lucio Fulci (Zombie, Gates of Hell) or Joe D'Amato (Beyond The Darkness, Anthropophagus)' sort of way. Frank Agrama, the man responsible for this travesty is guilty of helming some of filmdom's worst and most embarrassing moments-need I mention 1976's Queen Kong?
This film is about Rick (one of the hammiest actors these eyes have ever seen) and his band of merry, but not so bright tomb raiders. They stumble upon a cursed (aren't they all?) Egyptian crypt containing a very big and angry mummy who is justifiably upset that these nitwits have interrupted his ancient slumber to plunder his gold. A group of pretty american models soon decide to use the defiled crypt for a magazine photo shoot. If this sounds ridiculous and implausible, imagine the implausibility of an early eighties gore flick featuring sexy female models but no nudity at all. What was Agrama thinking? The dormant mummy soon rises to avenge this indiscretion and summons his hordes of undead, cannibalistic followers to assist him, the scene where the undead legions rise from the sands is very creepy and effective indeed. This allows the film to degenerate into a 'Dawn of the Dead' type bloodbath with gore galore recalling special effects maestro Tom Savini's pioneering work.
The film is slow at times, but so were the original black and white Universal Mummy movies of yesteryear. All in all, this is a good updating of the mummy legend, and has the distinction of being one of the only mummy 'gore' films I have ever seen.
For a cheap, discount dvd Madacy has done a pretty good job even supplying a commentary track with Agrama. The film is presented full screen and the transfer pretty much looks like it was lifted directly from a VHS tape. Still the quality is pretty acceptable in spots, be forewarned there is a constant hiss in the audio present throughout. Nevertheless until Anchor Bay decides to release a region 1 version of this, this will have to do. Another gripe is the crappy cover art which is no match for the original with the imposing Mummy, eyes aglow, superimposed upon a desert landscape.
In closing, this oddity is certainly worth seeing..once. Though once may be enough.
Now this is how you make a crappy movie........2005-02-06
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.
Product Description
Voodoo Dawn - In the eerie backdrop of the Louisanna bayou, former inmate Frank sees the opportunity of a lifetime in the form of " cursed cash ". But this cash has a price of it's own. delve into the underworld of voodoo magic and the occult and pray for your soul. Run Time 93 Mins.
Ancient Evil - Six archeology students are spending the summer at an isolated rural compound with their college professor, working on an exciting discobery: an ancient mummy, founds in the ruins of a temple. Little do they realize that the mummy was the servant of a Rain God and that one of them has the ability to bring it back. Run Time 85 Mins
Dark Stories - When the curtain goes up, let the horror begin. Tales of terror - each gripping to the last gasp. Run Time 85 Mins.
Customer Reviews:
WARNING- absolutely dire.......2007-07-10
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".
Mumbies On The Loose!.......2007-07-09
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?
There's a reason why this is a 'rarely seen' film..........2005-05-31
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?
George A. Romero influenced gore cheapie..........2005-03-08
First saw this film on VHS in the mid-eighties when it was released by either Vestron video or Thorn/EMI, and due to a combination of my young, impressionable age and the over the top violence of this gore classic it left a huge mark or should I say scar on me.
Is the film any good? I would venture yes, in a 'so bad it's entertaining, Lucio Fulci (Zombie, Gates of Hell) or Joe D'Amato (Beyond The Darkness, Anthropophagus)' sort of way. Frank Agrama, the man responsible for this travesty is guilty of helming some of filmdom's worst and most embarrassing moments-need I mention 1976's Queen Kong?
This film is about Rick (one of the hammiest actors these eyes have ever seen) and his band of merry, but not so bright tomb raiders. They stumble upon a cursed (aren't they all?) Egyptian crypt containing a very big and angry mummy who is justifiably upset that these nitwits have interrupted his ancient slumber to plunder his gold. A group of pretty american models soon decide to use the defiled crypt for a magazine photo shoot. If this sounds ridiculous and implausible, imagine the implausibility of an early eighties gore flick featuring sexy female models but no nudity at all. What was Agrama thinking? The dormant mummy soon rises to avenge this indiscretion and summons his hordes of undead, cannibalistic followers to assist him, the scene where the undead legions rise from the sands is very creepy and effective indeed. This allows the film to degenerate into a 'Dawn of the Dead' type bloodbath with gore galore recalling special effects maestro Tom Savini's pioneering work.
The film is slow at times, but so were the original black and white Universal Mummy movies of yesteryear. All in all, this is a good updating of the mummy legend, and has the distinction of being one of the only mummy 'gore' films I have ever seen.
For a cheap, discount dvd Madacy has done a pretty good job even supplying a commentary track with Agrama. The film is presented full screen and the transfer pretty much looks like it was lifted directly from a VHS tape. Still the quality is pretty acceptable in spots, be forewarned there is a constant hiss in the audio present throughout. Nevertheless until Anchor Bay decides to release a region 1 version of this, this will have to do. Another gripe is the crappy cover art which is no match for the original with the imposing Mummy, eyes aglow, superimposed upon a desert landscape.
In closing, this oddity is certainly worth seeing..once. Though once may be enough.
Now this is how you make a crappy movie........2005-02-06
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.
Customer Reviews:
WARNING- absolutely dire.......2007-07-10
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".
Mumbies On The Loose!.......2007-07-09
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?
There's a reason why this is a 'rarely seen' film..........2005-05-31
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?
George A. Romero influenced gore cheapie..........2005-03-08
First saw this film on VHS in the mid-eighties when it was released by either Vestron video or Thorn/EMI, and due to a combination of my young, impressionable age and the over the top violence of this gore classic it left a huge mark or should I say scar on me.
Is the film any good? I would venture yes, in a 'so bad it's entertaining, Lucio Fulci (Zombie, Gates of Hell) or Joe D'Amato (Beyond The Darkness, Anthropophagus)' sort of way. Frank Agrama, the man responsible for this travesty is guilty of helming some of filmdom's worst and most embarrassing moments-need I mention 1976's Queen Kong?
This film is about Rick (one of the hammiest actors these eyes have ever seen) and his band of merry, but not so bright tomb raiders. They stumble upon a cursed (aren't they all?) Egyptian crypt containing a very big and angry mummy who is justifiably upset that these nitwits have interrupted his ancient slumber to plunder his gold. A group of pretty american models soon decide to use the defiled crypt for a magazine photo shoot. If this sounds ridiculous and implausible, imagine the implausibility of an early eighties gore flick featuring sexy female models but no nudity at all. What was Agrama thinking? The dormant mummy soon rises to avenge this indiscretion and summons his hordes of undead, cannibalistic followers to assist him, the scene where the undead legions rise from the sands is very creepy and effective indeed. This allows the film to degenerate into a 'Dawn of the Dead' type bloodbath with gore galore recalling special effects maestro Tom Savini's pioneering work.
The film is slow at times, but so were the original black and white Universal Mummy movies of yesteryear. All in all, this is a good updating of the mummy legend, and has the distinction of being one of the only mummy 'gore' films I have ever seen.
For a cheap, discount dvd Madacy has done a pretty good job even supplying a commentary track with Agrama. The film is presented full screen and the transfer pretty much looks like it was lifted directly from a VHS tape. Still the quality is pretty acceptable in spots, be forewarned there is a constant hiss in the audio present throughout. Nevertheless until Anchor Bay decides to release a region 1 version of this, this will have to do. Another gripe is the crappy cover art which is no match for the original with the imposing Mummy, eyes aglow, superimposed upon a desert landscape.
In closing, this oddity is certainly worth seeing..once. Though once may be enough.
Now this is how you make a crappy movie........2005-02-06
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.
DVD:
- Day of the Nightmare / Scream of the Butterfly
- Demonicus
- Die Screaming Marianne
- Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series)
- Enter... Zombie King
- Equinox Knocks
- Flowers On The Razorwire
- Fright Night Classics (8 Movies)
- Fright Night Collection (Red Eye, Sleepy Hollow, The Haunting, What Lies Beneath)
- Fu Manchu Tu-Fer: The Blood of Fu Manchu/The Castle of Fu Manchu
DVD
DVD
![Dawn of the Mummy [Region 2]](http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/21166630WFL.jpg)
![Dawn of the Mummy [Region 2]](http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/21GKMJZ9MYL.jpg)