Dawn of the Mummy (1981)
Nomination Year: 2012
SYNOPSIS: Like so many mummy movies, this one begins in Ancient Egypt. A powerful man is buried, and a priestess pronounces a curse upon any who defile the tomb of Sephirama ... and his guardians. Then we cut to New York City in the present day for about three seconds -- just long enough for a bunch of models to get on a plane and fly to Egypt.
In present-day Egypt, some present-day tomb robbers are breaking into the present-day tomb of Sephirama in order to steal his presumed golden treasure. One of the associate tomb robbers spots the fashion models nearby and takes potshots at them, mistaking them for bandits. Instead of driving them away, it draws them in. They decide that an Egyptian tomb with a real mummy is the perfect place for their fashion shoot. After all, they have permits to shoot anywhere in the area.
Their high-powered lights cause Sephirama to perspire ... or something. We get a lot of cut-away shots of weird fluids bubbling up from the mummy's bandages. But it isn't until the tomb robbers try to steal something that the mummy rises and goes on its shambling death spree.
At dawn? Well, er.... No. Mostly at night, actually. Although some of the day-for-night shooting is inept, you can always tell it's night because there are crickets chirping. Even in Sephirama's tomb.
Like any good executive, the mummy delegates most of the killing to its undead guards. While the mummy kills by strangulation (and once with a meat cleaver), the guards are more zombie-like, ripping flesh from people with their teeth. The mummy kills primarily those characters with names, and the guards go after the general townsfolk.
With great efficiency, the undead baddies kill most of our main characters, plus the entire adjoining town of Barca. The four survivors lure the mummy into a shed full of dynamite, where they kill it.
...or do they?
In present-day Egypt, some present-day tomb robbers are breaking into the present-day tomb of Sephirama in order to steal his presumed golden treasure. One of the associate tomb robbers spots the fashion models nearby and takes potshots at them, mistaking them for bandits. Instead of driving them away, it draws them in. They decide that an Egyptian tomb with a real mummy is the perfect place for their fashion shoot. After all, they have permits to shoot anywhere in the area.
Their high-powered lights cause Sephirama to perspire ... or something. We get a lot of cut-away shots of weird fluids bubbling up from the mummy's bandages. But it isn't until the tomb robbers try to steal something that the mummy rises and goes on its shambling death spree.
At dawn? Well, er.... No. Mostly at night, actually. Although some of the day-for-night shooting is inept, you can always tell it's night because there are crickets chirping. Even in Sephirama's tomb.
Like any good executive, the mummy delegates most of the killing to its undead guards. While the mummy kills by strangulation (and once with a meat cleaver), the guards are more zombie-like, ripping flesh from people with their teeth. The mummy kills primarily those characters with names, and the guards go after the general townsfolk.
With great efficiency, the undead baddies kill most of our main characters, plus the entire adjoining town of Barca. The four survivors lure the mummy into a shed full of dynamite, where they kill it.
...or do they?
Kevin Hogan
Frank Agrama
