HAPPY SUPERMAN DAY 2026, 1 OF 2 FOR 2026 (4/18)

 

I SAW LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY

There's confusion regarding Lee Cronin's The Mummy, coproduced by James (Saw/The Conjuring/Aquaman) Wan, where some have presumed it's another Universal variant of the Imhotep (Kharis) series, when, in fact, the writer/director's ominous opus creeps from WB/New Line Cinema and AMC. Others have dismissed the picture as a throwaway, since they're anticipating a revival of the Brendan Fraser, Mummy series, perceiving the latter as the foundation of all such Imhotep adventures. In truth, the Frasier track is a comedic, johnny-come-lately, name-lifting homage to chapter plays, more than Universal monster lore. Really, folks, open thy eyes and get with the program! 

Maybe it would have helped if Cronin's creation carried a differentiating title (like Mummified, The Disinterred or The Entombed), but why not accept its obvious designation: another horror movie with a mummy motif, underscored by a demon-possession angle? No matter its label, Cronin's flick deserves better than the sight-unseen derision it's received, for his product is gruesome and scary and more than holds its own with his previous successes, A Hole in the Ground and Evil Dead Rises. 

Here's the premise: Little Katie Cannon (played at the outset, and later in flashback, by Emily Mitchell), is kidnapped in Cairo (after being lured by a strange woman, portrayed by Hyat Kamille), much to the consternation of her journalist dad, Charlie, played by Jack Reynor, and her mom, Larissa, played by Laia Costa. Eight years pass, and Katie, enacted at this stage by Natalie Grace, is found swathed in a lead-lined sarcophagus (after such is tossed from a crashed plane), alive yet catatonic in her preserved, adolescent state. Katie is transported to Albuquerque to her family's home, joined by her siblings, portrayed by Billy Roy and Shylo Molina, and her grandmother, played by Veronica Falcon. However, Katie is a ghost of her former self, administering an evil that permeates Grand Guignol ghoulishness (we're talking full-blown, Braindead/Dead Alive gruesomeness here) and an apparent intent to infect the world, all for the despicable joy of it. In the meantime, a detective, Dalia Zaki (May Calamawy), digs for answers and an Egyptologist, Professor Bixler (Mark Mitchenson), offers insights, but as one knows, the supernatural is damn tricky to crack, let alone disown. 

Cronin's story marches in step with Zach Cregger's Weapons and W.W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw" (with a smidgeon of Snow White stirred in), but it's most reminiscent of Richard Matheson's "Bobby," a spectral-child tale (in its own right, a "Monkey's Paw" pastiche), first featured in Dead of Night 1977 and remade for Trilogy of Terror II. (Passages from The Exorcist and The Omen sagas also manifest within the framework, once the story progresses.) 

A great deal of the movie's impact comes from Grace, with her Katie capturing a giddy repulsiveness comparable to Alyssa Sutherland's in Evil Dead Rises. Without question, dear, demented Katie is the stuff of nightmares. With this said, I can't help but contrast her to Miko Hughes' Gage in Pet Sematary. However, while wee Hughes does churn the chills, the lad doesn't reach the freakish or brutal summit of Stephen King's novel. Grace, however, is allowed to detonate her creaky fiendishness without restraint, delivering one gross-out move after the other, so it's easy to forget she's just a girl in monster makeup.

Horror fans--monster fans--would be wise to rally around this one, but even if it fizzles at the box office, it's destined for a cult following. I'm at least glad to have seen it on an IMAX screen, where its loathsome decimation was magnified to the fullest, mind-warping measure. Do yourself a favor and buy a ticket, or hell, stay closed-minded and miss out. That next Fraser Mummy isn't too far off or so Universal's publicists have dared to spout.

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

COLLECTIBLE TIME: HAMMER'S RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK T-SHIRT

Got a new, novelty tee, promoting Hammer's Rasputin the Mad Monk. It sports just the logo in referencing the Christopher Lee headliner. 

This Printerval collectible comes in various colors and apparel designs, but I choose a black (heavyweight) version, featuring the across-the-board, mustard script. 

I like the logo approach, having other such T-shirts, including one with a Batman 1940 logo and another with an Alien Nation logo. Such simplicity is subdued yet viable in promoting the sort of pop-cultural commodity I fancy. 

Printerval has many nifty products to browse and purchase. Visit its expansive, online store: 

https://www.printerval.com

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

I SAW ABRAHAM'S BOYS: A DRACULA STORY

Writer/director Natasha (The Dreadful/Lucky/Imitation Girl) Kermani's Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story is a stylish yarn (acquired by RLJE Films and Shudder) that extends the legacy of Bram Stoker's perennial Count by focusing on Professor Abraham Van Helsing and his sons. 

The eerie exploit begins in 1915 California, when a passing lass (Fayna Sanchez) appears to have been bitten by a vampire. Van Helsing, portrayed by Titas (Bosch/Sons of Anarchy/Deadwood/Lost) Willgiver, resides nearby with his wife, Jocelin (House of the Devil/Insidious 2/Offseason) Donahue's Mina and their boys, Brady (The Black Phone) Hepner's Max and Judah (Deadcon) Mackey's Rudy. The professor tells his sons that something unearthly is on the prowl and prepares them to confront it. 

According to the professor, their mother is still tainted by Dracula's blood, which holds the magnetic means to lure vampires, prompting them to thirst and kill wherever she roams. This conundrum, he stresses, is heightened by California's mounting population, among which the undead are said to be a part. Van Helsing arranges to shield his sickly spouse from these creatures and asks Max, his older boy, to be extra vigilant. 

When the boys discover the bitten lass in their basement, the story takes a frenetic turn, with their father revealing his vampire-hunting days. He teaches his sons the fine art of slaying the undead, though only Max seems to stomach the procedure, albeit more by default than choice. Thereafter, Max meets Aurora Perrineau's nomadic Elsie, who'll come to impact the boys' circumstance, but are their cumulated lessons and encounters enough to stop the reputed parasite? The answer lies in the fable's surprising finale.  

Abraham's Boys does an excellent job presenting a motif of belief-vs-disbelief, reminiscent of Bill Paxton/Brent Hanley's Frailty, but coddled by a humid, ominous aura, similar to Tom Tryon/Robert Mulligan's The Other. It's not so much how one prepares to fight evil, but rather what heats one's veins and enflames one's fears, creating a dread so palpable that it can even withstand the daylight. (One scene, in particular, epitomizes this notion, when a bat enters the family's sunlit kitchen as Mina concocts a pot of blood pudding.) 

From another vantage, the movie invokes a Bradbury-ian quality, as when Max and Rudy discuss the validity of vampires in their bedroom, in what plays like an exchange that Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade may have engaged in Something Wicked This Way Comes. In addition, their father's reunion with Jonathan Howard's Arthur Homewood is the grown-up equivalent to such, ringing with the same Bradbury tonality, only wrought with a "say it ain't so" cynicism. 

On still another front, the movie's structure references Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin, a tale told through both young and old eyes about suspected vampirism in a sleepy town, where varied regrets (similar to those unearthed in Abraham's Boys) dig deep. 

Because of its complexity, Abraham's Boys is superior to most contemporary, vampire movies, which tend to be fast, fun and tangible, but with little to resonate for the long run. This one dares to be more, by captivating and provoking, while respecting the tropes of Stoker's impassioned classic, though viewed through an esoteric lens. For that I give Kermani enormous credit in bringing her vision to the screen. Her creation isn't just a come-and-go, horror picture, absorbed today and forgotten tomorrow, but rather one designed to be remembered, and mark my words, it will be. 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: GODZILLA VS GORGO