(DVR’ed from Turner Classic Movies on September 17, 2017)
Charlton Heston stars as an archeologist who neglects his very pregnant wife (Jill Townsend) for his work. He ditches the soon-to-be mommy for a long-dead mummy and while he’s raiding the tomb, her womb goes boom, and her baby is doomed. However, there’s no need for gloom because when Chuck opens the tomb, the kid comes back to life in the delivery room. Eighteen years later, the kid grows up to be Stephanie (Remington Steele) Zimbalist, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or an Egyptologist) to figure out she’s the reincarnation of the mummy.
The Awakening was directed by Mike Newell, who went on to direct Four Weddings and a Funeral. I won’t hold that against him though because there are a lot more than just one funeral in this movie. People are killed a la The Omen via snapped cables, impromptu traffic accidents, booby traps, and falling glass, just to name a few
Based on a novel by Bram Stoker, The Awakening can be slow going at times. However, those murder set pieces aren’t too shabby and help to keep it from being a total slog. Those hoping for an honest to goodness mummy movie will probably be severely disappointed as the traditional bandaged mummy shenanigans are practically nonexistent. It’s closer to The Omen than anything. In addition to the aforementioned death scenes, it basically has the same theme: Dealing with the possibility your child might be evil incarnate. Too bad the complete non-ending threatens to ruin the entire enterprise.
Some fun can be had from seeing the laughable wig and glasses Chuck wears for 2/3 of the picture to show he’s aged eighteen years though. It was also neat to see a pre-Emperor Ian McDiarmid turning up as a shrink. The cinematography by the great Jack Cardiff is solid too.
So, overall, it’s uneven as hell, but there are enough bright points to make sure you won’t fall asleep on The Awakening.
AKA: The Wakening.
No comments:
Post a Comment