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AWESOME-tober-fest 2016: The Mummy: Dark Resurrection (2007)

Posted in books, Genres, horror, monsters, movies, mummy, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2016, Halloween, holiday, monsters, movies, The Mummy, Universal Studios on October 5, 2016 by Paxton

Back in 2006-2007, Universal Studios commissioned a series of novels that would update their classic monsters in a series of more adult horror tales that also worked as sequels to the classic movies. I discussed one of these books back in 2010 for my werewolf AWESOME-tober-fest (The Wolf Man: Hunter’s Moon by Michael Jan Friedman). Today, I’ll talk about another one, The Mummy: Dark Resurrection by Michael Paine.

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While I didn’t like The Wolf Man novel, I thought it had potential, so I picked up this Mummy book hoping it would do a little more with the subject. Did it? Let’s see.

First of all, it’s really tough to place the book in the mummy movie timeline. I assume it is a sequel to the very first movie from 1932 with Boris Karloff as Karloff’s character, Ardath Bey, is the main antagonist. But no other characters from any of the Mummy movies either show up or are even mentioned in any way. Plus, many of the characters that do appear in this book are given a backstory that sound similar to people in the original mummy franchise which just confuses the entire issue.

The book’s protagonist is Josh Brandt, a rich guy from a rich family who funds an archaeological dig that is trying to find the tomb of Ankh-es-en-Amun, the betrothed of Imhotep. It is revealed that Brandt’s father and grandfather both funded digs for the exact same tomb and both men were lost and presumed dead while at the dig site. When the current dig seemingly discovers the tomb’s entrance, strange things start happening to the Brandt family and a mysterious stranger, Ardath Bey, seems to be at the center of it all.

Like I said, Brandt’s father and grandfather’s disappearance is a big part of the back story. And the way it’s written, it feels like those two men’s stories would have been told previously, like in a mummy movie. But there are no Brandts in any of the previous movies, which confuses me. Plus there’s no mention of any previous dealings with Ardath Bey by characters in the book. I guess this story is just continuing many years later with no other links to the movies except Ardath Bey.

The book is written competently, but antagonist Ardath Bey isn’t utilized enough. Josh, his crazy family and the supernatural events that happen to that family’s members are the focus of the book with Ardath Bey showing up once or twice menacingly and then again at the end to wrap things up.

Honestly, it was kind of a struggle to finish the book. Part of my problem could be that I’m not a huge fan of “the mummy” as a monster since it’s so similar to zombies (which we know I don’t like). Also, for a “mummy book”, there’s a surprising lack of mummies in it. Bey seems to possess the power to make recently dead bodies come to life and kill, which he does throughout the book, but those are zombies, not mummies. Ancient Egyptian mummies are practically non-existent in this story.

Put all of that together and I can’t say I really recommend this book unless you are already a fan of mummies.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2016: Universal’s The Mummy (1932)

Posted in Genres, horror, monsters, movies, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2016, Halloween, holiday, monsters, movies, The Mummy, Universal Studios on October 4, 2016 by Paxton

In 1932, just one year after starring in his breakout role in Frankenstein, Karloff would don the bandages for another of Universal’s monster movies, The Mummy.

Also starring Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan and Arthur Byron.

The movie isn’t bad, if a bit slow in parts. It’s said that this is essentially a remake of Dracula but just set in Egypt instead of Transylvania. I can definitely see that what with the parallels in all the characters and how the story is driven forward. And that story is mostly interesting. Karloff is great as usual as Imhotep. His female lead, Zita Johann, isn’t great. Even by these 30s monster movies standards. However, for the most part, she gets done what needs to be done.

The sets and lighting are pretty awesome. I was constantly impressed by certain props and set pieces that seem to envelope the majority of scenes in the movie. Particularly the scenes with Karloff and Johann at the end of the film.

Unlike Dracula (Stoker’s book) and Frankenstein (Shelley’s book), The Mummy joins The Wolf Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon as the only Universal Monster movies not based on a previous work of fiction. However, there are things the script is clearly influenced by like the excavation of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story The Ring of Thoth.

While I liked Dracula a little better, and Frankenstein and the Wolf Man a lot better, this is still a fun monster movie to watch.

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The movie begins during a dig in an ancient Egyptian tomb. The story makes heavy use of the Scroll of Thoth, which, as I just mentioned, is similar to an artifact in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story, The Ring of Thoth.

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Of course, the young, impulsive character opens up AND READS FROM the creepy, old scroll that he was told not to touch just five minutes before. And, of course, it awakens The Mummy.

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Karloff’s makeup, by industry great Jack Pierce, is photographed brilliantly in this movie. Check out Karloff’s crazy undead stare. I just got chills.

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More awesomely lit Karloff images. He really is pretty great in this movie. Hands down the best thing about it. Followed closely by the lighting, sets and costumes.

So that’s Universal’s The Mummy. I enjoyed it, but maybe not as much as I was hoping.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2016: The Ring of Thoth (1890) – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Posted in books, Classic literature, Halloween, holiday, monsters, mummy with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2016, Book Report, books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, reviews, The Mummy on October 3, 2016 by Paxton

Here we are! Day 1 of AWESOME-tober-fest! Welcome to my daily celebration of all things spooky. As you can tell, my theme this month is “mummies”! So I’ll be looking at books, comics, movies and TV shows that feature mummies. It should be a lot of fun. Today, we’ll start with a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In 1890, Cornhill Magazine published a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story called The Ring of Thoth.

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While this story has a mummy in it, it isn’t technically a “mummy story” like you’d expect. However, it has elements in the story that will clearly influence mummy movies in the many years to come afterwards.

The story is about an Egyptology student who falls asleep in The Louve and winds up locked in overnight and witnesses a bizarre sight. The overnight caretaker unwraps one of the mummies from the collection, embraces and kisses it, then rummages through some of the jewelry in the Egyptian collection clearly looking for something. The student is discovered in hiding and the strange looking caretaker reveals his story about living in ancient Egypt, discovering a long living chemical serum and losing the love of his life to a plague.

This story is short, obviously, and very concise with much of the backstory filled in by exposition from the museum’s overnight caretaker. However, the way the story is written you feel a sense of wonder at the caretaker’s tale as well as a sense of urgency at what he plans to do that very evening. These two things make the story breeze by. It’s also interesting and it keeps you reading along with its fantastical story ideas. Plus, as I mentioned, there are elements within the story that have clearly influenced many successor mummy movies but also the original Karloff Mummy movie.

First of all, the strange looking caretaker, Sosra, is described as being a very tanned and overly wrinkled person. Someone with much wisdom and experience in his eyes. From the description, I immediately got an image of Karloff in his Ardath Bey disguise from The Mummy. There’s even a scene in which Sosra threatens the protagonist with a knife, much like in the picture below.

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Second, the trinket that Sosra is looking for is the title bearing The Ring of Thoth. Thoth is the God of Knowledge in ancient Egyptian culture. His name would be used in countless mummy movies, however, this story would be one of the first. Universal’s The Mummy used it as well in describing, not a ring, but a scroll.

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Like I said, while this story doesn’t necessarily involve a reanimated mummy it does carry several things that would influence mummy stories and movies in the years to come. Including a story Doyle would write just two years later called Lot 249.

Overall, this is a really enjoyable, short read. The timeline is very compact and you feel like there is some urgency in the main characters. It keeps the action moving along despite that the majority of the story involves backstory exposition. This is definitely a recommend.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2016 is near!

Posted in AWESOME-tober-fest, Genres, Halloween, holiday, horror, monsters, movies, mummy, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2016, Fangoria, Halloween, holiday, horror, magazines, monsters, movies, pop culture, reviews, The Mummy on September 12, 2016 by Paxton

It’s early September. The days are growing short. The spooky season is fast approaching. Some, like my good friends Matt and Jay, have already begun. It’s Countdown to Halloween time!

And yes, I’ll be doing AWESOME-tober-fest this year. And my theme will be The Mummy! So expect to see lots of ancient, bandage wrapped awesomeness popping up here starting, officially, on Monday Oct 3. I’ll be covering lots of pop culture mummy things like books, comics, movies and even a few cartoons! So mark your calendar, starting Monday October 3 I’ll be redressing the Cavalcade for the entire month of October and starting daily weekday updates featuring The Mummy! Plus a few other surprises.

And I guarantee you, at some point during AWESOME-tober-fest, the below cartoon depiction of Alcatraz Island will show up.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: Destroyer (1988) movie review

Posted in Genres, Halloween, holiday, horror, movies, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Fangoria, Fangoria Movie Friday, Halloween, holiday, horror, magazines, monsters, movies, pop culture, reviews, zombies on October 30, 2015 by Paxton

This is it! The final day of the final week of AWESOME-tober-fest 2015. It’s been a blast. I really hope you guys have had as much fun as I’ve had. I’m sad to see the Halloween season come to a close. But, all good things, am I right? Anyway, without further ado, here is today’s final AWESOME-tober-fest article and it’s the last of this week’s look back at all of my previous years’ AWESOME-tober-fest subjects.

Last year, my theme was Bloody Best of Fangoria. I went through the vast history of the magazine, showed you articles and pictures and each Friday I reviewed a B-horror movie that appeared in the pages of the magazine. Those reviews were called Fangoria Movie Fridays. The last FMF was the awesome Cheerleader Camp starring Lucinda Dickey. But it was almost a different movie. As a matter of fact, it was so almost a different movie that I had watched and mostly drafted a completely different movie review but I changed my mind at the last second. I think it’s time to bring that movie back and give it its due. That movie was the flick Destroyer from 1988. It starred Lyle Alzado, Debra Foreman and Anthony Perkins.

Here’s the ad they used to promote the VHS release. I remember seeing it in an issue of Fangoria.

Lyle looks like he’s holding his head weird. Or is his head just Photoshopped into the poster? I can’t tell.

Here’s the actual poster for the movie.

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Yeah, this is actually a bit more bonkers and awesome. Did you notice that they added a LASER SCOPE to the jackhammer? Why the f**k does he need a laser scope on the jackhammer?! Crazy. And weird. And awesome.

Anyway, this movie poster obviously spoke to me. Lyle Alzado as a “half dead” serial killer? Anthony Perkins as a horror movie director? Yes, please.

So, first, is this movie any good. Ehhh, it’s okay. It’s not bad for a late 80s slasher flick with a ton of cult pop culture familiar faces in it. What’s it about, well, Alzado plays a serial killer who is on Death Row. He is about to be executed when a power surge while he’s in the electric chair makes him “half dead”. Essentially it makes him a savage, nearly indestructible killing machine. The jail is abandoned and Lyle is left to roam the empty jail. Flash forward two years or so and a horror film crew arrives to film their movie in the infamous jail. They, of course, stir up Lyle who starts killing off members of the crew. How do you stop an unkillable monster? I. Don’t. Know.

That’s the basic premise. Did I mention this movie had familiar faces? Yep, let’s quickly look at the cast. You’ve already seen sweaty Lyle Alzado up there on the poster as the “lead”. Lyle is known mainly for football but he also appeared in this movie, Ernest Goes to Camp, Zapped…Again! (yes, the sequel to Zapped!) and the sadly short lived wrestling sitcom Learning the Ropes.

The next most notable face would be the aforementioned Anthony Perkins, best known as Norman Bates in the Psycho movies. Anthony is playing the director of the horror movie-within-the-movie, Death House Dolls. Honestly, Perkins is pretty much the best thing in the movie. He’s very entertaining and I loved every scene he’s in.

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Here’s a familiar face, Clayton Rohner.

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I did not expect him to pop up in this movie. This guy is an 80s staple with lead rolls in Just One of the Guys, I, Madman and another little horror film I love called April Fool’s Day. If you haven’t seen April Fool’s Day, watch it. It’s pretty great. But also starring in April Fool’s Day was an actress named Deborah Foreman. And in a nice little reunion, Deborah is in this movie as well.

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Deborah is adorable. You’ve seen her in a ton of 80s flicks like Valley Girl, Real Genius, Hot Pursuit and My Chauffeur. Unfortunately she goes with “Hilary Clinton” hair in this movie which is rather…unfortunate.

I do like both of these guys, so it’s nice to have them here. Clayton comes off a little better because he’s written to be a funny, irreverant writer so he has some funny lines.

So, how’s Lyle? He’s okay. I mentioned his character is described as “half dead”, which I assume means he has “crazy eyes”. Because that’s what he does at every opportunity. Gives us his “crazy eyes”.

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