Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy

Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy
DVD cover
Directed byJeffrey Obrow
Written by
  • Lars Hauglie
  • Jeffrey Obrow (adaptation)
  • John Penney (adaptation)
Based onThe Jewel of Seven Stars
by Bram Stoker
Produced by
  • Bill Barnett
  • Robert E. Baruc
  • Ted Driscoll
  • Gina Fortunato
  • Hanel Goldstein
  • Jeffrey Obrow
Starring
CinematographyAntonio Soriano
Edited byGary Meyers
Music byRick Cox
Production
company
Goldbar Entertainment
Distributed byNew City Releasing
Release dates
  • March 30, 1998 (1998-03-30)
(Germany)
  • December 29, 1998 (1998-12-29)
(United States)[1]
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1-3 million[1] (estimate)

Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy, or simply Bram Stoker's The Mummy, is a 1998 American fantasy horror film based on Bram Stoker's 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. Directed by Jeffrey Obrow, who is one of the writers that adapted the novel for the film, it features an ensemble cast that includes Louis Gossett Jr., Eric Lutes, Amy Locane, Lloyd Bochner, Victoria Tennant, Mary Jo Catlett, Aubrey Morris, and Richard Karn. Morris previously appeared in Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, a 1971 Hammer Films adaptation of the same novel.

Plot

Art historian Robert Wyatt is summoned to the house of his old flame, Margaret Trelawny. Her father, noted Egyptologist Abel Trelawny, was found in a coma in his study with claw marks on his wrist. Per his dictated wishes, Trelawny asks that he be kept in the room with his Egyptian artifacts with two witnesses at all times. Hoping to solve the mystery of Trelawny's case, Wyatt contacts Corbeck, an archaeologist who worked with Trelawny in the 1970s in uncovering the tomb of an Egyptian queen.

Cast

Production

Jeffrey Obrow was inspired adapt a classic horror novel to film after friend and colleague Matthew W. Mungle won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for his work on Bram Stoker's Dracula.[2] After some research, Obrow came across the novel The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker and decided the book would serve as the basis for his next film.[2] John Penney wrote the initial adaptation, but due to scheduling conflicts Penney was unable to complete the script and Obrow finished it which would then be followed by a rewrite by Lars Hauglie.[2]

Bram Stoker's The Mummy is the fourth film adaptation of the 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker, following the 1970 television play The Curse of the Mummy (an installment of the TV series Mystery and Imagination), the 1971 Hammer Films production Blood from the Mummy's Tomb,[3] and the 1980 film The Awakening.[3] Obrow didn't watch any of the prior adaptations as he didn't want to let the prior works influence the direction of the film.[2]

Obrow attempted to pitch the film in 1994 but was met with disinterest from producers.[2] After failing to secure financing, Obrow instead created a 10-minute promotional video utilizing some aspiring effects artists who worked under his colleagues from The Kindred (1987 film) as well as USC Film School students Obrow had taught a class on independent film.[2] Hanel Goldstein and Bill Barnett at Goldbar Entertainment were impressed by Obrow's video and came on board to produce the film.[2] Goldstein and Barnett financed the film through foreign pre-sales as well as partnering with home video distributor A-PIX Home Video.[2]

Special effects

Effects artists Chad Washam and Chris Fording provided the special effects makeup for the film,[4] which included a mummy prop built using a sculpted head, rubber hands, and a spandex suit with cloth bandages glued to it; mechanical seven-fingered hands; shriveled face makeup; a baby mummy suit; and a foam latex chest appliance for a death scene.[5] The effects crew also utilized "lots of dirt", with Washam noting, "This whole movie is dirty. We must have used over 100 pounds of the stuff."[5]

Release

The film was released direct-to-video in December 29, 1998[1] by A-Pix Entertainment on VHS and by Simitar Entertainment on DVD.

Reception

TV Guide gave the film a score of two out of five stars, writing that it "unearths a story familiar from classic Universal and Hammer horror movies; unfortunately, this straight-to-video rendition of the tale has few chills, and pales in comparison to the originals."[6] Alan Jones of the Radio Times also awarded the film two out of five stars, and wrote that it "features the least believable Mummy make-up in horror history".[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy (1998)". TCM. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thonen, John (May 1998). "Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Shapiro 1998, p. 59.
  4. ^ Shapiro 1998, p. 60–61.
  5. ^ a b Shapiro 1998, p. 61.
  6. ^ "Bram Stoker's The Mummy - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Jones, Alan. "Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy – review". Radio Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2020.

Bibliography

  • Shapiro, Marc (January 1998). "Bram Stoker's The Mummy: Of Human Bandage". Fangoria. No. 169. Starlog Group, Inc. ISSN 0164-2111.
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