Dawn of the Mummy

1981 "A monstrous, chilling terror stalking the living…"
3.8| 1h33m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 11 December 1981 Released
Producted By: Harmony Gold
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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A group of fashion models disturb the tomb of a mummy and revive an ancient curse. Along with the mummy rising, slaves who were buried in the desert thousands of years before, also rise, with a craving for human flesh.

Genre

Horror

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Director

Frank Agrama

Production Companies

Harmony Gold

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Dawn of the Mummy Audience Reviews

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!
Leofwine_draca An endearingly trashy low-budgeter which betrays a great deal of inspiration stemming from Fulci's ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS. You see, this isn't your run-of-the-mill strangling mummy milarky, this is your fully-fledged gut-munching stomach churner in the style of the Italian zombie and cannibal wave of the late '70s/early '80s. At least, it is in the last half hour, and unfortunately due to some incredibly poor pacing, not a lot happens for the first hour. Is the graphic finale worth waiting for? I think so, but impatient viewers might not agree. This is a film for bad movie lovers only, who enjoy over-the-top cheesy music, appalling acting and cheap gore effects which aren't going to give you any sleepless nights.How's this for an international production? It's an American movie, financed by Italians, and shot in Cairo by an Egyptian director! Even with all this multi-cultural talent it's a shame they couldn't make a wholly decent movie, instead one that must be enjoyed for all the wrong reasons. The entire cast can't act, from the Egyptian extras to the dumb fashion models (their grating characters do things like wander through the scrub land at night). Especially bad is Rick, the blond-haired tomb defiler who goes all hysterical and intense towards the end. Behind the camera, the talent ain't so great either, and director Frank Agrama's only other movie of note is the equally shoddy QUEEN KONG. That comes as little surprise.After the numbing 'flashback' which predictably opens the movie, we're treated to lots of wandering about in cheap sets before the horror really begins. Aside from a brief entrail-pulling and some extras getting their faces melted due to poison in the air, not a lot happens in the first fifty minutes or so. There's lots of murky photography in the tombs, some of which is atmospheric, the rest boring. One thing that Agrama does do correctly is offer repeated quick shots of the mummy to build up the tension, as you just know that it's going to awake shortly. The scientific explanation is that heat from the lights used for the fashion shoot causes the embalming fluid inside the mummy to melt (lots of gooey close-ups of course), thus returning it to life. As well as this, the mummy's poorly-dressed followers - apparently buried only a couple of feet below the sand outside, despite lying there for thousands of years - return to life with a taste for human flesh. Agrama achieves one good scare - the mummy sitting bolt upright in its tomb all of a sudden - which managed to make me jolt in surprise.Make-up wise, the thin leading mummy looks very much like Christopher Lee in Hammer's THE MUMMY, which is no bad thing at all. Its minions are more typical decaying zombie types, once again the slimy makeup resembling De Rossi's work in ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS. The gore effects are cheap but plentiful, and whilst not always convincing or as 'hard' as you might believe, they're certainly good value for what little money Agrama and his crew had. Cleavers go into skulls, heads are chopped off, throats are torn out and finally the intestine-ripping gut-munching begins, again including a rip-off of ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS in a scene in which a bride is discovered as the main course for the zombies. A scene at the film's finale, in which a town square in Cairo is the setting for a massacre as the zombies jump on their prey, is absolutely hilarious and over-the-top and a lot of fun. The abrupt ending with-a-twist is a disappointment but I can live with that. DAWN OF THE MUMMY: a treat for bad movie lovers, but beware discerning viewers.
geminiredblue Years ago, while reading a book about horror movies, this little-known gem was mentioned. Being a horror movie completist, I simply had to track it down. Happily, I came across a multi-DVD pack which included DAWN OF THE MUMMY. While the transfer sucked, night scenes were REALLY dark, it didn't get in the way of the beautiful shots of Egyptian pyramids and the desert. Next to that, the rest of the movie pales in comparison. Euro-trash is characterized by bad acting, poor dialogue, senseless plots and unbelievable gore. And this movie has it all! While not nearly as crazed as the Italian horror films of the 80s, you can see where the filmmakers had the same spirit. The movie is about a group of photographers and models who travel to Egypt in order to do a photo-shoot. But along the way, they come across some dubious crypt explorers (who turn out to be grave-robbers) and release an ancient mummy from his curse. Soon after, corpses rise from the sand to devour anyone in their path. Admittedly, witnessing this scene is pretty eerie! But that's coupled with some truly nonsensical moments. My personal favorite is when 2 models decide to chase each other around a sand dune. The girl falls over and rolls down the dune, only to find a fake-looking corpse-less head. She screams and everyone rushes over to see what's up. The girl keeps screaming and screaming, but the crowd just continues to stand there. Often times in movies like this, I love a silly line of dialogue. In this, it's when an old crone repeatedly warns everyone that the mummy "Will rise and kill!" Again, this movie is best watched with a group of funny friends, so that you can all watch and laugh at the ridiculous story, ala MST3K!
Battledragon I've watched 2 DVD versions of this, first one was Anchor bay UK's version, that I've now lost god knows where (maybe I broke or sold it, can't remember, it was years back now) and the Macady's version, which I think is open matte. Correct if I'm wrong.But get to the point. The movie is quite awful (well, not as awful as many Bruno Mattei stuff, but we're getting pretty close to that. There's some grave-robbers, who violate the sacred tomb of (what-ever the name was) and gets curse upon them. Also there's annoying filming group, pretty much lack of nudity, they didn't offer much to this already crappy movie.However, there's a turning point at the ending of the movie, where the ancient legend became truth, and the ending is full of nice-nice splatter (by no-one else but Maurizio Trani). So, if you can bear all the stupidness of the movie about 70 minutes, the ending is definitely worth to seen. Overall, I'll give this movie just a 3/10, reasons I mentioned above.
HumanoidOfFlesh Some fashion models and their photographers decide to shoot a fashion spread in Egypt for the fashion magazine.At the same time,three bandits are excavating the burial site of the Mummy, who was introduced during the film's opening.The two groups cross paths and the fashion photographer decides that the Mummy's tomb would make a really great backdrop.Unbeknowst for them the place is cursed and the ten foot Mummy comes back to life,bringing an army of zombies with him.A flesh-eating rampage ensues!But before that occurs,an hour of film passes by and actors act very badly.Frank Agrama's "Dawn of the Mummy" is often regarded as the goriest mummy flick ever made.It is surely loaded with lots of gore and gut munching,especially during its last 30 minutes,so fans of splatter should be pleased.Still the action is rather dull and the film offers nothing fresh or new.However if you are a gore-hound you may give it a try.7 out of 10.