Synopsis
The jacket copy says it better than I could: “Museum director Dr. Zita Furneaux (Kylie Wyote), empowered by the Egyptian goddess Nephthys (Andrea Smith), regains her lost youth by dispatching a living Mummy to kidnap sexy young women, from whom she steals their ‘kas’ (spiritual twins), turning them into zombie-like love slaves. Reporter Elyse Lam (Christine Nguyen), investigating the case of the missing women, also falls prey to Zita’s lusts. But when Zita defies Nephthys… you’ll have to s…e this ‘horrotic’ sequel to the cult hit The Mummy’s Kiss
Well, whatever. The make-up FX are bargain-basement, but enthusiastic, while the numerous sex scenes are about as erotic and convincing as rubbing two Barbie dolls together (the comparison is painfully apt, given the very obvious cyborgian enhancements on display). The whole affair is barely watchable, though long-time writer-director Donald F. Glut’s clear love of classic horror provides a slight spark of interest.
Audio
The audio isn’t perfect, by any means, but it’s a damn sight better than the picture. The score is big and loud, and the 5.1 mix is very energetic. Plenty of sound effects are given the full treatment, too, but the energy here is often too much: the dusty creak of the mummy’s joints, for instance, is very loud and comes from all speakers. Let’s calm down a little bit.
Video
Ick. The grain and pixelation are severe, and are made that much worse when the non-anamorphic image is blown up to 16:9 dimensions. The image is blocky and soft. The colours bleed into each other, the blacks are lousy, and the best thing one can say is that the flesh tones, at least, are decent.
Special Features
But for all this, it’s hard to hate the film completely when one hears the jovial commentary by Glut and editor Dean McKendrick. Glut points out all of his tributes (such as the recreation of the coming-to-life sequence from the Karloff version of The Mummy). The making-of featurette is the usual promotional gimmick, but not as slick as usual. The five photo galleries are “Scene Stills,” “Behind-the-Scenes,” “Portraits,” “Under Wraps” (Nguyen in wrappings) and “Wrap Party.” Lyrics to “The Mummy’s Wrap” are included, as is the trailer.
Closing Thoughts
As erotic horror goes, this is a long way from Jess Franco. We’ll give it some points for its nostalgic heart.
Special Features List
- Audio Commentary
- Making-of Featurette
- Photo Galleries
- Trailer
- “Mummy’s Wrap” Lyrics
