A tall leggy, blonde super model rides into a zombie apocalypse on horseback attempting to save Egypt. I know what you're thinking...with all the recurring plots in today's stale films, why isn't this one of them? Skinny dipping beauties, zombies eating fashion models, gratuitous photo-shoots in tombs, and zombies eating brains all grace our film today, 1981's "Dawn of the Mummy."
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| Melinda and Lisa |
Tomb raiders led by blond hunk Rick (George Peck) raid an Egyptian tomb in order to loot gold treasure. Of course, this is a typical tomb in Egypt as warnings adorn the walls threatening to kill anyone who steps foot in it. On cue, the Swedish Bikini team...er, I mean a photo-shoot arrives with statuesque babes, and their photographer. What was a barren shoot in the desert now is a juicy one with hopes of shooting the girls with a mummy and tomb included. Gary (John Salvo) befriends Rick, and the girls start posing. Lisa (Brenda Siemer Scheider...Roy's wife) is the star model and she has a great smile and allure. Disrespecting the resting places of dead Egyptian princes never leads to happiness and soon the Mummy awakes with his army of flesh-eating zombies.
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| Lisa and severed head |
As the zombie army begins their offensive they catch the sultry Melinda (Ellen Faison) skinny dipping. A short chase will result in her getting eaten...very sad. Commanding his undead army, our Mummy sets his sights on the other models, the tomb raiders, and the nearby village. As the beauties fall (...or get digested), Lisa man's up and grabs a horse and races to the village to save Egypt. A classic wedding scene will occur in which a groom barges in on his bride as she is being eaten.
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| Melinda about to be consumed |
Will the ravishing Lisa save Egypt? Will Vogue or Elle publish the pictures of this shoot even though they depict violence against women? Is this film a metaphor for the misogynistic treatment of women by the patriarchal middle-eastern culture? Eyeballs will be gouged, brains will be ripped out of skulls, internal organs will be feasted on, all in good fun. Directed by Frank Agrama, "Dawn of the Mummy" is a zany mix of gory horror and exploitation.
Models are being decimated? Can I pen the remake & have the Kardashians be in it? Quick, call SyFy. Good review, Christopher.
ReplyDeleteLol seen this one years ago & funnily enough was thinking of revisiting over the weekend before even seeing your review. I remember finding first half a bit dull but second half quite entertaining. It's actually an American film but used an Italian crew so some think it's from Italy, nice review Christopher & looks like you caught uncut version, sweet.:)
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