Talos
the Mummy
USA/UK
1998. Director: Russell Mulcahy
Cast: Lysette Anthony, Shelley Duvall, Honor Blackman
Aka: Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy
Good British
cast, all wasted. Oh, how wasted. Australian director Russell Mulcahy
(Highlander) should perhaps have a big warm credit for having
the ambitions to make something different, but he should have made something
good while he were at it. The plot of Talos is too complicated
to reveal in detail here, but basically it's the same old story about
a group of archaeologists discovering a 3000 year old Egyptian grave.
They bring the remains of its body, mainly bandages, back to London
and shortly thereafter people are killed in mysterious ways. Talos the
mummy has come back.
Already during the prologue it's evident that you'll probably want your money back pretty soon. Some really horrible CG effects, cutting Christopher Lee in half. The rest of the film is slightly better, but not very much. It's overlong and overly pretentious. However, the state of modern archaeology is fascinating. Space suits, air locks... almost makes you want to become an archaelogist. But as much as this is interesting, the rest of the film isn't. Mulcahy had probably a much greater purpose in mind but I'm affraid Talos really only works late at night when there's nothing else to watch and when one is too tired to care.
© The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.