Podcast: Lee Cronin’s ‘The Mummy Gets Uncertified

Whether you call it Lee Cronin's The Mummy or just The Mummy, the latest Blumhouse spin on the Universal Monsters franchise is here, and reviews are mixed. Few expected Cronin to turn this storied horror franchise into a mummified remix of Evil Dead Rise. Does this approach work? It does for some and doesn't for others, as you'll see in this week's episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast.

Life’s pretty good for television journalist Charlie Cannon (Jack Reynor). Not only does he have two beautiful kids - with a third one on the way - he’s also just been offered a morning gig in New York City, allowing his family to move home from Egypt. But in their final days abroad, the unthinkable happens - Charlie’s daughter Katie (Natalie Grace) is taken. Fast forward eight years, and Charlie and wife Larissa (Laia Costa) have relocated their kids to her mother’s house, doing their best to move on from their tragic loss. That is, until they get a phone call that says Katie… has been found. Now the Cannon family must rely on the work of Detective Zaki (May Calamawy) half a world away to understand what has happened to their daughter.

In this short excerpt from the episode, Matthew Monagle explains why The Mummy is a coming out party for Cronin's ambitions as a filmmaker:

This is the film where Lee Cronin basically says, 'I want to be the next Sam Raimi.' And by, 'I want to be the next Sam Raimi,' I mean, 'I want to use a shit ton of split diopter shots,' 'I want to do whip pans,' 'I want to do hair-blown-back creature effects.' All of the things that Sam Raimi does as a director, not just in the Evil Dead movies, but in the visual language that he uses.

The The Mummy episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, or the podcast platform of your choice.