Title: Frankenstein Vs The Mummy
RLJ Entertainment and Image Entertainment
Director: Damien Leone
Writer: Damien Leone
Cast: Max Rhyser, Ashton Leigh, Boomer Tibbs, Robert MacNaughton, Constantin Tripes, Brandon deSpain
Running Time: 114 minutes, Not Rated
Special Features: Commentary with Writer/Director Damien Leone and Cinematographer George Steuber
Available on DVD & Digital Download February 10th
Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Max Rhyser) and Egyptologist Naihla Khalil (Ashton Leigh) are both professors at a university. She has just come back from a dig where her team uncovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian king. Victor performs a reanimation experiment which successfully creates a living decaying corpse whom is able to communicate and remembers who he was before he died at the hands of Victor Frankenstein. Meanwhile Naihla’s mummy has been awakened by a colleague (Boomer Tibbs) who promises to remove the curse that was placed upon his mummified remains. The creature needs Victor to transfer his brain into a suitable host, while the mummy believes that Naihla holds the key to his soul’s freedom. When the mummy attacks the couple and mortally wounds Victor, the creature and the mummy battle to the death…again.
The Good: “Penis Breath” AKA the older brother in E.T. plays a doomed assistant, but Robert MacNaughton looked like he had a lot of fun with the part and he seemed very natural. The title and premise at first seemed like a bad idea, but after taking a chance it was mostly fun.
The Bad: Why is this film called “Frankenstein Vs The Mummy” when Frankenstein is the creator? The monster is not named Frankenstein. He doesn’t even call the creature Frankenstein in the film, he calls it by the guy whose brain he put in.
Ashton Leigh’s character is too chipper for a college professor. She hasn’t been hardened from teaching yet. She talks to the students like they’re in High School or younger. The sex scene at the half hour mark, the chick doesn’t even take off her panties. If you’re gonna go with a PG13 with the sex scene, then just put the actors under a sheet.
The makeup isn’t bad, but why’d they make the creature’s cheekbones so pointy? It’s supposed to be a reanimated rotting corpse – what natural human being has geometric bone structure? What’s up with the part where Victor cuts the top of a dude’s skull off with a dremel?
They ripped off a scene from Tales From the Darkside The Movie when the mummy uses the brain hook up a dude’s nose, but they pulled out what I’m guessing was supposed to be brain, but looked more like a long mucousy booger. The creature tells Victor he wants food, and Victor gets the creature a sandwich that looks like it’s filled with all lettuce with wet snot rags. Hell I’d want to kill that chintzy mofo too.
The mummy attacks the evil professor by cutting off his nose to replace his own, and then cuts off the old dude’s junk, then squishes them in his hands…um, okay. What did the mummy want with an old dude’s balls? Was that for shock value or something? Yawn. The digital recorder happens to survive the fire just so Victor’s kiss-assy student fan can find it and possibly carry on his experiments? Ugh, that’s the ending you were happy with?
Frankenstein VS The Mummy had a lot of things wrong with it. The title makes it sound like some epic battle, but sadly it wasn’t because both monsters were super easy to kill. I did find it fun even though it was kind of awful. I have a feeling it will gain a cult fanbase and possible spinoff film.
Acting: C+
Story: D
Technical: C
Total Rating: C-
Reviewed by: JM Willis
