directed by:
Colin Bressler written by: William Donahue genre: Horror |
Okay, just to put this out there, anyone who orders a glass of milk at a coffee bar or restaurant is extremely suspicious to me. That being said, it's not as if Joe Morton is trying all that hard to hide his murderous ways. He sits at the table of Alexis, a reporter, and essentially launches into the origin story of the monster he's become. Lucky her, right? I told ya…no man willingly drinking a tall glass of milk - when there are a million alternatives can be up to any good. The severed finger he's given Alexis in a basket seems to corroborate my feelings - while also serving as a great plot device to move this mysterious story along.
Joe has chosen a very special someone for his twenty-fifth victim, and "The Mummy Murders" tells the grizzly tale as Morton explains the madness of his methods to Alexis. Credit where credit is due, she's built of something much stronger than the majority of the population – most of us - who would have a complete and total stranger sit down at their table seemingly at random would probably pick up and leave, never mind start having a deep & detailed conversation with some weirdo milk-drinker. Also worth noting is that despite his polite demeanour and clean look, there's a creepiness to Morton that he can't hide – again, I think that most folks would have bolted from the table rather than invited him to continue talking. You could look at this from two angles, I suppose. One being Alexis is stronger than steel, and the other suggests that this conversation, even taking place, is probably the toughest part of this film to believe in. Don't get me wrong - it doesn't take long into the dialogue between Alexis and Joe before she's got a reason or two to stick around; I'm just saying that most people likely wouldn't have even let this meeting get that far. For example, if Joe Morton showed up at my table, I'd be out the door after trusting my instincts. Anyhow. What ensues is freakin' fantastic if you ask me. Joe is a stellar storyteller, even if his gruesome tales are based on real-life events of his own making. You get most of what we see in "The Mummy Murders" told through flashback scenes that piece the events together like a puzzle, and in between those, you'll head back to the bar where Joe and Alexis are sitting and talking. So essentially, a lot of "The Mummy Murders" actually takes place in one location, at one table – and as I've said more than a few times on these pages & in my reviews, I dig movies created by these types of means. I look at it this way…if you're not using location and settings to your advantage, then your story has to be dialogue & character-driven – and those elements have to be super strong if the story is gonna succeed. I'm happy to report that's the case here in "The Mummy Murders." Joe is brilliantly played by Jason Scarbrough, and the inquisitive reporter Alexis, played by Leila Annastasia Scott, is also remarkable. Together, they're crucial to this film's mechanics and the reasons it turns out as strong as it does. Now, that's not to say the film itself doesn't have a few hiccups - or that it's immune from having a few spots where it could have been improved upon. There are definitely points in the story where people will feel like the movie moves too slowly or there's not quite enough going on to keep their interest fully engaged, and I get that. I also felt like there were things like the violence/struggles not "quite" being committed enough to be as believable as it could have been. If anything, I felt like where "The Mummy Murders" ended up being its most convincing and showing its strongest scenes were all right there at the table. In those scenes, we're experiencing the story being basically narrated and dictated to us, so it's a bit unusual that what we're told is more effective than what we see, but again, credit where credit is due; Joe and Alexis are the strongest characters in this film, and their chess-match of minds at the bar is without question the most vivid & entertaining part of watching "The Mummy Murders," in my opinion.
Ultimately, writer William Donahue has something solid here, especially as this film continues forward and Alexis becomes more confrontational with Morton. I also thought that the argument that murder can be art was extremely compelling and thought-provoking, though I can certainly appreciate that many folks out there would think that's one of the sicker parts of Morton's psyche. I also felt like director Colin Bressler has the right ideas on how to present this story by transitioning into flashback scenes – but more crucially, he absolutely understood that the real weight of this tale takes place in the conversation right there at the table, so that's where we spend the majority of our time. As you creep and crawl with them into the final twists in this story and the tables get turned, I think we're cleverly forced to appreciate just how together Morton seems to be, despite his monstrous occupation. He's unnervingly happy in life, and it really makes us question whether or not we're the same in our own by comparison. We get to ride along with Alexis and see the world through her eyes as the film carries towards its devilish conclusion and question whether or not we'd make the choices she makes. We get to wonder whether or not any of us are suited to have the power of life and death at our fingertips. We get to ask ourselves what we're willing to do for fame and fortune, and what we're willing to sacrifice. I enjoyed the cat & mouse of all this, and I feel like "The Mummy Murders" deserves a solid three and a half stars on the strengths of its main characters, Joe and Alexis. I also think we all need the name of that bar so we can go have ourselves a visit – the waiter was more attentive than you've ever had the pleasure of experiencing at any of the places you frequent, I guarantee it. All-in-all, for a film that shows you where the darkness is as upfront as "The Mummy Murders" does, it remains vibrantly entertaining to create a seriously inspired conversation about the merits of art and the true value of life…and death. |
|
|
More To Check Out.
|
