Josh has been watching The Mummy franchise to prepare for this week’s movie, which ironically has nothing to do with The O’Connells or Imhotep. And he calls himself a cinephile. But any excuse to watch Brendan Fraser and company kick ass and fight ancient Egyptians is a good time. Rick and Evelyn have to be the hottest couple of 90s cinema, and carve Imhotep’s face on the Mount Rushmore of villain origin stories. They’re streaming on HBO Max!
Which is your favorite Mummy movie? Including The Scorpion King spin-offs.
Here’s what we have for you this week:
Concession Stand Scorecard: Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
Watchlist Worthy: Eric puts the whore in whorror—new Zombie flick
New Pod Drop: Eric coming in not-so-live from Las Cruces and meeting Steve Zahn.
This week’s movie - Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
Letterboxd Description:
What happened to Katie?
The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace—eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.
Best Watched With
Your pedicure pal and a New Mexican
End Credit Thoughts
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is unrelated to any previous The Mummy movies and can be viewed as a standalone horror tale. It is set in modern times; however, it can’t be a mummy movie without ancient Egyptian myths, mysteries, and histories. Lee Cronin’s vision is gruesome and a bloody mess, but also, unexpectedly, quite funny at times. Our theater was definitely having lol moments due to humor, and a time or two because of its ridiculousness.
The movie takes place in two of the most prominent world deserts, the Sahara and whatever desert Albuquerque, New Mexico, is in (it’s the Chihuahua Desert, but we wanted an excuse to write Albuquerque because how many movies actually use Albuquerque as the movie's setting? Maybe more than we think, but we digress—also don’t fact-check the prominence of the deserts. Just trust us).
Shoutout to sandstorms in Cairo and the beautiful Sandias. We always appreciate seeing our home state represented not just on the big screen, but also named. The landscape and the foothills made us who no longer live in the 505 feel at home in the midst of grotesque body gore and haunting images.
The performances are not profound, but some stand out more than others. The leads are fine and mostly forgettable. The kids hold it down, though. Shylo Moilna (Sebastián Cannon), Billie Roy (Maud Cannon), and Natalie Grace (Katie Cannon) do the heavy lifting. Grace has the difficult task of playing a mummified eight-year-old and needing to perform some sickening body horror scenes and produce some unsettling sounds. Roy brings some shockingly hilarious humor for a child. She, alongside Veronica Falcón (Carmen Santiago, grandma), has great comedic timing and brings much-needed tension relief at key moments. And, also, contribute to the madness that takes place. We’ll probably have graphic nightmares of the funeral scene for days to come.
The story is all there. It has all the pieces to be really good, perhaps great even. A young daughter goes missing to be brought back into their lives years later, but not as the sixteen-year-old she ought to be, but as a survivor of mummification. Ancient Egyptian lore, sacredness, demonology, a solid twist, and the great Southwest. They had everything for an on-time take off, a shit load of mid-flight turbulence, and a hell of a save smooth landing by Captain Cronin. Could be the writing, the directing, or the performances, but stuff starts to fall apart fairly quickly. Most of which could have been forgiven, but the way they wrap everything up is far from a pretty bow.
The big screen definitely elevated the fright and fear; the sound was definitely loud, and the vibrations were (not) appreciated as they contributed to the eeriness. But in the end, we can’t say it’s worth the price of admission. Genre lovers might appreciate it, but most will benefit from waiting til streaming.
Jost Jump Scare Count: 13
Want to know more about our individual ratings of movies?
Follow us on Letterboxd:
@justjoshperez
@ericharrison
@kellyharrison
Colony by Yeon Sang-ho
Letterboxd Description:
Professor Se-jeong is thrust into a bloody nightmare when a rapidly mutating virus is released during a biotech conference causing authorities to seal the facility. Trapped inside with no escape, Se-jeong along with a small group of survivors must fight to stay alive while the infected undergo horrific transformations.
FIRST AND FOREMOST - KICK ROCKS to producers and ALLLLLL our readers who are tired of hearing about horror. Don’t like it? TALK TO HOLLYWOOD.
Ahem. Sorry. Here we go:
Everyone can agree that Train to Busan, the 2016 South Korean action horror film directed by Yeon Sang-ho, truly changed the zombie game. It is an ALL TIMER (We use that term lightly around here. Get used to it).
SO with that in mind, we are STOKED to hear that Yeon is back with Colony, another zombie thriller that looks fun as HELL. See ya in theaters August 28th, bitches.
-Eri
Also Directed by Olivia Wilde:
Train to Busan (2016)
Revelations (2025)
Yap Session in Las Cruces: Film Festival, What We’ve Been Watching, and Harry Potter First Watch #72
🎧 Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube
Josh and Eric record while Eric is in Las Cruces with poor internet, having forgotten his microphone, and while he is attending events tied to a film festival and a grand opening.
Eric describes interrupting Steve Zahn for a photo and later apologizing, while they joke about “everything everywhere all at once” jumpers and embarrassment as narcissism.
They discuss the grim state of New Mexico film production despite festival sponsorships, bird poop “good luck,” and what they’ve been watching: Eric’s first-time Harry Potter run (including an Alfonso Cuarón “ice/eyes” anecdote), Slow Horses season five, Your Friends and Neighbors, Project Hail Mary, and the new Mario movie, while Josh recommends The Pitt and DTF and mentions seeing the new Faces of Death and excitement for the Backrooms horror film.
Tune in next week for | Michael
Follow us on:
Instagram: @_sweetandcondensed_
TikTok: @SweetAndCondensed
Youtube: @SweetAndCondensed