STACK September 2017 Issue 155

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018 SEPTEMBER 2017
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of death. And then on top of that you
have massive skyscrapers; a millennia
of history to draw from and a wonderful
collision of tones all over the place, no
matter where you look.”
Ahmanet’s tomb is also a unique
addition to Mummy lore in that her
sarcophagus is submerged in a
well filled with mercury – a detail
Kurtzman discovered when researching
Egyptology, its totems and magic.
“One of the things that really struck
me was the idea that in some ways,
mercury was like Kryptonite to evil –
they believed it repelled evil. To me,
that was such an interesting visual.”
Horror fans will find plenty to enjoy in The
Mummy – as well as the obvious connection
to the eponymous monster and its long
screen history, there are nods to several other
horror classics.
Kurtzman notes that
while Boris Karloff’s
original 1932
incarnation of The
Mummy was the
biggest point
of inspiration,
both he and Tom
Cruise watched a
film per day during
preparation in order to
find the right look and
tone for their version.
“We watched a lot of
Hitchcock –The Birds,
Psycho , Vertigo… just
in terms of rhythm
and style and the way that Hitchcock would
build suspense. No one has really come close
to matching that kind of brilliance – we took a
lot of inspiration from that,” he says.
The Exorcist was also a big influence,
especially in the scenes where Cruise’s
soldier of fortune uncovers an ancient evil
buried in the desert of the Middle East. “That
was a big one for texture and tone,” adds
Kurtzman. “You look at the first eight minutes
with Max Von Sydow in Iraq and there’s
almost no dialogue there, but
you’re immediately immersed
in that world and experience
a deep sense of dread.” • The Mummy
is out Sept 6
Boris Karloff’s emergence from
the tomb back in 1932 has since
brought a collective cry from
Hollywood and audiences alike:
“I want my Mummy!”
THE MUMMY
Elegant 1959 Hammer Horror version in which
Peter Cushing desecrates the 4,000 year-old
tomb of Queen Ananka and faces the wrath of
Christopher Lee as Kharis the Mummy.
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB
Hammer Films’ atmospheric adaptation of Bram
Stoker’s 'Jewel of the Seven Stars' is the first and
the best. Later remade as The Awakening and
Bram Stoker’s Legend of the Mummy.
DAWN OF THE MUMMY
A fashion shoot disturbs the tomb of evil pharaoh
Safiraman. Taking their cue from George A.
Romero, his army of zombie servants rise from the
dead to devour the flesh of the living.
DOCTOR WHO: PYRAMIDS OF MARS
They might look like chunky mummies but, as
Tom Baker’s Doctor discovers, these bandaged
Egyptians are actually the robotic servants of the
evil Sutekh the Destroyer.
Tom Cruise with Russell Crowe
as Dr. Henry Jekyll
[London is] a city literally
built on centuries of death
“ [The Mummy] is the first
film in what Universal
is now building, called Dark
Universe, which is dedicated
to the Universal Monsters,” Alex
Kurtzman explains. “They take great
pride and call them ‘their’ monsters
because the studio is literally built
on those monsters – Dracula,
Frankenstein, Creature
from the Black Lagoon,
Wolf Man… Those
are the films I grew
up loving as a kid, and
the idea was to give
the audience a really
satisfying Mummy
movie, but also
to open that
door and give
them a peek at
what’s behind
it. We’ve really
only begun to
tease what’s there,
and there’s some
deliberately open-ended questions
at the end of the film. The Prodigium
and Doctor Jekyll will return.”
Kurtzman and his producing
partner Chris Morgan will be
involved in future Dark Universe
films, which will include Bride of
Frankenstein , directed by Bill Condon
( Beauty and the Beast), as well as
the return of The Invisible Man and
Frankenstein’s Monster, played by
Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem,
respectively.
News of Condon’s involvement in
Bride of Frankenstein is particularly
exciting given he has such passion
for the material, having helmed
the James Whale biopic Gods
and Monsters (1998) starring Ian
McKellen.
“It feels like he was put on this
earth to do that,” agrees Kurtzman.
“He’s the perfect director for it, so
I’m really excited to see what he
does with it and how he evolves it.”
MORE
MUMMY
MADNESS
BUILDING A DARK UNIVERSE