Winner Apr '01

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Any Mummy Fans?

Posted by: TIABUENA

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I think you missed my meaning here in that the original Dracula and the original Mummy were scary. The new Mummy is, yes, camp. And it is just fun.

There is a rather interesting point here, though. A lot of horror films nowadays tend to be funny or campy rather than scary. We have such a (generally) greater understanding of psychology nowadays that it is hard to believe in a genuinely and absolutely evil being. As I mentioned, even Gary Oldman's Dracula was a being we could feel some kind of empathy for. The original Dracula was simply a cold, alien being, absolutely and completely inhuman and evil. The new Mummy is nothing like the old one. He's definitely a bad guy, but not the impersonally bad Mummy of yore. He has a personality and he has lots of charisma. And we are given a history so we understand why he became a bad guy. (Same deal with Dracula) And, by the way, Imhotep really did exist. He was an architect and a priest. I just find this rather interesting. We are at an evolutionary stage where we need to find the roots of evil, we need to explain it, and possibly cure it. It's not enough anymore to just have evil guys. The evil guys have to have a history of maltreatment, of abuse, of something, to give them credibility. So all of our Draculas and Imhoteps and, um, Lectors, need to be given some kind of plausible history which explains their inhumanity, their evilness.

(I couldn't watch Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It was just too painful, possibly the most painfully unwatchable film I have ever tried to see.) Faustus would not even be written in today's world! The author would have to psychoanalyse both Faust and the Devil. Actually, getting the mythical Satan on the couch sounds like a pretty good idea for a book. I am not very critical of films, even the worst of them, and The Mummy is certainly not in the "worst of" category. I am one of those people who can just enjoy these things and laugh and have a good time and appreciate the wonder of being entertained. If you really want to hear The Mummy bashed, listen to the commentary on the DVD. The guys who make the films are always the harshest critics. (The most bashed film I ever heard commentaried was The Usual Suspects. The guys who made this film made it by the skin of their teeth, and how they ever managed to get it together and produce such a fabulous film is a mystery to them)

- TIABUENA

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