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DAWN OF THE MUMMY (Anchor Bay Entertainment UK, 2002) Head Count: Tag-line: 'They came from the dead... to feast on the living...' Death Toll: Fifteen on-screen deaths, according to our calculations. But it's hard to tell - especially when some of the scenes are so dark. Cutting Remarks: Dawn Of The Mummy is definitely one of those films which you remember as being cooler than it really is. You think to yourself, "Ahhh yes, that's the one with the lovely Videospace sleeve. Furthermore, I can remember an excellent 'hatchet in the head' scene". The reality, however, is that while Dawn... does have its plus points, the first two-thirds of it are dishwater dull. Basically, a team of gold diggers open up the Egyptian tomb of Safiraman (big mistake, as you might expect), only for a bunch of irritatingly self-obsessed fashion types to descend on the place and start mounting shoots.          What are the plus points? Well, Safiraman the Mummy looks pretty cool, opting for a wet look as opposed to the crusty, dry mummified norm. There's also a fair helping of gore, which thankfully has remained intact in the UK's relatively enlightened new censorship age. That hatchet in the head is still a doozy, even if the dummy head is hilariously evident. The music also helps things along, being an up-tempo synth-fest for the most part, while the genuine Egyptian locations make the production look a lot less cheap than it otherwise might.          And we're back to the negatives - the lighting is often atrocious and the climax leaves a fair bit to be desired. Still, it's great to see a movie like Dawn Of The Mummy hitting DVD - especially with a few extras tagged on... Most Memorable Demise: The hatchet in the head. Splendid work. Look Out For: Memorable scenes of zombies rising from the desert sands. Killer Quote: "They will rise and kill! Rise and kill!" - the obligatory toothless, barking crone. DVD Details: Anchor Bay have done a good job here, offering Dolby 5.1 or 2.0 soundtracks, along with DTS. The screen comes in either 16 x 9 anamorphic 1.77:1 or 4:3 versions. Remarkably, there's an audio commentary in which director Frank Agrama is interviewed, but this is sadly tedious, confining itself to technical babblings throughout. You're almost tempted to believe that Frank and his inquisitor aren't watching the movie, as they fail to comment on key gore scenes! There are also some brief film notes and a photo gallery. Not bad for such a relative obscurity. Release Date: Out now. [Check it out at Amazon UK] [Check it out at Amazon US] [Reviews Menu] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present