The Awakening (1980)


REVIEWER RATING: 
4/10


Before director Mike Newell brought us films like Donnie Brasco and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, he mostly worked on made-for-TV movies until he stepped up in the early 80's and started making feature films, this little horror pic being one of them. I never thought I'd see Charlton Heston's name before a horror movie, but after seeing the movie, I can see why. This is probably the first time I watched a mummy movie with no mummy! Throughout the film there's talk about the resurrection of the mummified Egyptian queen, but when the time finally came (the last 5-minutes) all we see is a possessed chick with a smirk on her face! What a waste of time.

The story follows a work-a-holic archeologist, whose bent on being first to discover the tomb of a mummified Egyptian queen. The time finally comes around the same time his wife is about to give birth. Naturally his work comes before his family, so while his wife is busy giving birth, he's busy dusting sand off an old tomb. Sadly, the baby is DOA... that is, until the tomb is finally opened, then the baby miraculously returns to life, but is it really a miracle or a curse? We learn 18-years-later when the daughter is all grown up and decides to visit her archeologist father that the spirit of the queen is within the young woman and plans of her resurrection through a ritual is underway.

I was expecting to watch a nice little underrated mummy movie, but instead I get Heston freakin' out over things as usual and a whole lot of slow-pacing and dialogue. The only redeeming quality the film offers is it's above-average kills, which I have to admit were pretty cool. Had it not been for the kills I probably would have kept the DVD player on fast-forward until the last 10-minutes. I suppose those who are interested in a mummy movie with more story than-mummy, then maybe this will be up their ally. I for-one was not impressed.

As far as mummy movies go this is a stinker -- we don't even get an actual mummy! Instead we're treated to a lot of mysterious (but cool) deaths. Check it if you're lookin' for more story-than-action when it comes to your mummy movie fix. Avoid otherwise!
OVERALL: 
As far as mummy movies go this is a stinker -- we don't even get an actual mummy! Instead we're treated to a lot of mysterious (but cool) deaths. Check it if you're lookin' for more story-than-action when it comes to your mummy movie fix. Avoid otherwise!


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