THE NEW movie from rising Irish director Lee Cronin is set to hit cinemas on Friday, with those lucky enough to get an early look at The Mummy saying horror fans are in for a treat.
Dubliner Cronin burst onto the horror scene in 2019 with The Hole in the Ground, an atmospheric chiller set in the Irish countryside that was distributed in the US by acclaimed studio A24.
That saw him entrusted to write and direct 2023's Evil Dead Rise, the fifth film in the horror franchise and the first for 10 years.
The film's success at the box office and with critics led to the announcement of two new Evil Dead movies, both of which will see Cronin serve as executive producer.
In the meantime, the director's 'audacious and twisted retelling' of a classic horror monster tale is winning rave reviews from horror fans.
Written by Cronin, The Mummy sees a young girl reappear after being missing for eight years.
According to the official synopsis, the girl's 'broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare'.
Joining Cronin is Irish actor Jack Reynor, who is no stranger to horror, having starred in A24's 2019 film Midsommar from director Ari Aster.
While official reviews are not being released until tomorrow, there is a positive buzz from those lucky enough to have caught an early screening of The Mummy.
Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic Courtney Howard said the film 'does not hold back'.
"A freaky-as-f*** creepshow. Scary, scream-worthy & squirm-inducing," she wrote on Twitter/X.
After catching the premiere at Beyond Fest, critic Bill Bria wrote on Instagram that The Mummy is 'a big, nasty, gory, mean-spirited, disgusting ride, and it was a treat to be squirming in that unsuspecting audience'.
Entertainer Chris Killian tweeted that the film is 'without question, the most terrifying and disgusting Mummy movie you'll ever see'.
Meanwhile, YouTuber Brandon Davis said The Mummy was 'the most f***** up movie I've ever watched in a theater'.
"Relentlessly and viciously haunting with ghoulish scares and intimately textured violence. I had to look away… many times," he added on Twitter/X.
The Mummy has been rated 18 in Ireland and Britain and R in the US.
The film is produced by New Line Cinema, who are behind famous horror franchises including the aforementioned Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Conjuring.
They also produced last year's critically-acclaimed box office horror hit, Weapons, which saw Amy Madigan pick up an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Also serving as producers on The Mummy are The Conjuring creator James Wan as well as Jason Blum, founder of Blumhouse Productions (Paranormal Activity, Sinister).
While The Mummy has been released in some territories today and drops in others tomorrow, it will hit screens in Ireland, Britain and North America on Friday.
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