View source for Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy



{{More citations needed|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy
| image          = Legend_of_the_Mummy.jpg
| caption        = DVD cover
| director       = [[Jeffrey Obrow]]
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* Lars Hauglie
* Jeffrey Obrow <small>(adaptation)</small>
* [[John Penney]] <small>(adaptation)</small>
}}
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[The Jewel of Seven Stars]]''|[[Bram Stoker]]}}
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* Bill Barnett
* Robert E. Baruc
* Ted Driscoll
* Gina Fortunato
* Hanel Goldstein
* Jeffrey Obrow
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Louis Gossett Jr.]]
* [[Amy Locane]]
* [[Eric Lutes]]
* [[Mark Lindsay Chapman]]
}}
| cinematography = Antonio Soriano
| editing        = [[Gary Meyers]]
| music          = Rick Cox
| studio         = Goldbar Entertainment
| distributor    = New City Releasing
| released       = {{Film date|1998|03|30|Germany|1998|12|29|U.S.|ref2=<ref name="TCM">{{cite web |title=Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy (1998)|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/456172/bram-stokers-legend-of-the-mummy#notes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414121252/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/456172/bram-stokers-legend-of-the-mummy#notes|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 14, 2021|website=[[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]] |access-date=August 17, 2023}}</ref>}}
| runtime        = 96 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1-3 million<ref name= "TCM"/>  <small>(estimate)</small>
}}
'''''Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy''''', or simply '''''Bram Stoker's The Mummy''''', is a 1998 American [[Fantasy film|fantasy]] [[horror film]] based on [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1903 novel ''[[The Jewel of Seven Stars]]''. Directed by [[Jeffrey Obrow]], who is one of the writers that adapted the novel for the film, it features an ensemble cast that includes [[Louis Gossett Jr.]], [[Eric Lutes]], [[Amy Locane]], [[Lloyd Bochner]], [[Victoria Tennant]], [[Mary Jo Catlett]], [[Aubrey Morris]], and [[Richard Karn]]. Morris previously appeared in ''[[Blood from the Mummy's Tomb]]'', a 1971 [[Hammer Film Productions|Hammer Films]] adaptation of the same novel.

==Plot==
Art historian Robert Wyatt is summoned to the house of his old flame, Margaret Trelawny. Her father, noted Egyptologist Abel Trelawny, was found in a coma in his study with claw marks on his wrist.  Per his dictated wishes, Trelawny asks that he be kept in the room with his Egyptian artifacts with two witnesses at all times.  Hoping to solve the mystery of Trelawny's case, Wyatt contacts Corbeck, an archaeologist who worked with Trelawny in the 1970s in uncovering the tomb of an Egyptian queen.

==Cast==
* [[Louis Gossett Jr.]] as Corbeck
* [[Amy Locane]] as Margaret Trelawny
* [[Eric Lutes]] as Robert Wyatt
* [[Mark Lindsay Chapman]] as Daw
* [[Lloyd Bochner]] as Abel Trelawny
* [[Mary Jo Catlett]] as Mrs. Grant
* [[Aubrey Morris]] as Doctor Winchester
* Laura Otis as Lily
* [[Julian Stone]] as Jimmy
* [[Richard Karn]] as Brice Renard
* [[Portia Doubleday]] as Young Margaret
* Rachel Naples as Queen Tera
* Donald Monet as Hutchins
* [[Kelly Perine]] as Keene
* [[Victoria Tennant]] as Mary

==Production==
[[Jeffrey Obrow]] was inspired adapt a classic horror novel to film after friend and colleague [[Matthew W. Mungle]] won the [[Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling]] for his work on ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]''.<ref name="LegendMummy">{{cite magazine |last=Thonen|first=John|date=May 1998 |title= Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy|url= https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2030%20No%201%20%28May%201998%29/page/n39/mode/1up?view=theater|magazine=[[Cinefantastique]]|location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=August 17, 2023}}</ref> After some research, Obrow came across the novel ''[[The Jewel of Seven Stars]]'' by [[Bram Stoker]] and decided the book would serve as the basis for his next film.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/>  [[John Penney]] wrote the initial adaptation, but due to scheduling conflicts Penney was unable to complete the script and Obrow finished it which would then be followed by a rewrite by Lars Hauglie.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/>

''Bram Stoker's The Mummy'' is the fourth film adaptation of the 1903 novel ''The Jewel of Seven Stars'' by Bram Stoker, following the 1970 [[television play]] ''The Curse of the Mummy'' (an installment of the TV series ''[[Mystery and Imagination]]''), the 1971 [[Hammer Films]] production ''[[Blood from the Mummy's Tomb]]'',{{sfn|Shapiro|1998|p=59}} and the 1980 film ''[[The Awakening (1980 film)|The Awakening]]''.{{sfn|Shapiro|1998|p=59}} Obrow didn't watch any of the prior adaptations as he didn't want to let the prior works influence the direction of the film.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/>

Obrow attempted to pitch the film in 1994 but was met with disinterest from producers.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/> After failing to secure financing, Obrow instead created a 10-minute promotional video utilizing some aspiring effects artists who worked under his colleagues from ''[[The Kindred (1987 film)]]'' as well as USC Film School students Obrow had taught a class on independent film.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/> Hanel Goldstein and Bill Barnett at Goldbar Entertainment were impressed by Obrow's video and came on board to produce the film.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/> Goldstein and Barnett financed the film through foreign pre-sales as well as partnering with home video distributor A-PIX Home Video.<ref name= "LegendMummy"/>

===Special effects===
Effects artists Chad Washam and Chris Fording provided the [[special effects makeup]] for the film,{{sfn|Shapiro|1998|p=60–61}} which included a mummy prop built using a sculpted head, rubber hands, and a [[spandex]] suit with cloth bandages glued to it; mechanical seven-fingered hands; shriveled face makeup; a baby mummy suit; and a [[foam latex]] chest appliance for a death scene.{{sfn|Shapiro|1998|p=61}} The effects crew also utilized "lots of dirt", with Washam noting, "This whole movie is dirty. We must have used over 100 pounds of the stuff."{{sfn|Shapiro|1998|p=61}}

==Release==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2018}}
The film was released [[direct-to-video]] on December 29, 1998<ref name= "TCM"/> by A-Pix Entertainment on [[VHS]] and by Simitar Entertainment on [[DVD]].

==Reception==
{{expand section|date=August 2018}}
''[[TV Guide]]'' gave the film a score of two out of five stars, writing that it "unearths a story familiar from classic [[Universal Classic Monsters|Universal]] and Hammer horror movies; unfortunately, this straight-to-video rendition of the tale has few chills, and pales in comparison to the originals."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/bram-stokers-the-mummy/review/133032/|url-status=live|title=Bram Stoker's The Mummy - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings|website=[[TV Guide]]|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919133723/http://www.tvguide.com/movies/bram-stokers-the-mummy/review/133032/|archive-date=September 19, 2015}}</ref> Alan Jones of the ''[[Radio Times]]'' also awarded the film two out of five stars, and wrote that it "features the least believable Mummy make-up in horror history".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/film/cvnx5/bram-stokers-legend-of-the-mummy-(1998/|url-status=dead|title=Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy – review|last1=Jones|first1=Alan|website=[[Radio Times]]|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824002233/https://www.radiotimes.com/film/cvnx5/bram-stokers-legend-of-the-mummy-(1998/|archive-date=August 24, 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite magazine|last=Shapiro|first=Marc|date=January 1998|title=Bram Stoker's The Mummy: Of Human Bandage|magazine=[[Fangoria]]|publisher=Starlog Group, Inc.|issue=169|issn=0164-2111}}

==External links==

* {{IMDb title|id=0156735|title=Legend of the Mummy}}
* {{Rotten tomatoes|bram_stokers_legend_of_the_mummy}}
* {{TCMDb title|456172}}

{{The Jewel of Seven Stars}}

[[Category:The Jewel of Seven Stars]]
[[Category:1998 films]]
[[Category:1998 fantasy films]]
[[Category:1998 horror films]]
[[Category:1990s supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:American fantasy films]]
[[Category:American supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:American direct-to-video films]]
[[Category:Direct-to-video horror films]]
[[Category:Films based on Irish novels]]
[[Category:Films based on horror novels]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Bram Stoker]]
[[Category:Mummy films]]
[[Category:1998 English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jeffrey Obrow]]
[[Category:1998 American films]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]
[[Category:English-language fantasy films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy|access_date=2026-02-27}}