Lot No. 249 (TV Movie 2023)

Lot No. 249 (TV Movie 2023). 29m

“A young college student buys a mummy that he brings to life to do his bidding.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI havenu0026#39;t read the short story, but I had seen this adapted before as a segment of u0026quot;Tales from the Darkside: The Movieu0026quot; with Christian Slater and then-unknowns Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. Iu0026#39;m guessing Hollywood took some creative liberties — but the BBC version did too, dragging in Sherlock Holmes and making a lead character gay.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHarrington is way too old to be playing a college student (I thought he was a professor at first), the characters are all utterly one-dimensional, the motivation for the mummy-attacks are murky at best, and most importantly, there were zero scares. The performances werenu0026#39;t bad given what they had to work with, and thereu0026#39;s a nice British atmosphere, but generally it was flat and unmemorable. Plus, the Holmes cameo was absolutely pointless. Thatu0026#39;s a shame, I really wanted to like this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs soon as I finished, I rewatched the u0026quot;Darksideu0026quot; segment, which I hadnu0026#39;t seen in over 30 years (it left a lasting impression though). The story is a little different, being relocated to the USA circa 1990, but it has everything that this version is lacking: strong characterizations, a clear motive, tension, and scares. The twist ending is equally corny, but at least itu0026#39;s logical, and it even runs a few minutes shorter than the BBCu0026#39;s adaptation.”