Horror is a great way to express your own fears...

BURIED secrets and ancient rituals provide fertile ground for horror, something The Mummy franchise has long demonstrated.

- LYNN RUSK

Not quite herself: Katie (Natalie Grace) returns to her family eight years after going missing in the Egyptian dessert

The original series, including the 1932 film starring horror icon Boris Karloff, follows a group of archaeologists who discover a mummified priest and inadvertently bring him back to life.

Numerous adaptations followed, including films from Hammer Film Productions starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and the later cycle directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, along with spin-offs such as The Scorpion King. Now, Irish writer-director Lee Cronin reimagines the concept, asking what would happen if a family member became mummified.

Lee's version, set in Egypt and Albuquerque, follows the daughter of a journalist who goes missing in the Egyptian desert. Eight years later, the fractured family is stunned when she is suddenly returned to them, but what should be a joyful reunion quickly turns into a living nightmare.

The film stars Sing Street actor Jack Reynor and The Wheel of Time actress Laia Costa as Charlie and Larissa Cannon, alongside 1923 actress Natalie Grace as their returned daughter, Katie.

It was made in Ireland and Spain and is inspired by Egyptian lore.

Lee, known for horror films such as The Hole in the Ground and Evil Dead Rise, says the genre is a powerful way to explore fears. "I think horror is a great way to express your own fears, and also to express fears that people may have about life in general," says the 44-year-old filmmaker. It’s a really good way of touching the void without necessarily actually being in the void.