Legend of the Mummy

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jeffrey Obrow directs. Antonio Soriano behind the camera. Rick Cox scores. Gary Meyers cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 228 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Directed by Jeffrey Obrow, shot by Antonio Soriano. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Rick Cox. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Gary Meyers shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Louis Gossett Jr. and Amy Locane and Eric Lutes carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "An Ancient Queen. Her Deadly Curse. The Terror Begins.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0156735 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 24 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Antonio Soriano

Original score

Rick Cox

Editing

Gary Meyers

Production design

Ken Larson

Costume design

Caroline B. Marx

Makeup / hair

Chad Washam

Stunt coordinator

Eddie Perez

Runtime

96 min · 1h 36m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$2,000,000

Original language

EN

IMDB

Legend of the Mummy (1998) ↗

Also by

Jeffrey Obrow

• 
  The Kindred

  1987 · ★ 6.0
• 
  Pursued

  2023 · ★ 5.8
• 
  The Dorm That Dripped Blood

  1982 · ★ 5.1
• 
  Servants of Twilight

  1991 · ★ 5.0
• 
  The Power

  1984 · ★ 4.2
• 
  They Are Among Us

  2004 · ★ 4.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Legend of the Mummy Trailer [HQ]

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2026-06-02
  ★ 6/10

  Yet another version of Bram Stoker’s complex “The Jewel of Seven Stars” (1903) There was an early 1970 television version called “Curse of the Mummy,” which was part of the British horror series Mystery and Imagination. The following year Hammer released “Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb,” noted for statuesque Valerie Leon. Nine years later came a relatively big budget version called “The Awakening” with Charlton Heston, Susannah York and Stephanie Zimbalist. This 1998 rendition had a $2 million budget and went direct-to-video or was released to TV, depending on the country. So, how does it stack up? They’re all so different because they’re based on Stoker’s dense and somewhat confusing novel, yet each comes down to Egyptian Queen Tera’s desire to be resurrected in the modern day via mystical mumbo jumbo, possibly through a young woman. Disregarding the obscure Brit TV flick, which I’ve never seen, the other three are all of about the same quality. They’re just so distinct because they hail from different eras and production merits. “Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb” feels like a Hammer flick because that’s what it is; whereas “The Awakening” is a more subtle and psychologically interesting take. This one smacks of a late 90s’ direct-to-video movie, yet it has its appeal and points of interest. The plot revolves around an aged archeologist (Lloyd Bochner), his daughter (Amy Locane), her beau (Eric Lutes), his pal (Richard Karn), an investigator (Mark Lindsay Chapman) and the archeologist’s colleague (Louis Gossett Jr) all focused on mysterious attacks at the old man’s manor, which is where Queen Tera’s sarcophagus happens to be. Amy Locane is at least on par in the same role as Valerie Leon, not to mention superior to Stephanie Zimbalist IMHO. Laura Otis is also worth a mention as the adorable maid. On the masculine side of things Lutes and Karn make for likable protagonists while Lindsay Chapman brings some necessary grit to the table. Louis Gossett Jr tends to ham it up, yet it fits his nigh crazy character and adds pizzazz to the proceedings. The long version runs 1h 40m and was shot in Apr 1997 in Los Angeles with exterior shots of San Francisco. The short version cuts out 4 minutes of material, including the steamy sex sequence in the last act. GRADE: B-

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• UN

  Unapix Entertainment Productions

  US

• GO

  Goldbar Entertainment

Key crew

• AdaptationJohn Penney
• AdaptationLars Hauglie
• NovelBram Stoker
• Stunt DoubleDebbie Lee Carrington
• EditorGary Meyers
• ProducerHarel Goldstein
• ProducerBill Barnett
• Executive ProducerRobert E. Baruc
• Executive ProducerJeffrey Obrow
• AdaptationJeffrey Obrow
• Line ProducerGina Fortunato
• Co-ProducerTad Driscoll
• Production DesignKen Larson
• Costume DesignCaroline B. Marx
• CastingRosemary Welden
• Special Effects Makeup ArtistChad Washam
• Special Effects Makeup ArtistChristopher Fording
• Stunt CoordinatorEddie Perez
• First Assistant DirectorSam Hill
• Second Assistant DirectorNellie Adami
• Second Second Assistant DirectorLisa Zupan
• Sound MixerJon Ailetcher
• Script SupervisorNadine Bass
• Key Makeup ArtistSandy Williams

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• egypt
• based on novel or book
• ritual
• mummy
• murder

Release history · US

When it landed

• Physical1998-12-29· Source: IMDB

Also known as

International titles

• Bram Stoker's The MummyUS