THE AWAKENING (1980)
Article 4391 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-13-2013
Directed by Mike Newell
Featuring Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend
Country: UK
What it is: Ancient Egyptian evil meets THE OMEN

When an archaeologist unearths a tomb containing the mummy of an Egyptian queen whose name has been eradicated from history, it unleashes an evil that sets its sights on his own family.

I went into this movie with the knowledge that its reputation was not very high. An early scene in which the actions of the opening of the tomb coincide with pains undergone by the archaeologist’s pregnant wife did manage to intrigue me enough that I hoped the movie would be somewhat better than its reputation. However, once the bizarre deaths start happening, I begin to suspect the movie was primarily an imitation of THE OMEN. However, as the movie progressed, I began to feel that the bizarre deaths had less to do with the movie’s conscious attempt to borrow from the other movie, but more to do with the an attempt to cover up the movie’s real problem, which is that the movie gets more muddled and lethargic as it progresses, so much so that by the time the ending rolls around, I found myself having not the slightest interest in how it came out. In short, the movie is just plain dull, and even Heston’s star power can’t do a thing to pull it out of the doldrums. It’s a little ironic that a movie with this title should make you fall asleep, but there it is.