If Evil Dead Rise was a "rocket ship fuelled by blood" then Lee Cronin's new Mummy movie is "more of a maze", says the director: "There's a hard-boiled detective streak"

Fans of Lee Cronin's Evil Dead sequel are in for a totally different experience with his take on The Mummy, as the director likens the two movies to separate fairground rides.

"Evil Dead Rise was a very clear roller coaster ride. It reaches a point and… it's kind of like a rocket ship fuelled by blood, and it just goes and goes," said Cronin in an interview with SFX Magazine. "This movie is a different type of fairground attraction. It's more of a maze, and you don't know whether you're going to go left or right next, but you're not in control. Ideally, if I'm doing a good job, I've got my hand on your back, and I'm telling you which way to go."

Cronin made a name for himself when he took on the 2023 blood-soaked Evil Dead addition, impressing franchise fans with the level of gore and guts in the film. However, it sounds as though his take on The Mummy will have its fair share of gruesome moments too. We may just have to wait a little longer for them to arrive. "There's some tough, dark material in it, and there's a hard-boiled detective streak," added Cronin. "But then there's also a huge domestic, supernatural swirl that's going on."

Inspired by the legendary Universal Monster, Cronin's take on the Egyptian ghoul follows a journalist whose young daughter disappears one day into the desert without a trace. Then, eight years later, the little girl returns, but something is not quite right, and the joyful family reunion quickly turns into a living nightmare. From the trailer, we can see that the 'monster' is the eight-year-old girl, and her victims just might be the people who love her most.

"It's about family first and foremost," added Cronin. "It's about guilt as well, in terms of decisions that people make or wishing they could have done a little bit more. It's about blame also, and it's my meditation on grief." Cronin says he channeled his own experience with grief into the movie, and wanted to explore "the hope of connecting with someone that's gone."

Lee Cronin's The Mummy releases on April 17. For more, check out our guide to the best horror movies, and keep up with upcoming horror movies heading our way.