{"id":248,"date":"2008-01-26T02:36:51","date_gmt":"2008-01-26T08:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=248"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:59:34","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:59:34","slug":"critique-du-c-u-mummy-rumbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=248","title":{"rendered":"Critique du C-U: MUMMY rumbles!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I noticed a while ago that the Web site for the Illini Film & Video<\/strong> mega-project, THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY<\/strong>, had suddenly evaporated like a drop of water in the Egyptian sun. This conveniently tied in with director Chris Lukeman<\/strong>‘s move to Carbondale<\/strong> so he could begin law school at Southern Illinois University<\/strong>. But, it’s pretty apparent that you can’t keep a good (bad?) mummy down, for none other than the dearly departed “Freshman No. 4,” David Grayson<\/strong>, has resurrected the page in a simplified form<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I decided that it might be a good time to exhume a MUMMY<\/strong> review originally intended for our B-movie magazine, Backyard Cinema<\/span><\/strong>, which unfortunately rests in limbo like a certain Mr. Johnson. Therefore, veteran MICRO-FILM<\/strong> writer Jeff McCoy<\/strong> becomes the first de facto<\/em> contributor\u00a0to C-U\u00a0Blogfidential<\/strong> other than your humble editor. (Why in the world did that<\/em> take almost two full years to occur?\u00a0 Anyone? Bueller?) Enjoy this refresher course on the little U. of I. movie that could as we await THE TRANSIENT<\/strong> from Lukeman and company.<\/p>\n

\u00a0~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

This over-the-top musical horror spoof is the first feature-length production of the Illini Film & Video<\/strong> club at the University of Illinois<\/strong>. While far from perfect, it\u2019s still better than it has any right to be, especially given its approach and subject matter.<\/p>\n

Late one night, college student Casey (Paul Karpenko<\/strong>) and his roommate Bill (Travis Murphy<\/strong>) take a couple of dimwitted co-eds, Sarah (Jenni Kitchka<\/strong>) and Jo-Ann (Andrea Gordon<\/strong>), out on a \u201cdate\u201d to the Natural History building<\/strong>. There, Bill meets his maker at the hands of a living mummy, dumped off in a crate at the University of Illinois by an impatient delivery driver.<\/p>\n

Inexplicably covering up the crime, Casey and the ladies are soon contacted by Rudolphe (Marc Morgan<\/strong>), a mysterious archaeologist who enlists their aid in tracking down this \u201cmummy\u201d \u2013 in reality, a 75-year-old fiend named Ted Johnson (huh?) from Michigan (gasp!) who seeks to gain immortality by sucking the life out of the campus! (Or, something like that.) Comic chaos ensues.<\/p>\n

\"UIvsAM<\/p>\n

No description can really do justice to this inspired piece of lunacy. THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY<\/strong> is best viewed with an audience \u2013 and, preferably, after certain chemicals have been consumed \u2013 when viewers will be more fully receptive to its loopy sense of humor. None of this makes much sense if you think about it, but as in the SCARY MOVIE<\/strong> series, the \u201cplot\u201d is just a clothesline on which to hang a series of gags.<\/p>\n

Some fall flat, of course, but enough hit the target to keep the chuckles coming. Highlights include: a group of perky underclassmen performing a musical tribute to their university, campus patrol volunteers Bob (Dan Reem<\/strong>) and Yolanda (Nellie Boonman<\/strong>) battling the mummy armed only with flashlights, Casey receiving advice from the statue of the Alma Mater<\/strong>, and students protesting both against and<\/em> for the mummy.<\/p>\n

Many of the gags shouldn\u2019t even work yet somehow they do, thanks to impeccable timing and director Chris Lukeman<\/strong>\u2019s eye for the absurd. He is aided immeasurably by a game cast, who give themselves up to this insanity with great enthusiasm and (usually) a straight face. Indeed, their deadpan delivery helps balance the film\u2019s more campy or grotesque moments. I especially liked Kitchka and Gordon as the vapid co-eds, for their goofy dialogue and deer-in-the-headlights expressions are a constant source of amusement.<\/p>\n

MUMMY<\/strong> is surprisingly well made. Lukeman emphasizes cheeky compositions and sharp editing, while that musical number is<\/em> a real show-stopper and the micro-budget is trumped by some primitive green screen work and nifty effects that allow Mr. Johnson creative use of his bandages. And, when all else fails, the film club splatters gallons of fake blood about.<\/p>\n

While definitely not for all tastes, THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY<\/strong> is still a huge crowd pleaser. Local viewers will get the biggest kick out of it, naturally, but you\u2019d have to be a Michigan<\/strong> fan to hate it entirely.<\/p>\n

~ Jeff McCoy<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY<\/strong> is a production of Illini Film & Video. It was directed by Chris Lukeman and executive produced by Alex Wayman, and stars Paul Karpenko, Jenni Kitchka, Marc Morgan, Andrea Gordon, Dan Reem, Nellie Boonman, Travis Murphy, Alessandra Pinkston<\/strong>, Alex Wayman, Kevin Altier<\/strong>, Nancy Parman<\/strong>, David Grayson<\/strong>, Joe Delaney<\/strong>, Kevin Schmitt<\/strong>, Stefan Lingren<\/strong>, and Saheed Rosenje<\/strong>. It runs 85 minutes.<\/p>\n

Questions about THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY<\/strong> can be directed to Lukeman at chrislukeman [at] gmail [dot] com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY photos
\ncourtesy Chris Lukeman\/Illini Film & Video<\/em><\/p>\n

[Updated 12\/20\/08, 01:00 a.m. CST]<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to the fore, MacDuff\u2026<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Visit the Critique Cache<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Return to Home Page<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS VS. A MUMMY from Champaign-Urbana, IL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critique-du-c-u","category-student-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}