What’s Up, Reading Rainbow?

Contrary to popular belief, adult film stars are not very good actors. Okay, maybe everyone already knows that, but Priya Rai further proves this theory in the new indie horror flick Isis Rising: Curse of the Lady Mummy, directed by Lisa Palenica.

Centuries after Isis’ lover/brother, Osiris, is murdered and torn into pieces, a group of college students lock themselves in a museum overnight, unknowingly unleashing the Goddess from her ancient slumber. In hopes of recreating Osiris’ death and bringing him back to life, Isis kills the students and takes limbs from each one, utilizing the ancient black arts to rule once again.

Isis Rising is not your mommy’s mummy movie. (See what I did there?) Unlike the classic Universal monster films or even the Brendan Fraser re-imaginings, this film really isn’t about mummies at all. It does deal with ancient Egyptian Gods, hieroglyphics, so on and so forth, but it turns into more of a supernatural slasher film than a monster flick… and that’s a good thing! Severed limbs, sliced throats, and be-headings are all way more entertaining than a crusty old guy or gal wrapped in toilet paper.

Aside from some very bad CGI and Priya Rai’s horrible acting, Curse of the Lady Mummy is a pretty fun little flick. A true Jack… er Jill… of all trades, Lisa Palenica acts as writer, director, producer, and actor of this Tomcat Films release. Very resourceful, Palenica knows her limits and utilizes what she has at hand to the best of her ability. There really was no way of getting around the poor computer effects, but she was able to hide certain limitations in make-up and prosthetics by using clever cinematography and off-screen fatalities. Even more impressive, the young filmmaker decided to cover up some of Rai’s real voice with more sinister vocals, lending a hand in creating more of a Godlike presence than the large-breasted thespian would have been able to create on her own.

The group of young actors cast in Isis Rising were all rather impressive. I was expecting some pretty poor execution of lines and even worse performances, but I was pleasantly surprised and wasn’t bothered at all by very much that went on. In fact, if the first few minutes of the film which explained the story of the ancient Gods were cut from the final product, I’d say the acting was really very well done. It helped carry the film along gracefully, giving it a little edge over most of indie horror flicks around today.

If you are looking for a film that is doing things a little differently, look no further than Isis Rising: Curse of the Lady Mummy. If you can get past the ugly CGI and Priya Rai’s [lack of] acting skills, you can have a pretty good time with it. Be sure to pick up a copy on DVD November 18 from Tomcat Films and MVD.

I give this film 3 scarab beetles out of 5.