Arriving at Copenhagen University in Denmark, students looking to continue a study on an ancient race of creatures found in a bog nearby manage to uncover several skeletons, but realizing the bog creatures are the reanimated corpses of a tribe of warriors killed to ward off evil spirits they must find a way of destroying them.
This was a pretty enjoyable and entertaining entry. One of the better elements this one works with it is the incredibly well-done atmosphere here since the events take place at an old, abandoned castle out in the middle of the forest. That is the perfect way to generate absolutely insane levels of suspense and atmosphere here, as the castle itself is great with its brick-lined corridors, old-time construction, general appearance and how it manages to fit together all of those elements. The scenes of the group's digging in the forest, with the layout of the trees amongst the bog-covered ground and it's complete and utter dread working quite well. That makes the scenes of them in the forest, either digging through the dirt finding the skeletons or the group wandering through the forest, the atmosphere from the location here is great and adds to an impressive feel. There's also some great stuff coming from the film's later action scenes, which are a lot of fun here. From the first assault of the reanimated mummies on the castle to a sequence involving them running wild through the woods during a relatively fun chase scene, it's got some solid scenes with the creatures. Also included is a rather wild pagan ritual ceremony performed that makes for some chilling moments from the time, and there's a couple of really eerie regeneration scenes in here as well, which is really nice and adds to the atmosphere even more. Playing with the atmosphere of the woods and denseness of the area contributes to the scenes involving them chasing victims or luring them out into the swamp, making for a fine atmospheric touch during these somewhat creepy action scenes. The last bit that works here is that the look of the mummies manages to get a little more good points as they look incredibly good and creepy. With their dirt-encrusted bodies, withered skin, tattered clothes and even bits of roots and branches sticking out of them, they manage to look really great and effectively zombie-like while not completely like them. The fact that these creatures look more like zombies but behave like mummies manage to hold their own due to the decision to mix the two and lets the film have some good scenes carried completely by them, including the somewhat sketchy but completely acceptable idea of them communicating with the humans in their native tongue. Couple these with the film's fast pace and it has a lot going for it. There are a few flaws here that manage to hold it down. One of the biggest is that the film is incredibly dry and doesn't have a whole lot of blood or gore involved. There are several reasons for this, with the most prevalent one being that there are just no kills in here and it has no chance to give some as the body count here is simply paltry. The other part about that is the kills just don't deliver any anyway. When the most graphic kill in a film is a slit throat, it's seriously deprived of gore and doesn't have much chance to ever do something about it if there's no opportunity. The only other part here that doesn't work is the finale, which makes no sense. It's simply hard to understand where it came from, how it plays out and simply doesn't fit in well at all. These issues are the only wrong ones about the film.
Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and Brief Nudity.
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