It has been well publicized in specialty magazines that Russell Mulcahy had trouble finding a producer for this pet project of his, which would finally show on screen a startling effect that the classic Hammer film THE MUMMY (1959), due to technical limitations, could only show on its poster -- a walking mummy with a light beam going through a hole in his chest. Well, no wonder potential backers were not that much interested: no matter how interesting that effect could be, Mulcahy's plot idea is simply the most ridiculous notion ever proposed for a mummy flick. Here the BANDAGES that wrap the mummy are the monster! Those pieces of Egyptian gauze fly, kill people, extract selected organs from their victims (how?) and carry them along (how again?) to some arbitrarily defined spot in order to fulfill your standard prophetic destiny. A good cast is wasted in comic-book roles and situations that make no sense (Why would an American cop take charge of a Scotland Yard investigation? What's in it for the "surprise" villain for his/her commitment?) and the single most laughable closing shot in a genre movie. (Schrader's version of CAT PEOPLE at least justified having its main characters howl and growl, but would a reincarnated mummy behave the same way?) Worse of all is the incoherent script, which caps an elaborate (if unconvincing) buildup of situations, motives and circumstances with an idiotic, cheap-shot "shock" ending that contradicts and denies everything that happened so far.
One usually is compelled to root for maverick filmmakers who are willing not to compromise their vision and push their projects over the stubborn narrow-mindedness of conservative producers. This time, however, the latter were right: TALOS THE MUMMY was a rotten idea and a complete waste of resources.