The Mummy Proves It: Lee Cronin Should Reawaken A Nightmare on Elm Street

Alright, let’s talk about Lee Cronin, a guy whose movies make you wonder if you locked your doors — and maybe double check that no one’s hiding under the bed. If you caught Evil Dead Rise last year, you already know he’s not shy with a bucket of blood, or three. But Cronin clearly wasn’t satisfied with just the splatter-fest cred, so he decided to really go nuts: his third feature film, The Mummy, goes full throttle on possession, body horror, and all the nasty stuff horror nerds love. It’s about as far from old-school Universal’s dust-and-bandages monster as you can get, and—no shock here—it’s been dividing fans right down the middle.

Cronin is officially on a roll. After people couldn’t stop talking about Evil Dead Rise, The Mummy is already showing strong numbers out of the gate. And don’t expect him to slow down; the man’s already got his hands in just about everything:

• Next movie: Box of Bones, which sounds like another supernatural ghost story (he’s writing and directing, naturally)
• TV projects: In the works—so get ready to see even more Cronin-flavored horror on your screen
• Producing gigs: Expanding that résumé

But it doesn’t stop there. In a recent Variety interview, Cronin geeked out about his horror roots and dropped a bomb: he’d love to direct a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Apparently, Freddy Krueger made enough of an impression on young Cronin that he still pops up in the guy’s dreams — so yeah, he gets Freddy’s appeal in a way that feels genuine, not forced. Honestly, after watching what Cronin did with The Mummy, it actually makes a ton of sense. The guy knows how to make supernatural threats feel brutal and real.

Cronin basically said Freddy still haunts his nightmares, so if you want someone who respects the franchise (and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty), this might be the guy.

If you remember how toothless Freddy felt in the 2010 reboot (sorry, Jackie Earle Haley, it just didn’t click), you’ll know a real shot of originality is long overdue. Cronin’s blend of gnarly gore and slow-build dread — sometimes squeezing every drop of anxiety out of a scene before letting the blood flow — is what Freddy needs. And here’s something fascinating: Cronin doesn’t pull his punches when it comes to putting kids in harm’s way, either as victims or disturbingly enough, participants. That takes some serious guts as a filmmaker, and it lines up almost eerily well with what Nightmare on Elm Street is all about (it’s literally a child predator whose victims are mostly teenagers, after all).

Bottom line: Lee Cronin seems like the rare director who both loves Freddy’s legacy and isn’t afraid to push boundaries. If we want Krueger to actually be scary again—and not just a joke with knives for fingers—this is probably the best shot we’ve got.

Oh, and the cast of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy?

In case you’re curious who signed up for Cronin’s most unhinged project yet, here’s the main roster:

• Mia Goth as Anna Malik
• David Dastmalchian as Dr. Eliot Kane
• Alanna Masterson as Jamie Patel
• Sam Delich as Lucas Hendricks
• Rami Malek (yep) as the actual Mummy – and no, I’m not making that up

I think it’s safe to say, whatever you expected from a rebooted Mummy, this probably isn’t it. But in Cronin’s hands, that’s the point—expect the weird, the bold, and maybe a few sleepless nights.