Entertainment
Evil Dead Director's Upcoming Haunt Breathes New Life Into Ancient Monster
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
For the past few decades, mummies have been featured monsters in movies that are more action-oriented than horror. The last time a mummy was featured as a horror monster in a mainstream film was in 1987’s The Monster Squad. One could be forgiven for thinking of mummies in terms of Brendan Fraser or Tom Cruise, because zombies were introduced, and typical mummies are just zombies wrapped up in bandages … right?
An Ancient Dread For A Modern Audience
In the latest take on the monster, horror master Lee Cronin reminds audiences that mummies have a mystique that is steeped in ancient pagan ritual and occult practices. Millenia before there were zombies, the restless dead were said to have walked the earth, and the only way anyone knew to prevent such affliction was mummification. Early horror iterations called “The Mummy” often asked the question, “what if mummification wasn’t enough to contain the restless dead?” Even the action films tackle this query.
Cronin’s official trailer for The Mummy, which dropped on April 1, 2026, is no joke. It does seem to veer off into a strange direction from normal mummy movies; rather than digging up a 3,000-year-old corpse that then terrorizes the neighborhood, the mummy is a young child who has been missing for almost a decade and is found in a sealed sarcophagus of that ancient age, and it is she who terrorizes the neighborhood. Her distraught parents are both shocked and horrified to find her alive but unaged, and she seems to have returned with a ravenous appetite for fear, if not human flesh.
Cronin Knows How To Make Kids Creepy
Lee Cronin excels at simultaneously creating creepy evil children and making audiences extremely anxious on behalf of the protagonist children who are often their victims. His debut feature, The Hole in the Ground, is an excellent exercise in such dramatic tension, offering a child and a changeling imitating him and spending much of the movie not allowing audiences to know which child was which.
Evil Dead Rise, the first Evil Dead movie that I did not enjoy, still delivered on this theme by taking place among the family of a single mom rather than a group of college students. This is not why I wasn’t fond of the film, but rather that Cronin’s talents lie in his own IPs rather than in contributing to someone else’s. Plus, he’s backed this time by horror studio Blumhouse and their production partner, James Wan’s Atomic Monster.
Natalie Grace And Her Million Dollar Face
The Mummy thus seems to be a return to form for him, even as it borrows from another IP. The Evil Dead franchise has very narrow rules it operates by, while mummies and their cinematic lore have much broader leeway in what can be done with them. There is certainly room for Cronin to explore themes surrounding the horror of being a parent by connecting one of the most terrifying experiences a parent can have, a missing child, to an ancient Egyptian mummy. Coupled with his trademark chiaroscuro lighting in Gothic settings whose antiquity oozes from the very walls, the Irish director seems poised to reinforce his solid reputation in the horror genre.
The Hole in the Ground cast doubt upon whether the boy in it was real or his doppelganger, but The Mummy makes no obfuscation in showing that its creepy little girl, played by the odd-looking Natalie Grace and unnamed on IMDb, is definitely not who she was when she disappeared. The only doubt lies in whether this monster is riding around in their daughter’s actual body, or if it is simply disguising itself as her to prey upon them. Grace’s exotic eye shape lends itself mightily to her makeup and her uncanny and sinister behavior, and her youthful appearance makes her believable as she crawls around in her white nighty exuding evil with unconcealed glee.
Even if Grace’s performance turns out to be poor, her unique facial structure is enough to keep her employed for years, and her apparent emotional range, indicated by “before” scenes of the character with her family, hints that she will be great in this breakout role.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy comes out in theaters on April 17, 2026. Check it out and prepare for a new twist on a very old monster.
Entertainment
The new Dyson Supersonic Travel is the cheapest Supersonic yet
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Nearly three years ago, I asked if the (then) $429 Dyson Supersonic was still worth the price of entry.
These days, with the Supersonic line having expanded, the standard model having increased in price to $449.99, and the most expensive version of the hair dryer topping out at $549.99, it’s a question that feels even more apt.
The good news? If you’re not super into the idea of spending about $500 for a hair dryer, Dyson just announced the Dyson Supersonic Travel, a $299.99 model of its famous hair tool. In addition to its lower price point, it comes with more travel-friendly proportions and features.
As someone who’s personally tested Supersonics (and their many dupes), I took a closer look at the latest Dyson beauty launch to gather everything you need to know.
The design differences of the Dyson Supersonic Travel
In short, the Supersonic Travel is the standard Supersonic but smaller. According to Dyson, that comes out to exactly 32 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the OG Supersonic. In other words, it’s 0.7 pounds to the standard Supersonic’s 1.8 pounds, and 8.7 inches tall to the larger model’s 10 inches.
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This model also comes with one attachment, the styling concentrator, a la the now-discontinued Dyson Supersonic Origin (which ran for $399.99). For comparison, the $449.99 Supersonic comes with three attachments: a styling concentrator, diffuser, and wide-tooth comb. For all five attachments, you’ll have to shell out $549.99.
The Supersonic Travel is compatible with all original and Supersonic Nural attachments.
Credit: Dyson
The same attachments can be used between the Travel, original, and Supersonic Nural dryers. This means opting for the Travel could technically save you some money — individual attachments range from $19.99 to $44.99. If you only use a styling concentrator and diffuser, for instance, the total cost of a Travel dryer with the extra attachment purchase would come out to $344.98, making it still over $100 cheaper than the three-attachment original Supersonic.
The Supersonic Travel is more versatile in some ways, and less so in others
Functionality-wise, the Supersonic Travel is a slightly different product from the other Supersonics in the line. It has anywhere from 1,000 to 1,220 watts of power and an airflow speed of 11.6 liters per second, compared to the 1,600 watts and 13.3 liters per second of the standard Supersonic. In other words, the bigger dryer is slightly more powerful, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect longer dry times.
The standard Supersonic and Supersonic Nural also feature four heats and three air speeds, where the Supersonic Travel features three heats and two air speeds.
The best noise-cancelling headphones for flying: 8 picks to improve your travel experience
That said, the Supersonic Travel has universal voltage compatibility, so it can be used from 100 to 240 volts, whereas the other Supersonics are locked into 120 volt compatibility.
In terms of its portability, it’s also worth noting the Supersonic Travel weighs the same as the Supersonic r, a professional grade hair dryer (priced as such at $549.99) that’s become more popular due in part to being lightweight and easy to maneuver.
Where to buy the Dyson Supersonic Travel
The Dyson Supersonic Travel is available for $299.99 at Dyson’s website, Amazon, and Best Buy. If you buy at the former, you will receive a complimentary $59.99 travel bag along with the hair dryer.
Entertainment
The gorgeous yet budget-friendly Samsung QN70F Neo QLED TV is the cheapest its ever been
SAVE $300: As of April 21, you can get the Samsung 55-inch QN70F Neo QLED 4K TV for only $597.99 instead of $897.99 at Amazon. That’s 33% in savings and the lowest price on record.
$597.99
at Amazon
$897.99
Save $300
We’re in peak sports season, y’all. Besides the action of the Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA playoffs, there’s a fresh MLB season taking shape. If your TV is looking dull or lagging, it’s a prime time to upgrade — especially since you can find some epic deals on 2025 models.
As of April 21, the Samsung 55-inch QN70F Neo QLED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for only $597.99. That’s 33% or $300 off its current list price, as well as its lowest price to date.
As Mashable’s TV expert Leah Stodart explains, “Neo QLED is really just Samsung’s proprietary term for QLED paired with Mini LED.” So, the QN70F features a panel of quantum dots over a bunch of tiny LED bulbs instead of a basic LED panel. The result? A stunning display with impressive color accuracy, deep blacks, and spectacular contrast. All the little details will look good no matter the lighting conditions in your room.
This TV uses an NQ4 AI Gen2 processor to upscale content and enhance the quality of anything you’re watching. So even those old episodes of Friends will look more impressive on the QN70F. And thanks to a 144Hz variable refresh rate, gaming and sports will look noticeably smoother and less laggy than your old set.
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If an upgrade is in order, but you don’t want to spend a ton of money, the Samsung QN70F Neo QLED 4K TV is an excellent value at full price. At $300 off, it’s a steal.
Entertainment
The secret to faster AI output is better prompts
TL;DR: If writing prompts slows you down, VibeFarm helps you build, save, and reuse them for a one-time $39.99 for lifetime access.
Anyone using AI regularly already knows the real bottleneck isn’t the tools — it’s the prompts. Getting them just right can take longer than the actual work, and once you do land on a great one, it’s usually buried in chat history or lost in a notes app somewhere.
This is the issue VibeFarm aims to eliminate. It’s not another AI generator — it’s a prompt composition workspace designed to help you stay in the flow.
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Instead of starting from scratch every time, you can build structured prompts using layered fields, refine them with built-in tools, and save them as reusable “VibeCards” for future use.
With access to 10,000+ premium prompts and a system built for remixing and iteration, you can turn one successful prompt into a repeatable asset. Whether you’re working on visuals, writing, video, or something in between, everything stays organized and easy to reuse.
It also plays nicely with the tools you already use. You can export clean prompts directly into platforms like ChatGPT, Midjourney, or other AI tools — no formatting headaches. And with version control and rollback options, you can experiment without losing what worked.
This platform helps you cut wasted time from your AI workflow while keeping your best ideas working for you long after you’ve created them.
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Get lifetime VibeFarm Lite access on sale for just $39.99 (reg. $179) for a limited time.
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Topics
Artificial Intelligence
The new Dyson Supersonic Travel is the cheapest Supersonic yet
The gorgeous yet budget-friendly Samsung QN70F Neo QLED TV is the cheapest its ever been
