When Lee Cronin’s The Mummy was released in theaters earlier this year, it didn’t take long for horror fans to notice a connection between one character in that movie and another in Cronin’s previous film, Evil Dead Rise. In The Mummy, we meet an archaeologist named Professor Bixler (Mark Mitchinson) who helps explain the mysterious curse at the heart of the film. Meanwhile, one of the main characters in Evil Dead Rise is named Beth Bixler (Lily Sullivan). But was this just an Easter egg or proof of a shared Cronin-verse across the two films?
At the time, the director simply said, “He could be a distant relative” in an interview with Collider. So when Polygon had a chance to speak to Cronin for an interview timed to the physical release of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy‘s on July 14, we pushed harder for a conclusive answer.
His response revealed even more about the Cronin-verse than we expected.
“I’d like to think that anything that I type out and turn into a screenplay is somewhat connected in some world, in some way, shape or form,” Cronin tells Polygon. “But in a way, I just have fun with that myself.”
As for the Bixler connection, the horror director did offer up a bit more information.
“So the professor in The Mummy has the same surname as some of the characters in Evil Dead Rise,” Cronin explains. “It could be the typical Irish family thing: I’ve got cousins I’ve never met. That’s probably as far as the connection goes.”
In the same breath, however, Cronin also offers up another Easter egg that fans may have missed.
“If you look closely, you might find a golden cheese grater lamp lurking in one scene as well,” he says, revealing a reference in The Mummy to one of Evil Dead Rise‘s most disturbing scenes. “There’s a couple of little moments like that in the first half of The Mummy, if you look closely.”
Overall, however, it doesn’t sound like Cronin is trying to build a shared universe — although he clearly isn’t discounting that theory either. Instead, he’s simply a fan of Easter eggs and other little connections that fans can spot across his many films.
“I’m a movie fan and I love Easter eggs,” Cronin says. “I love connectivity and I love shared universes and I love cross-pollination of ideas. That’s also bringing in influences from other things that I like and reference. I’m always going to try and have a little bit of fun in that way. I can’t help myself.”
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is now available on digital and will be available 4K UHD on July 14.