ILM FX For Mummy Returns

Industrial Light + Magic don't like to advertise. Tucked away in a lush corner of wealthy Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, the headquarters of George Lucas's legendary digital FX house is situated in a dowdy strip mall. Sandwiched between low-rise, blank-faced office buildings and across the street from a donut shop, the unprepossessing smoked glass door, which still bears the insignia of the previous incumbent, offers no clue that beyond lies the most prestigious supplier of movie eye candy in the world.

Once inside though, a parade of glass-cased memorabilia and highly exclusive wall art gives the game away - Captain Hook's hook from, Hook, a Star Wars stormtrooper, a plethora of posters, models and awards (including an Empire "inspiration" award) and, in a corner, dark lord of the Sith and Luke Skywalker's dad, Darth Vader himself.

Two giant spacecraft from Galaxy Quest loom over the boardroom table, matte paintings from ET adorn the walls and in one corridor a vast blow-up of a still from Jason And The Argonauts bears the legend "Best Wishes, Ray Harryhausen."

In the theatre where George Lucas perfected the THX audio system (watched over by R2-D2, who stands in a corner near the screen), John Berton, Visual Effects Supervisor on The Mummy Returns, presides over a screening of dailies. It is, needless to say, a packed house. Every time Berton declares a sequence a pass there is a rousing round of applause. And no wonder. Here are a couple of things to whet your appetite: Good news is, the flesh-eating scarabs are back - and out in force. In one scene a swarm of the things overrun a group of characters clambering out of a pit. One unfortunate has a few burrowing frantically under his skin before they gush out of his screaming mouth. Yesss!