Time Walker

Boy, I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid. So naturally, I almost remembered nothing of it. Except for the fact that it somehow left a strange impression on me, and a dormant urge to some day revisit it. That urge awakened recently when I found this obscure gem on an old ex-rental tape, so this was my chance to re-watch it. As to be expected, this is by no means a 'good' movie. Far from, probably. But it still remains a curious and strange gem.

A mummy gets dug up in King Tut's tomb and transferred to an American University. A student finds 5 diamonds hidden in the sarcophagus and steals them. The next day, the mummy is gone too. I'll just stop describing the story now. But if you want to know how a mummy, ancient diamonds, green dust that turns into flesh-devouring fungus, a blue-skinned alien with big black eyes and a college campus tie in all together, then you might want to consider watching TIME WALKER. But be warned, most people might generally classify this as a bad movie, and I don't even have much arguments to compete with that. The acting is just tolerable and the directing isn't top notch either. What had me chuckling most, were many inserted reaction shots of certain actors, just standing there looking for a second, not saying anything, or just giving a short stupid reply. But here's an interesting contradiction: Not much really happens in this movie, but still there's a lot going on (just remember the previous things I mentioned). Everything ties in together nicely, but it's all very predictable. The mummy prowling the campus provides a couple of nice and creepy shots, but his green-colored POV vision was a bit cheesy. Of course he kills a couple of people (not just randomly, I might add), but the kills themselves aren't much to write home about. On the other hand, the murderous mummy encounters a topless female student on one of his escapades and most of his kills are filmed in shocking slow-motion. The movie builds up towards a nice twist-conclusion too, but sadly when you know the tagline to this movie, or just take a glimpse at the front or back cover art, you already know what's going to happen. Also, the story severely lacks a climax at the end.

TIME WALKER tries really hard, remains an offbeat, weird gem, but in the end doesn't succeed in what it sets out to do. There's plenty of interesting elements, but they are rigged together in a below average sci-fi/horror flick with a conclusion that leaves a lot to be desired. Given the nostalgia feelings I treasure for this one, it is with grief I have to flunk this baby. But don't let that discourage you to check it out if you should ever stumble upon it. And then come around some day and blame me for having watched a bad movie.

A mummy in a sarcophagus coffin is transferresd from Egypt back to a Californian university and when an unscrupulous student discovers five crystals within the coffin and steals them for his own gain he awakens the mummy, after a 3,000 year sleep, with deadly consequences.

Time Walker is not big budget, its not a gorefest and it certainly does not fit the usual 80s sci-fi horror movie of the day, which I think is primarily the reason for the negative reviews. Ok I agree some of the acting is not top drawer and the effects look rather dated (they probably weren't all that spectacular back in '82 either) but there is a sense of tension, especially during the scene with Susie trapped by the mummy in the elevator. It is certainly not a bad movie its just not a great movie either. But I enjoyed it.

For genre fans, there are a few familiar faces in the cast including Nina Axelrod (Motel Hell), Kevin Brophy (Hell Night), James Karen (Poltergeist), Antoinette Bower (Prom Night) and it was also great to see Austin Stoker and Darwin Joston (who starred alongside each other in John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13) share screen time together again here.

I give this 6/10.

This movie is borderline stupid and fascinating. I admit that the story was fascinating, but it hardly made sense. The acting could have been better. Look for Warrington Gillette(Jason part 2) in a brief role as Stanley, the girl's friend from school. James Karen seemed out of character in this movie, as a matter of fact the whole cast seemed out of place. I accidentally turned this movie on some years ago and attempted to follow it through. There is nothing in this movie that the mystery science theatre 3000 should have done. All that was missing was the talking mechanical dog and the talking gumball machine and the man talking through the whole movie.

What a turkey if you see when it was made, in the middle of the slasher era and this has really nothing to offer, the effects used when people touches the fungus is ridiculous and the mummy itself didn't look scary at all, and towards the end when the mummy shows it's real face you will laugh again.

Nevertheless, it got some names in it that were famous back then, Ben Murphy (Prof. Douglas McCadden) came from the series Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1973) and went further to Gemini Man (1976). Nina Axelrod (Susie Fuller) is more common towards horror buffs due her role in Critters 3 (1991) and the blockbuster Cobra (1986). Kevin Brophy (Peter Sharpe) can be seen in Hell Night (1981) one year earlier than this flick together with Linda Blair.

But it fails due the script itself. The mummy do attacks but really in a stupid way. And the editing itself is roughly done with full of mistakes. When a girl is running in corridors you see the POV from the mummy running behind her but when they shoot before the girls you can't see any mummy running behind her. And there is even a microphone to spot. There is one shot with a small nudity and the shower scene also looked laughable. But the movie never moves further and due some really bad acting it becomes a turkey. Easy to see that it was a low budget B-flick. Maybe for some it's a collectible due the cheesy situations but many will find it a waist of time.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

This is basically a 1950's style B-movie with low rent 80s production values. The story is about an archaeological dig which unearths a mummy which is blasted by radiation , reviving it from its slumber. What follows is a mixture of a mummy curse movie with an alien trying to return home movie. Its not at all scary or gory with very few kills. It doesn't manage to ramp up any tension or excitement at any point. It really should have been a comedy. There is also an odd sub-plot about fungus, again another 1950s staple , which doesn't seem to add anything to the story. The effects are super low budget and comparable to something you would see in a TV show not a movie. This was actually one of the MST3K episodes which tells you all you need to know, however it was not one of the more popular episodes. If you have the time to waste on a bad movie then fine however do not expect to be entertained.