Le promeneur de l'éternité

This isn't a great bad mummy movie--there's quite a number of those--but it's bad enough to be fun, if not bad enough to be memorable. It has all the right ingredients, but never quite kicks into a high enough gear (esp. re: violence and sex) to realize its full cheesy potential. Still, the script is verrrry silly, complete with a leap into sci-fi towards the end. I enjoyed seeing Ben Murphy, whose post "Alias Smith & Jones" career I kinda missed; he's still very handsome here, and manages to escape with dignity unscathed--unlike a lot of the other cast members, many of whom are intentionally (or unintentionally) over the top. It was also interesting to see Robert Random, who doesn't make much impression here but is notable for having finally surfaced recently as the nominal male lead in Orson Welles' endlessly delayed "The Other Side of the Wind" (shot a decade earlier, more or less). Anyway, this movie doesn't quite fully capitalize on the trash potential of reawakened-Egyptian-mummy-turns-modern-campus-slasher, but that conceit alone is worth some entertainment value, and "Time Walker" is relatively slick by 80s B-movie standards. It just could have used a bit more energy and outrageousness.

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.

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 museum gets a new mummy. When they open the sarcophagus, the mummy is gone. Yes, it's walking, and is trying to do.... well, something that involves laying a bunch of tiny, blue-glowing glass beads in what appears to be a Star Trek uniform insignia.

Everyone spends the movie being clueless about what is going on. This should allow a lot of suspense, with the audience knowing what is at risk -- because we've seen all this before -- and no one in the film doing anything to stop it. Unfortunately, we've seen all this before. Running through the shtick yet again isn't really suspenseful. It's ho-hum.

It's well edited; that was the more usual job of director Tom Kennedy, who is neither the 'dumb' comic of 1930s movies nor the game show host. THe only actor I knew was Alan Rachins, and he has a tiny part, and some hair.

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