Death Curse of Tartu

1966's "Death Curse of Tartu" was a staple of late night insomniacs in the pre-cable days of television, along with other no budget wonders such as "They Saved Hitler's Brain," "Women of the Prehistoric Planet," and "Zontar the Thing from Venus." Although the plot dredges up the overworked 'Mummy vowing vengeance against all those who desecrate his tomb' from the Universal WW2 days, other aspects of this feature point toward the 'nature horror' cycle of the 1970s ("Frogs" or "Kingdom of the Spiders") and the 'teenagers in peril' subgenre of horror in the 80's. Yes, the acting is awful, there's little in the way of suspense, and the teens are required to do dumb and stupid things, but you still have to admire Miami-born writer/director William Grefe, already a veteran of four features (including DVD co-feature "Sting of Death"), but may be better remembered for later films such as "Impulse" (William Shatner), "Mako:The Jaws of Death" (Richard Jaeckel), and the ever popular "Stanley" (Chris Robinson). Like the Florida-lensed "Frogs," we are witness to a repetitive series of killings perpetrated by animals, despite the impressive image of Tartu's mummy, which unfortunately is only seen in its sarcophagus. The two bikini-clad lovelies get a real workout gyrating for the ogling cameraman like a 'Beach Party' movie, and one idiot falls prey to a shark while his girlfriend watches without once trying to exit the water! (she gets it too). No doubt the swamp scenes were shot not far from the famous Ivan Tors studios in North Miami (the site of the TV series FLIPPER), which also served as the main location for Chris Robinson's deserted cabin in "Stanley" (the only interiors filmed were of Tartu's tomb). At 84 minutes, my VHS print appears to be missing some footage, as I never saw any spiders, though the web fronting Tartu's tomb gave me hope. No matter how bad this film may be, its frequent showings have earned it a kind of respect that only horror fans can bestow, and those who weren't familiar with it from the late 70s may be immune from its charms. Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater aired it twice, July 2 1977 (preceding 1944's "The Invisible Man's Revenge"), and March 11 1978 (following 1968's "The Hand of Power").

In the Florida swamps there is an Indian burial ground that is protected by Tartu,a 100 year old dead"witch doctor".He will leave his tomb in the form of an animal of nature to kill defilers of the grounds.(Okay, being part Indian I can tell you that the term "witch doctor"didn't apply to us. Medicine Man thank you).

You just know that some white men are going to defile the grounds with an archeological dig.The point man and a professor, his wife and 4 cannon fodders, I mean students, dismiss an Indian's warning about the curse of Tartu.So they go deep into the swamp to the grounds.There the obnoxious students make out, dance to bad rock and swim in the swamp. Yeah, that is always a smart move.

Ol' Tartu gets mighty upset with the gang and starts to bump them off one by one.The creepiest kills are via snake(yuck). Who will survive the creepy ordeal?

Well besides the aforementioned witch doctor screw up there are other pitfalls with this movie. First, there are really not many sympathetic people in this movie.You actually hope a few of them die violently because they are stupid/whiny etc.Being a goober is a requirement in these movies but this is pushing it.While the snake kills were scary, a freshwater attack by shark is kind of goofy (although gory for its time).The music is irritating and distracting.

On the flip side there are great location shots. The swamp and its denizens are creepy. The wind out of nowhere is pretty creepy too.Tartu as a corpse is great as well.Not a bad movie, just average. Give it a look and give it a 5.

An archaeologist and his students go looking for Indian artifacts at a burial mound in the Florida Everglades. Unfortunately for them, this mound belongs to Tartu, a long-dead medicine man who has the power to shape-shift into various animals from beyond the grave.

Inventive and quite entertaining film with convincing animal attacks and an appealingly unique setting in the weedy depths of the Everglades. There's also some unintentional humor to be had, such as one of the idiotic students dancing with a wooden branch as if it were a cane. Naturally, he looks like a total moron in the process. The film sports a solid ending involving quicksand, and a scene of Tartu rising out of his tomb makes for a particularly striking image.

Worth a look, though it's far from great.

One of my favorite drive-in classics has to be a 1966 gem made in Florida, DEATH CURSE OF TARTU. Something Weird Video, the wonderful distribution company that revived such great LBJ-era thrills as SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY and THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP for videocassette, has continued their grand tradition on DVD. They took the trouble to grab hold of an original 35mm negative and give it the best possible Digital transfer.

DEATH CURSE OF TARTU concerns a group of young, under-equipped archeologists venturing deep into the Florida everglades in search of Tartu's tomb. Tartu is a long dead Indian who protects his tomb by allowing his spirit to take the form of dangerous animals. It's sort of like a cross between THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and ANIMAL PLANET. Whenever Tartu's murderous spirit is nearby, the soundtrack is filled with chanting, yipping Indians. On the same disc is another Sunshine State shocker by the same director, William Grefe - STING OF DEATH

It is boring. I felt un-entertained by this movie. The climactic scenes are a laugh. There is one decent attack scene by a large snake. Some extremely annoying female screaming. People who like junk movies won't even like this (I'm one of them).