The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals

Take a moment to examine the primary cast of this film, and consider the quality of their bodies of work. Now, understand that this film is far worse than everything accredited to all of them, as extreme and unlikely a possibility as that may seem. Next, be aware that the story concerns a were-dog who muscles-up to a moldering, overweight mummy in a rivalry for the affection of a three-thousand year old Egyptian queen, ressurected by Isis to reinstate the worship of the ancient Gods. Imagine, if you will, all this nonsense taking place amidst the bustle and bright lights of Las Vegas, and you'll begin to have an idea of what you're in for with THE MUMMY AND THE CURSE OF THE JACKALS. Finally, be prepared to pee yourself in an unintended fit of laughter when you watch it

***Oh...and be forewarned...this film might prove injurous or fatal to no-nonsense viewers expecting a straightforward horror picture.

Rates both a one and a ten for different reasons.

I enjoyed the music. John Carradine comes in after an hour. The princess reminded me of Donna Summer. The sets, cheesy. The jackal mask, probably stolen from The Rockafire Explosion. There wasn't even any nudity. An interminable snore fest which I wish Rifftrax would tackle. So our hero turns into a jackal and the princess comes to life unfortunately so does the guy who was buried with her. The mummy just looks dirty, like he'd been working under a car. There's some grainy footage of Vegas and some sets in a cave and a flashback where curtains are hung over a blank wall to evoke an ancient palace. All mummy movies are the same, but I prefer Hammer movies because at least the actors can articulate.

Inept! Ridiculous! Vapid! Tedious! These are just a few words that might help explain what sitting through The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackal was like. Now, don't get me wrong - I did not sit down to watch the film expecting to see a masterpiece or even a decent horror film. I did, however, expect to see a mildly entertaining film starring John Carradine. The film is roughly an hour and twenty minutes in length, and John Carradine is not seen till after an hour and five minutes(and then is only in roughly 5 minutes of the total film). People pick on poor Bela Lugosi for making a lot of B pictures, but John Carradine went a step further and appeared in numerous Z pictures, and this is surely one of them. The film tells a story of a professor of Egytology who has "stolen" a couple of mummies. He reads about a curse of the jackals on one of the tombs and decides to try and make it happen. Of course, much to the chagrin of the audience and the amazement of the protagonist, it happens and the professor is turned into one of the most ridiculous-looking creatures ever on film. His jackal looks like a fat rabbit on steroids, and is anything but fearsome. Well the story moves along and soon the mummies awake, one a beautiful bosomy princess and the other a fat mummy with a huge lazy eye. Soon the jackal and fat mummy trek all over the lighted streets of Las Vegas, yes that's right they walk up and down the strip in Las Vegas while drawing really little attention to themselves. But that is not all, we also get to see Isis pop up later, and of course there is the climatic battle between the two creatures. Oliver Drake has certainly done something here. He has created a film with little or no merit. The only good thing I really can say about the film is that it has a totally misplaced soundtrack that has kept me humming the past few days. Carradine is good for his very VERY small part, and the princess is pleasant to look at. Other than that, the direction, writing, lighting, acting, special effects, make-up, etc.... are without a doubt truly incompetent.

Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals, The (1969)

** (out of 4)

Many will call this one of the worst films ever made and its production history is pretty much up in the air. It was certainly shot in Las Vegas and has a scientist learning the whereabouts of an Egyptian Princess who carries with her a curse. Apparently if you spend the night with her dead body on a full moon then a curse will strike and you just know that's what the scientist does and soon enough he's turning into a murderous "were-jackal". Soon the Princess rises from the dead as well as her mummy boyfriend and more terror strikes Vegas. If the title didn't give it away then as soon as you see John Carradine's name you should expect a "Z" grade horror flick and that's exactly what this is. Yes, everything here is pretty bad but I actually thought there were a few good things and the cheapness certainly makes this an entertaining effort. I watch a number of Z-horror titles but what I expect them to do is at least keep me entertained and this one did that. What I loved most was the look of the two monsters because while the effects are cheap they at least look fun. I'm really not sure how to describe the "were-jackal" but I guess he's a mix between a kola bear, an ugly dog, a wolf and his nose looks somewhat like that of a pig. The biggest problem is that the thing is never scary and if you saw him walking down the street you'd probably be more willing to want to shake his hand than run away in terror. The mummy doesn't look at that great but I still got a kick out of his glowing eye and the fact that the actor (Saul Goldsmith) was almost twice the size of Lon Chaney, Jr. in his Universal mummy films from the 40s. I know many people didn't like Chaney's big-sized mummy but the one here is a lot bigger and I thought it added some mild charm. The death scenes are all extremely cheap but I got a kick out of them because the monsters are just so dang fun. One of the many cheap highlights is a scene where the mummy picks up a woman and starts carrying her through the streets of Vegas with the were-jackal following. It's clear the filmmakers didn't have any permits and were just stealing these shots but the funny thing is that the people in the frame aren't ever wondering what's going on. The mummy is just carrying the woman down the street and people just look at the monster and laugh. The same with the were-jackal and it appears at one time a tourist walks up to him to get a better look!!! At 80-minutes the pacing really isn't too bad as long as you can get into the film. Again, those expecting CITIZEN KANE are going to be disappointed but I'm always curious why some people go into a movie like this expecting high art. It's cheap, low-budget junk but it has a certain charm about it. Carradine doesn't appear until after the hour mark but he delivers a decent performance just like you'd expect the pro to do.

Star Anthony Eisley once said the director of this film was "quite old and a little bit senile at the time"; yeah but you signed the contract anyway, didn't you Anthony! The story goes that the film was unfinished and sat on a shelf for quite sometime before someone scotch taped the scenes together into something that bore a resemblance to a feature film. That could explain why it begins in the middle with Anthony Eisley as an archaeologist renting a tumbledown house outside Las Vegas with two sarcophagii in his living room. We are told that he saved them both from a plane that was on its way back from Egypt but crashed nearby. The centuries old boxes contain Princess Akanna, a woman put into a deep sleep in ancient Egypt so that she might someday revive and bring the glorious message of the Goddess Isis to a modern world. Along for the ride is her guardian Sirakh, who looks considerably worse than she does after 3,000 years. (Has anyone besides me noticed their names are "Ananka" and "Kharis" re-arranged?) Akanna revives and turns Eisley into a "jackalman" so he can better be her slave. The mask and three fingered paw/hands had been used earlier that year in the Adults Only movie DRACULA THE DIRTY OLD MAN. (Way back in 1960 Boris Karloff said the old monsters were no longer scary. This movie proves him right. There is the inevitable scene of the Mummy and the Jackalman fighting and this scene was shot on location in Las Vegas. Eisley, or his stunt double, and the Mummy do their best to be fierce but people on the street stare at them and laugh!) John Carradine shows up for two scenes to (A.) pick up some quick pocket money and (B.) explain what is going on for everyone who is confused. You will probably stay confused though until the end of the picture where events come to their predictable conclusion even though everything happens with little or no explanation. John Carradine and Anthony Eisley went on to top themselves in modern Poverty Row pictures. Long John starred as THE WIZARD OF MARS and Anthony fought half a giant gorilla (it's a long story!) in THE MIGHTY GORGA.