Death Curse of Tartu

source: Death Curse of Tartu

Funny about Creature Feature movies, how they stick in your mind no matter how bad they might be. At one point in this flick, one of the scientists says, "The natives are restless." That made the movie for me!

This isn't a so-bad-it's-good movie, it's just unrelentingly awful. Terrible acting, effects, stock footage, and the ever repeating drum sample they use a million times. Stay far away from this boring trash unless you are desperate for sleep.

I would include it to 10 worst movies I've ever seen - terrible acting, artificial dialogs, absolutely too much screaming. Those girls are in the jungle but with their hair style and clothing they look like they go to fancy party. 5 years of prison for director, 2 years for screenplay writer.

The "Something Weird" DVD edition of "Death Curse Of Tartu" is almost impossible to over recommend. Along with the second feature(Sting of Death) you get some truly hilarious commentary between director William Grefe and Frank Hendenlotter. Plus some great extras. The best "Something Weird" has to offer.

A real B-movie, with its intentions being that much bigger than its miniscule budget, DEATH CURSE OF TARTU is a fun flick to watch. It's not inept enough to be considered a PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE kind of movie but there are so many moments when it almost reaches the point of PLAN 9 that those who love really bad movies will like watching this one. For instance, the crocodile (or is it an alligator?) running after the screaming bimbo, who runs for several miles, only to have the croc right behind her. I didn't know crocs could run that fast. The living Tartu walking around with skin colored tights has to be seen to be believed. And the acting is uniformly bad. Hearing the drums every time Tartu started his killings reminded me of Gilligan's Island, which, in an odd way, sorta befits this unintentional comedy. DEATH CURSE OF TARTU is available on Something Weird DVD and makes a great double feature with 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).

Anybody knows that Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia (Baltic republic) ? It is the place of one of the oldest universities in Easter Europe, est. in 1600s. The old (germanic) name of the city is Dorpat.

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