DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (1966)

Sam and his faithful Indian guide Billy, who seem to work at a Florida animal compound, head deep into the Everglades to prepare the way for a group who are on a field trip to study the Everglades ecology. But when they reach an area that is rumored to contain the tomb of Tartu, an ancient Seminole witch doctor, Billy won't go any further, afraid of conjuring up a curse in which Tartu returns to life to punish any defilers. Sam forges ahead and is sorry he did; the spirit of the mummified Tartu, lying in a coffin in a cave, takes the form of an anaconda and strangles Sam to death. The group arrives, consisting of archeology professor Ed, his wife Julie, and four students—Johnny, Cindy, Tommy and Joann—and Billy is surprised that Sam hasn't returned. Nevertheless, being broad daylight, the group heads into the swamp without a guide. After some make-out sessions and mild, jerky dancing, Tommy and Joann go frolicking the water where Tartu, apparently considering himself defiled, appears in the shape of a shark and kills them both. Ed, who has found a stone with warnings about Tartu carved in it, realizes (since sharks aren't found in the Everglades) what's happening. Johnny tries to head out to get help, but he's killed when a snake leaps up in the air and bites him in the face. Cindy gets chased by Tartu as an alligator, and in the final confrontation, Ed faces Tartu himself, incarnated as a young and healthy man.

The Everglades location shooting makes this Z-grade horror film a little more interesting than the average, and the skull-face make-up on Tartu is good. But aside from the anaconda attack, in which the actor actually has a constricting snake wrapped around him, the other animals aren't especially scary—and the biting snake, so obviously a plastic prop being held by someone just off-camera, is laughable. Few of the actors remained in the business; Cuban actor Fred Pinero is pretty good as the professor, though the actress playing his wife is terrible. Some of the students' delivery is irritating and shrill, and none of them can dance—though they certainly can kiss. There are a number of mismatched shots, and some scenes fade to black as though this was made for TV ad placement, and the tedious 15-minute sequence of Sam trekking into the Everglades almost kills the movie off before it gets a chance to be scary. (A brief pre-credit scene of an earlier explorer finding Tartu's coffin is amusing; after Tartu kills the guy, he unrolls some scrolls the man was holding, and they contain the credits.) The cinematography does not make the Everglades look particularly appealing. Frank Weed, who plays Sam, is also the animal handler, which may be why his scene with the snake works so well. [TCM]