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.
