Dir: William Grefe
Cast: Fred Pinero, Babette Sherrill, Mayra Gómez
Kemp, Sherman Hayes
Not Rated, Approx: 85 Minutes
Something Weird DVD
likely to have.
movies were produced exclusively for drive-in double bills. It's a great balance hokey fun and serious action. Not
that the action is to be taken seriously, but Death Curse of Tartu avoids using the condescending self aware tone
so common in films today. Writer/director William Grefe know his market though, and avoids taking the subject
matter too seriously (he admits on the commentary track to writing the script in 24 hours). While there isn't any
nudity, he is quite sneaky when sneaking in choice shots of the bikini clad teens dancing on the beach.
with more gruesome and exploitative fare (not a complaint, these type of movies are great but they had run their
course - it's evolution people!). This is a sunny and light film, but it's never so timid as to skimp on the mayhem.
Filmed in the Florida Everglades, we find a team of archeology students accompanied by their professor into the
swamp. Unfortunately for all involved, the swamp lands lie on top of the burial ground of a 400 year old witch doctor
named Tartu. Even more unfortunate is that when Tartu died he swore to protect the sacred ground from all
intruders by turning into wild beasts and killing them. The professor, Mr. Tison, leaves this bit out and before you
know it the kids are go-go dancing and making out on all over the place. Always true to his word, Tartu springs back
into action (he had already offed a few people, unbeknownst to the fun loving students). The rest of the story is
played out mostly through surprisingly exciting (considering the budget) chase and animal attack scene. There is
also some obligatory exposition thrown in from our heroic professor in the form of translating an old tablet left behind
by Tartu.
are very nice and the cave sets are interlaced well. The music adds greatly to the feel, both the swinging numbers
the kids dance to and the regular score. The best part of the score though, is the chanting sounds that run through
most of the film, apparently coming from underground. Although not particularly scary or tense, this adds nicely to
the overall atmosphere established in the locations. The actors all ham it up nicely and appear to be having a whole
lot of fun despite the unpleasant looking locations. The real draw for this one though, is both the animal attacks and
the undead witch doctor. Grefe understands this well, and doesn't fail to deliver the goods. Although a more cynical
modern viewer might delight in pointing out the difference between the real animals and the fake ones used in attack
scenes, people who really enjoy this type of film will no doubt find much to like about the care taken with the camera
tricks used to bring these attacks to life. I would take these homegrown mechanical effects over the CGI garbage
seen in just about every Hollywood blockbuster these days. Moving on to Taru himself, this guy is great! He looks
the best when he sits up out of his casket in full rotted form - decrepit hands, skull face and all. He soon turns into
his younger form when threatened though, a young muscle bound Native American. He then chases the remaining
survivors all over the swamp in a remarkably well executed climax.
condition considering its origin. There are the expected spots here and there but the colors are all vibrant and really
bring the locations to life. The score is preserved reasonably well too. For the most part the dialogue is clear and
the underground chanting comes through nicely in several spots. To sum it up, SWV has put out this movie in the
best form imaginable. They've come a long way since before they were putting out DVDs and the quality of the
features was a gamble. Much like with Anchor Bay's recent releases, you can be assured that you're probably
getting the best quality possible for that particular feature. As for features, this is typical for SWV (which is to say far
better than most big companies). We have a gaggle of trailers for other William Grefe films, two short featurettes,
and the regular gallery of drive-in exploitation art accompanied by radio spots. The real treat here is that Death
Curse of Tartu (and the other feature on the double bill, Sting of Death) includes a commentary from director
William Grefe and the savior of exploitation and cheap cinema - Frank Henenlotter. They both do a great job on the
commentary, discussing both the film itself and filmmaking in general at the time. They never get bogged down in
boring conversations and both seem to be really enjoying themselves.
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