Everglades Horror Double Feature

U.S.A. / 1967, 1966 Directed by William Grefé Starring Fred Pinero Valerie Hawkins Doug Hobart Color / Not Rated DEATH CURSE OF TARTU: 84 Min. STING OF DEATH: 80 Min. Format: DVD Double Feature Disc / R1 - NTSC Something Weird Video

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Curse Of Tartu     2 Sting Of Death     5     8

This double feature disc packages together two zero-budget horror movies by Florida-based schlock auteur William Grefé. They're both really, really bad — though the 2nd feature, Sting Of Death, is actually rather fun in a supercheesy, MST3K kind of way. Throw in some choice exploitation trailers with a couple of gonzo short subject reels and you should have an enjoyable time zoning in front of the tube.     There is the matter of Death Curse Of Tartu, however.     The flimsy plot of this bargain-basement groaner concerns an evil 400-year old Seminole witch doctor, the titular Tartu (Doug Hobart), who's very touchy about his sacred burial mound deep in the Everglades. When an archeology professor and a group of students disturb his resting place, the coffin-bound Tartu transforms into various "spirit" animals as a means to kill them. These include a giant anaconda, a shark (in fresh water?), a poisonous water moccasin, and a flesh-hungry alligator. Finally only the professor and his girlfriend are left alive; they discover Tartu's burial chamber and come face-to-face with the Indian wizard in a struggle to the death.     For the most part, Tartu is a real chore to sit through. (At least without listening to the audio commentary; see below.) The movie was made for only $27,000 in 10 days and definitely looks it. The doomed students' impromptu go- go dancing — in the middle of a swamp — provides some laughs, and a couple of the animal attacks are both creepy and silly at the same time. There's also an energetic (if inept) fight scene at the end. But too much of the running time is spent with various characters silently trudging through the muck, an endlessly-looped recording of an Indian chant playing on the soundtrack. This gets to be pretty irritating before long, as in nails-on-chalkboard irritating. Ugh.     Death Curse Of Tartu is cheesy all right, but decidedly on the stale side.     Grefé's Sting Of Death is another kettle of (jelly) fish altogether. Filmed the year before Tartu, both features eventually ran as part of a drive-in double bill in 1967. With its shimmying dancers and outrageously ridiculous monster — one of the most pathetically goofy I've ever seen — one can't help but be entertained. This is definitely a flick the MST gang should've had in their crosshairs.     On an island at the edge of the Florida Everglades, biologist Dr. Richardson (Jack Nagle, who goes through the entire film with a head injury that keeps changing size) maintains a scientific research facility that looks an awful lot like a hotel. With the aid of hunky assistant John (Joe Morrison) and scarred handyman/amateur scientist Egon (The Wild Rebels' John Vella), he's conducting some vaguely referenced experiments on Portuguese Men O' War. Research takes a back seat, though, with the arrival of Richardson's pretty daughter Karen (Valerie Hawkins) and a group of her sorority sisters on a break from studies. John and Karen hit it off while poor disfigured Egon sulks under the cruel ribbing of some of the girls. A boatload of John's grad student friends soon shows up; before you can say "Jilla-Jalla" they're all dancing with rhythmless Anglo-Saxon abandon to the fey vocal stylings of Neil Sedaka, who provides two rock 'n' roll atrocities to the soundtrack. (Though he doesn't appear on camera, Sedaka is listed in the credits as "Special Singing Guest Star". His Ska-flavored "Do the Jellyfish" has to be heard to be believed. The song's ridiculous lyrics are reprinted on the disc's Chapter Listing insert card.)     Fortunately for the viewer a humanoid monster crashes the party, attacking and injuring two of the kids before disappearing into the swamp. (The creature's touch causes a painful sting like that of a jellyfish.) The students take the most seriously injured reveler aboard their boat and head for the mainland to seek medical attention and contact the police. The sequence that follows is a veritable laugh riot. Sabotaged by the monster, the boat starts sinking (suddenly it's a different boat, by the way); the passengers end up floundering in the water. One by one they're all killed by a school of 'deadly' jellyfish — which are actually just inflated plastic sandwich baggies. This is easily the stupidest thing I've seen in a movie in a long, long time... and I haven't even described the monster yet! Back on the island, the main characters start to get worried when the sheriff never shows up — they don't know that John's pals are gator bait. Egon, the extremely creepy handyman, is missing as well. (One would think this might set off alarm bells but everyone in the movie is as dumb as a bag of hammers.) On an excursion to find him two of Karen's sorority pals are killed. Then the monster returns to the island for more mayhem...     Egon is the monster, of course; he morphs into a crazed human-jellyfish hybrid when struck by the urge to kill. This is realized by having Tartu's Doug Hobart don a wetsuit, slather some goo on his hands, and place an inflated plastic bag over his head. (Even the "Hefty bag" critters in Attack Of The Giant Leeches looked more believable than this!) Wisely Grefé keeps glimpses of Jellyfish Man limited to hands and flipper-adorned feet until the last 5 minutes of the flick. The climax is hysterical, featuring what has got to be the lamest Man vs. Monster face-off in American film history.     Cheese lovers should enjoy Sting Of Death. It's got a pathetically silly monster and uncoordinated white folks dancing to bad '60s tunes — a combo that never fails to deliver unintentional laughs. However, I don't find swamp-traversing airboats to be particularly cool in any way... There are plenty of spots in the movie when it's okay to raid the fridge or take a leak without hitting the pause button.

If you're expecting to see pristine transfers of obscure, zero-budget independent films almost 40 years old, then forget it. Tartu, dark and blemished as the print is, looks better than it did on video or broadcasts on the TNT cable channel. Sting Of Death fares much, much better, with rich, vibrant color and only minimal print damage. Sound quality is serviceable for both titles, with the edge again going to Sting.     As I've come to expect, Something Weird crams in a lot of extras. Both Tartu and Sting come with audio commentaries. These feature Grefé and Frank Henenlotter (director of Basket Case and Frankenhooker) discussing each film in particular and Florida's indie film scene in the '60s and '70s in general. Both are quite enjoyable, filled with amusing anecdotes about the cheapness of the productions and the rigors of filming in the Everglades. Especially funny are Grefé's numerous stories about working with dangerous wild animals and the travails of the underpaid actors. These talks are highly entertaining; my only complaint is that Grefé sounds like he's sitting 10 feet away from the microphone.     Two short subjects are also included. Miami Or Bust — a rather wretched early '60s stag film — starts off like a dull Florida travelogue before switching to a woefully middle-aged stripper cavorting naked around a motel pool. (Oh, the horror!) The second offering is a bizarre 30 minute excerpt from Love Goddesses Of Blood Island, an exploitation cheapie about shipwrecked men washing up on a tropical isle populated by bikini-clad Amazon women. One would think they'd have it made... Of course only torture and death await them at the hands of these savage lovelies. One poor guy gets disemboweled and beheaded Herschell Gordon Lewis-stye. (As Tartu and Sting both contain only mild bits of gore and no nudity, the "Blood 'n' Guts" and "Bare Flesh" icons listed above are for the content of these shorts.)     Apart from the commentaries, my favorite extras are the six theatrical trailers for Tartu, Sting, and four other Grefé-helmed films: Racing Fever, The Wild Rebels (which really needs a DVD release), Mako: Jaws Of Death, and the rattlesnake thriller Stanley. I'm a big trailer fan, you see — can never have enough of 'em!     Note: The packaging lists extras — an exploitaion film art gallery and "Horrorama" radio spots — that are nowhere to be found on the disc. I therefore must regretfully deduct a point from Eccentric Cinema's overall DVD rating. 12/22/01

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