Thursday, May 31, 2018

HUNT FOR THE GOLDEN SCORPION (1991) * ½


An explorer (David Brandon) is almost assassinated in the Amazon jungle while looking for a valuable golden scorpion.  He gets word to his sister Mary (Christine Leigh) that he’s alright, and she heads on over to the jungle to find him.  Naturally, the bad guys immediately come after her, hoping she’ll lead them right to her brother.  She teams up with a rugged adventurer (Andy J. Forest) who agrees to help find her brother.

Hunt for the Golden Scorpion was director Umberto (Nightmare City) Lenzi’s next-to-last movie.  It’s a dull and lifeless jungle adventure that features none of the hallmarks of Lenzi’s best stuff.  A lot of the problem has to do with his listless handling of the dialogue scenes, all of which seem to drone on endlessly.  As you can probably imagine, all of this is about as much fun as an actual trek through the Amazon jungle. 

Halfway though, the film takes an odd turn and goes from being a jungle film to an all-out low-rent Exploding Hut action flick.  Lots of stuff goes boom in this section of the movie (which prevents it from being a total waste of time), but none of it is choreographed very well.  (At least the sound of gunfire and explosions will keep you from falling asleep.)  Had Lenzi upped the sleaze quotient a bit in this sequence, all of this might’ve been tolerable.  

Another debit is the cast of non-stars.  While they hit their marks and recite their lines without stumbling over them, none of them exude an iota of screen presence, chemistry, or charm.  Leigh is cute and all, but she’s no Bo Derek or anything.  

Some of the inane dialogue is good for a laugh.  I admit I chuckled when a reporter asked a noted explorer, “Do you do the Lambada?”, a reference that was already dated by the time this was released.  The best line of the movie comes when the base is under siege.  The villain calls the guard station and asks what’s going on.  Forest answers, “Nothing sir.  The men are just watching Rambo 3!"

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