What would Halloween Hangover be without a crappy Made for TV horror flick?
Archaeologist Howard Carter (Robin Ellis) discovers King Tut’s tomb and its untold riches. Shortly thereafter, people associated with the dig wind up dead. Everyone seems to think the tomb is cursed, but Carter refuses to believe in such nonsense, even when the corpses begin to pile up.
The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb feels like a mummy movie without a mummy. Not that a mummy could’ve saved this boring mess, but it would’ve given us SOMETHING to hang our hat on. As it is, it’s chock to the gills with a bunch of scenes of stuffy British people digging in the desert, hanging out in tombs, and becoming victim to a series of “accidents”. Since it’s a TV flick, it’s all tame and lame. There’s a scorpion attack, death by snake bite, and even a killer mosquito! Others die by suffocation and plane crash. You might die of boredom. All this is weak as shit, but there is at least one unintentionally hilarious freeze frame of a dog’s reaction to its master’s death.
Eva Marie Saint is top billed as a reporter who becomes sort of a half-assed love interest for Ellis late in the game. She’s obviously supposed to be playing a character much younger than herself, but she feels like someone’s grandmother that inexplicably arrived in Egypt. Ellis is a total dullard and makes for an awful “hero”. Doctor Who’s Tom Baker also shows up for a bit as his shady assistant with hidden motives, and Paul Scholfield provides the narration that adds absolutely nothing to the proceedings.
The scariest thing about the whole deal is the sight of Raymond Burr in brownface and wearing a turban as Ellis’ chief rival who wants to get his hands on King Tut’s treasure. His scenes all boil down to grimly warning and/or subtly bribing officials about Ellis. One or two of these scenes would’ve sufficed, but we get like eight or nine of them, further adding to the tedium.
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