(1980)
Dir - Philip Leacock
Overall: MEH
A British/American, co-production television movie that was largely filmed in Egypt, The Curse of King Tut's Tomb is a fictionalized account of Barry Wynne's book Behind the Mask of Tutankhamen. On the one hand, there is an aura of authenticity to the production due to the on location shooting and actual closeups of the unearthed treasure found by archeologist Howard Carter in November of 1922. As the title would suggest, there is also a vague supernatural undercurrent to the proceedings where a handful of characters die due to some mysterious and unseen force, but these moments are few and far between as well as poorly staged. Veteran TV director Philip Leacock takes a talky approach to the material where most of the focus is on Carter's love life and some ultimately pointless drama between his excavation employer and a local art collector who wants more of the Tutankhamen goodies for himself. Both Raymond Burr and Tom Baker appear in brown face, (the latter daftly showing up in such a small role as he was nearing the end of his seven season tenure as the Fourth Doctor), but this at least provides a mild, politically incorrect chuckle to what is otherwise a forgettable yawn.
(1984)
Dir - Peter Hyams
Overall: MEH
One of the more frustrating sequels to a beloved and critically hailed initial property, 2010: The Year We Make Contact picks up nine years after Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey left off. An adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's second novel in the series 2010: Odyssey Two, writer/director Peter Hyams does as good of a job as can be expected in some areas. The film has acceptable if not exceptional visuals, solid performances from a few A-listers, and some nifty ideas that were taken from Clarke's source material, throwing it all in a Cold War backdrop that is more palpable than the enigmatic space opera of Kubrick's original. This can equally be seen as both a detriment and a necessary distinguishing factor since such a project had less than a snowball's chance in hell of matching any of the majesty or technical astonishment of its game-changing predecessor. In this respect, Hyams palpable and dialog-heavy approach allows this to be its own thing, making it a popcorn ready bit of contemporary sci-fi for its day. Roy Scheider, Bob Balaban, John Lithgow, and a Russian-speaking Helen Mirren do their usual reliable work with the material, but unfortunately, the entire movie gets deflated with an unacceptably disappointing ending that misses the mark and is insulting in its ridiculous simplicity and faux sense of wonder.
(1989)
Dir - Larry Cohen
Overall: MEH
Larry Cohen closed out the 1980s with the goofy witch comedy Wicked Stepmother, doubling as the final film that Bette Davis was ever in. Eighty-one at the time, Davis looks like she is a hundred and eighty-one, chain-smoking, slurring her dialog, and being rail-thin with several gallons of make-up on to give her a garish appearance that causes most characters to do a double take when she randomly shows up as grandpa Lionel Sander's new wife. The plot, as one could imagine, is both asinine and loaded with logistical holes, which is nothing new for a Cohen script. Depending on what story that you want to believe, Davis either left the production due to illness or from being her usual prima-donna self and clashing with everyone on set. Her minimal screen presence is noticeable, disappearing entirely after the first act which necessitates Barbara Carrera to step in as her daughter/another witch inhabiting the same essence or whatever. There are a couple of amusing in-jokes, (a framed Joan Crawford picture presented as Colleen Camp's dead mother being the best of them), but the film seems to be struggling to make itself work, stumbling down the stairs annoyingly in the process.
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