Time Walker (1982)

An alien, buried in King Tut's tomb, terrorizes a college campus.

Director:

Tom Kennedy

Writers:

Jason Williams (story), Tom Friedman (story)

Stars:

Ben Murphy, Nina Axelrod, Kevin Brophy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Murphy	...	Prof. Douglas McCadden
Nina Axelrod	...	Susie Fuller
Kevin Brophy	...	Peter Sharpe
Robert Random	...	Jack Parker
James Karen	...	Dr. Wendell J. Rossmore
Sam Chew Jr.	...	Dr. Bruce Serrano
Melissa Prophet	...	Jennie
Austin Stoker	...	Dr. Ken Melrose
Gerard Prendergast	...	Greg Hauser
Shari Belafonte	...	Linda Flores (as Shari Belafonte-Harper)
Antoinette Bower	...	Dr. Hayworth
Darwin Joston	...	Lt. Plummer
Greta Blackburn	...	Sherri
John Lavachielli	...	Bill Vogler
Clint Young	...	Capt. Willoughby

Storyline

Professor Doug McCadden is in charge of opening his university's latest acquisition - a sealed Egyptian sarcophagus. Opening it reveals an ancient mummy and a mold substance which proves to eat the flesh of anyone touching it. Later, sneaky student Pete Sharpe finds five hidden jewels in the bottom of the casket and distributes them to various co-eds on campus, not realizing the mummy, recently revived with an overdose of x-rays, is bound and determined to reclaim them. McCadden, who has carefully analyzed x-rays taken of the mummy, comes to the reluctant conclusion that it is not what it seems.

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Plot Keywords:

mummy | sarcophagus | fungus | gem | x ray | 

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Taglines:

For eons they traveled the galaxies. For centuries one was trapped in a Pharaoh's tomb. Now he is free.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Being from Another Planet

Filming Locations:

California State University Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Byzantine Productions,Wescom Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Made with a non-union crew.

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Goofs

Bill is holding the crystal necklace in one hand when the mummy sneaks up on him, swipes the necklace, and kills him by hurling him into a wall. However, in the scene in Suzy's hospital room, Dr. Melrose says that "according to the coroner", Bill was wearing the necklace when he died.

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Crazy Credits

End title card: "TO BE CONTINUED..."

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Alternate Versions

The MST3K version replaces the original title cards with new titles.

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Connections

Featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Being from Another Planet (1992)

User Reviews

A mummy, green flesh-consuming fungus and... an alien!

Boy, I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid. So naturally, I almost remembered nothing of it. Except for the fact that it somehow left a strange impression on me, and a dormant urge to some day revisit it. That urge awakened recently when I found this obscure gem on an old ex-rental tape, so this was my chance to re-watch it. As to be expected, this is by no means a 'good' movie. Far from, probably. But it still remains a curious and strange gem.

A mummy gets dug up in King Tut's tomb and transferred to an American University. A student finds 5 diamonds hidden in the sarcophagus and steals them. The next day, the mummy is gone too. I'll just stop describing the story now. But if you want to know how a mummy, ancient diamonds, green dust that turns into flesh-devouring fungus, a blue-skinned alien with big black eyes and a college campus tie in all together, then you might want to consider watching TIME WALKER. But be warned, most people might generally classify this as a bad movie, and I don't even have much arguments to compete with that. The acting is just tolerable and the directing isn't top notch either. What had me chuckling most, were many inserted reaction shots of certain actors, just standing there looking for a second, not saying anything, or just giving a short stupid reply. But here's an interesting contradiction: Not much really happens in this movie, but still there's a lot going on (just remember the previous things I mentioned). Everything ties in together nicely, but it's all very predictable. The mummy prowling the campus provides a couple of nice and creepy shots, but his green-colored POV vision was a bit cheesy. Of course he kills a couple of people (not just randomly, I might add), but the kills themselves aren't much to write home about. On the other hand, the murderous mummy encounters a topless female student on one of his escapades and most of his kills are filmed in shocking slow-motion. The movie builds up towards a nice twist-conclusion too, but sadly when you know the tagline to this movie, or just take a glimpse at the front or back cover art, you already know what's going to happen. Also, the story severely lacks a climax at the end.

TIME WALKER tries really hard, remains an offbeat, weird gem, but in the end doesn't succeed in what it sets out to do. There's plenty of interesting elements, but they are rigged together in a below average sci-fi/horror flick with a conclusion that leaves a lot to be desired. Given the nostalgia feelings I treasure for this one, it is with grief I have to flunk this baby. But don't let that discourage you to check it out if you should ever stumble upon it. And then come around some day and blame me for having watched a bad movie.