This a horribly fun movie to watch. No one in this movie can act, except Ben Murphy. The writing is atrocious and law enforcement folks are so awful you have to laugh. I swear the voice of the Detective Lieutenant was dubbed. Luckily, I taped it so I could fast forward through all the monsters green moving scenes. There are a lot of them. The college boys look like Neanderthals.
63 Reviews
A Mummy From Space with Rodger Random?
torrascotia31 March 2019
This is basically a 1950's style B-movie with low rent 80s production values. The story is about an archaeological dig which unearths a mummy which is blasted by radiation , reviving it from its slumber. What follows is a mixture of a mummy curse movie with an alien trying to return home movie. Its not at all scary or gory with very few kills. It doesn't manage to ramp up any tension or excitement at any point. It really should have been a comedy. There is also an odd sub-plot about fungus, again another 1950s staple , which doesn't seem to add anything to the story. The effects are super low budget and comparable to something you would see in a TV show not a movie. This was actually one of the MST3K episodes which tells you all you need to know, however it was not one of the more popular episodes. If you have the time to waste on a bad movie then fine however do not expect to be entertained.
Could have been great
Tikkin10 August 2006
I have to say, although this film was badly executed, it still had a cool storyline and a lot of potential. It's not often you get mummy/alien hybrids, but that is what this film is. It all starts off with some stock footage of planets and then of Egypt. After this the story begins, and a mummy is brought to a university for examination. A mega dose of x-rays brings the mummy to life, and it begins its search for some crystals that were removed from the sarcophagus. But this is no ordinary mummy, oh no, this is actually an alien!
The main problems with Time Walker is the slow pace and lack of gore. The film just seems to trundle along really slowly, as the mummy stalks around looking for his crystals. There's a few cool scenes such as when the mummy attacks a woman and pushes her against a wall, and throws a man in the air. If some gore scenes had been added, it would have been a lot more entertaining. The POV shots of the mummy are quite cool and reminded me of a slasher film called The Lamp. The ending is very cheesy, as the mummy reveals himself to actually be an alien (someone wearing a ridiculous mask) and then disappears to the stars, and the fateful words "To be continued..." appear on the screen.
Overall, I can't rate this film too highly as it really was boring, but I do love the storyline and it's a shame it wasn't properly executed.
The main problems with Time Walker is the slow pace and lack of gore. The film just seems to trundle along really slowly, as the mummy stalks around looking for his crystals. There's a few cool scenes such as when the mummy attacks a woman and pushes her against a wall, and throws a man in the air. If some gore scenes had been added, it would have been a lot more entertaining. The POV shots of the mummy are quite cool and reminded me of a slasher film called The Lamp. The ending is very cheesy, as the mummy reveals himself to actually be an alien (someone wearing a ridiculous mask) and then disappears to the stars, and the fateful words "To be continued..." appear on the screen.
Overall, I can't rate this film too highly as it really was boring, but I do love the storyline and it's a shame it wasn't properly executed.
It's not *that* bad
Scott-830 January 1999
Maybe I just have a soft spot for some movies. "Time Walker" is a solid "B," with bad acting, unncecessary gore, and some really cheesy special effects.
Still, I have to say I liked the movie, even if it is just late night video fare. The story was original, and it was a surprise to find out at the end what the mummy really is.
Still, I have to say I liked the movie, even if it is just late night video fare. The story was original, and it was a surprise to find out at the end what the mummy really is.
Boring From Another Planet
zmaturin19 December 2002
This not-very-good mummy-alien flick does feature a cornucopia of your favorite movie stars like BEN MURPHY ("Riding With Death"!), Bob Random ("Village of the Giants"!), Darwin Joston (Napolean in "Assault on Precinct 13"!), Austin Stoker (Bishop in "Assault on Precinct 13"!) as Dr. Ken Melrose, Nina Axelrod ("Motel Hell"), Shari Belafonte-Harper (who was a voice on "Rick Moranis in Gravedale High"!!!), Clint Young ("Rape Squad", "Switchblade Sisters"), and best of all, Pathmark pitchman JAMES KAREN ("Poltergiest", "Return of the Living Dead")!
The plot is this: A priceless sarcophagus has been recovered in King Tut's tomb. Of course, it's taken to a small college in California where bumbling students can manhandle it and screw up X-raying it, instead of, oh, say, a museum. One loathsome, video-game loving student steals some diamond-type-thingees from the sarcophagus, sending the mummy on a poorly planned killing spree to get them back. For some reason, no one can catch a glimpse of the slow-moving, glowing mummy as it lumbers from killing to killing on the college campus.
This movie isn't very good. Not much happenens, except for some funny scenes where teens touch some radioactive goo on the mummy and start to get fungus growing all over them. The party scene with a bunch of obnoxious students dressed as mummys is also grating, and all James Karen does is mope and yell at Ben Murphy.
Pathmark means savings!
The plot is this: A priceless sarcophagus has been recovered in King Tut's tomb. Of course, it's taken to a small college in California where bumbling students can manhandle it and screw up X-raying it, instead of, oh, say, a museum. One loathsome, video-game loving student steals some diamond-type-thingees from the sarcophagus, sending the mummy on a poorly planned killing spree to get them back. For some reason, no one can catch a glimpse of the slow-moving, glowing mummy as it lumbers from killing to killing on the college campus.
This movie isn't very good. Not much happenens, except for some funny scenes where teens touch some radioactive goo on the mummy and start to get fungus growing all over them. The party scene with a bunch of obnoxious students dressed as mummys is also grating, and all James Karen does is mope and yell at Ben Murphy.
Pathmark means savings!
An impossible watch
BandSAboutMovies9 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as Being from Another Planet, this is a movie I have tried to finish so many times, pushing myself to the kind of hard-to-watch film brink. I'm happy to report that after several years, I have finally completed this movie and can share the results with all of you.
California University of the Sciences professor Douglas McCadden (Ben Murphy, the Gemini Man!) is exploring the tomb of Tutankhamun when an earthquake causes a wall to fall down, revealing a mummy that is really an alien kept alive through suspended animation thanks to being covered with a green fungus.
Dr. Ken Melrose (Austin Stoker!) calls a press conference to reveal the mummy, but at some point student named Peter Sharpe (Kevin Brophy, who was in Lucan, so this is really a collection of people who were in failed science fiction shows of the 70s that really only I care about) steals some gems from the body, which keeps getting bathed in radiation, bringing it back to life.
The mummy - who is way faster than your normal wrapped up Egyptian in rags - ends up killing anyone who has the crystals, putting a cop named Lt. Plummer (Darwin Joston, so this movie is also an Assault on Precinct 13 reunion thanks to him and Stoker appearing) on the case. He thinks it's a serial killer, but the truth is that the mummy was worshipped like a god and needs the crystals to go back home.
This movie also has James Karen from Return of the Living Dead and Shari Belafonte, who certainly knew that she deserved much better.
Time Walker was produced by Dimitri Villard and Jason Williams. If you recognize that last name, it's because Williams plated Flesh Gordon. He co-wrote this movie (he also scripted The Danger Zone, Danger Zone II: Reaper's Revenge, Danger Zone III: Steel Horse War and Nude Bowling Party, which certainly needed some level of wordsmithing) with Tom Friedman and Karen Levitt. It's director, Tom Kennedy, edited Silent Night, Bloody Night and the American release of Goodbye Uncle Tom. This was the only movie he ever directed.
There's a "to be continued" at the end of this movie and I have to tell you, I've never been so excited that a sequel wasn't made.
I'll forgive Film Ventures International nearly anything, though. Even Time Walker.
California University of the Sciences professor Douglas McCadden (Ben Murphy, the Gemini Man!) is exploring the tomb of Tutankhamun when an earthquake causes a wall to fall down, revealing a mummy that is really an alien kept alive through suspended animation thanks to being covered with a green fungus.
Dr. Ken Melrose (Austin Stoker!) calls a press conference to reveal the mummy, but at some point student named Peter Sharpe (Kevin Brophy, who was in Lucan, so this is really a collection of people who were in failed science fiction shows of the 70s that really only I care about) steals some gems from the body, which keeps getting bathed in radiation, bringing it back to life.
The mummy - who is way faster than your normal wrapped up Egyptian in rags - ends up killing anyone who has the crystals, putting a cop named Lt. Plummer (Darwin Joston, so this movie is also an Assault on Precinct 13 reunion thanks to him and Stoker appearing) on the case. He thinks it's a serial killer, but the truth is that the mummy was worshipped like a god and needs the crystals to go back home.
This movie also has James Karen from Return of the Living Dead and Shari Belafonte, who certainly knew that she deserved much better.
Time Walker was produced by Dimitri Villard and Jason Williams. If you recognize that last name, it's because Williams plated Flesh Gordon. He co-wrote this movie (he also scripted The Danger Zone, Danger Zone II: Reaper's Revenge, Danger Zone III: Steel Horse War and Nude Bowling Party, which certainly needed some level of wordsmithing) with Tom Friedman and Karen Levitt. It's director, Tom Kennedy, edited Silent Night, Bloody Night and the American release of Goodbye Uncle Tom. This was the only movie he ever directed.
There's a "to be continued" at the end of this movie and I have to tell you, I've never been so excited that a sequel wasn't made.
I'll forgive Film Ventures International nearly anything, though. Even Time Walker.
A mummy, green flesh-consuming fungus and... an alien!
Vomitron_G15 March 2008
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.
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.
Where is my Mummy? Making a bad movie, that's where!
Oosterhartbabe11 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Ahh, Mr. Ben Murphy. Before Bruce Campbell stole his crown, Murphy was the King of Cheese. Unfortunately, Murphy was serious about his lousy acting career. He really, actually thought that he had some talent. Amazing.
In this crappy serving of Murphy's Law(that the more serious a movie with Murphy in it is supposed to be, the worse and more cheesy that movie will be)Murphy plays an anthropologist(yeah, right!) who finds a sarcophagus in King Tut's tomb. In it is a peculiar mummy who was a visitor to Tut's kingdom three thousand years ago. Apparently this mysterious visitor made people sick(literally), because he had some kind of weird fungus growing on him..Or something.
One of Murphy's idiot students touches the fungus, which got accidentally irradiated by another of his idiot students. It ate the moron student's hand faster than the flesh eating virus. Meanwhile, the mummy disappeared from his coffin(he felt the need to party. Well, it had been three thousand years, after all!) and started lurching around off camera looking for some ridiculous looking crystals that the idiot student who had irradiated the sarcophagus stole from it(larcenous as well as stupid.Did Murphy hand pick these guys?). The crystals glowed whenever the mummy got near them, becoming tiny disco balls. Welcome to the seventies, everyone! All that was missing was seeing the mummy do the Hustle.
Murphy discovers that the mummy is actually the body of an alien visitor. It is trying to retrieve the stupid looking crystals so that it can phone home. Apparently the alien was in a state of suspended animation or something, which is why the zap of radiation brought it back to life. Never mind that that deserves a big fat HUH? since this movie is so groovy and with it that it doesn't really have to make sense. In the end, the mummy retrieves its tacky jewelry and is about to beam itself up(to what, we'll never know, since I doubt the mother ship actually hung around waiting for it to return for three thousand years)when a security guard tries to shoot it. Murphy plays the hero and hurls himself onto the bullet(thank you, movie!) and then is beamed up with the alien. Good riddance, Murphy, and I hope you enjoy the anal probe.
In this crappy serving of Murphy's Law(that the more serious a movie with Murphy in it is supposed to be, the worse and more cheesy that movie will be)Murphy plays an anthropologist(yeah, right!) who finds a sarcophagus in King Tut's tomb. In it is a peculiar mummy who was a visitor to Tut's kingdom three thousand years ago. Apparently this mysterious visitor made people sick(literally), because he had some kind of weird fungus growing on him..Or something.
One of Murphy's idiot students touches the fungus, which got accidentally irradiated by another of his idiot students. It ate the moron student's hand faster than the flesh eating virus. Meanwhile, the mummy disappeared from his coffin(he felt the need to party. Well, it had been three thousand years, after all!) and started lurching around off camera looking for some ridiculous looking crystals that the idiot student who had irradiated the sarcophagus stole from it(larcenous as well as stupid.Did Murphy hand pick these guys?). The crystals glowed whenever the mummy got near them, becoming tiny disco balls. Welcome to the seventies, everyone! All that was missing was seeing the mummy do the Hustle.
Murphy discovers that the mummy is actually the body of an alien visitor. It is trying to retrieve the stupid looking crystals so that it can phone home. Apparently the alien was in a state of suspended animation or something, which is why the zap of radiation brought it back to life. Never mind that that deserves a big fat HUH? since this movie is so groovy and with it that it doesn't really have to make sense. In the end, the mummy retrieves its tacky jewelry and is about to beam itself up(to what, we'll never know, since I doubt the mother ship actually hung around waiting for it to return for three thousand years)when a security guard tries to shoot it. Murphy plays the hero and hurls himself onto the bullet(thank you, movie!) and then is beamed up with the alien. Good riddance, Murphy, and I hope you enjoy the anal probe.
Mummy mummy GO AWAY!!
ticklemetorgo1 April 2005
This movie sucks!! I can boldly state that because I had actually seen it in the movie theaters when it came out, and on MST. (yes it was actually in movie theaters for a BRIEF time) It sucked then and it sucks now. It's only redeeming value is that MST got it and riffed the hell out of it which it needed. Ben Murphy steals a mummy from Egypt which turns out to be an alien which one of his students accidentally brings back to life. This movie was filmed at Cal State University Northridge, where I studied anthropology myself, and I doubt that any of my professors would have any of these idiots as students. But for what it's worth it is a funny MST episode and a lame horror movie. Maybe there was supposed to be a sequel, thank god there wasn't. Though it probably would have made a great MST episode.
Time Waster
boblipton20 November 2020
A museum gets a new mummy. When they open the sarcophagus, the mummy is gone. Yes, it's walking, and is trying to do.... well, something that involves laying a bunch of tiny, blue-glowing glass beads in what appears to be a Star Trek uniform insignia.
Everyone spends the movie being clueless about what is going on. This should allow a lot of suspense, with the audience knowing what is at risk -- because we've seen all this before -- and no one in the film doing anything to stop it. Unfortunately, we've seen all this before. Running through the shtick yet again isn't really suspenseful. It's ho-hum.
It's well edited; that was the more usual job of director Tom Kennedy, who is neither the 'dumb' comic of 1930s movies nor the game show host. THe only actor I knew was Alan Rachins, and he has a tiny part, and some hair.
Everyone spends the movie being clueless about what is going on. This should allow a lot of suspense, with the audience knowing what is at risk -- because we've seen all this before -- and no one in the film doing anything to stop it. Unfortunately, we've seen all this before. Running through the shtick yet again isn't really suspenseful. It's ho-hum.
It's well edited; that was the more usual job of director Tom Kennedy, who is neither the 'dumb' comic of 1930s movies nor the game show host. THe only actor I knew was Alan Rachins, and he has a tiny part, and some hair.
Mummies for dummies
ofumalow26 October 2019
This isn't a great bad mummy movie--there's quite a number of those--but it's bad enough to be fun, if not bad enough to be memorable. It has all the right ingredients, but never quite kicks into a high enough gear (esp. re: violence and sex) to realize its full cheesy potential. Still, the script is verrrry silly, complete with a leap into sci-fi towards the end. I enjoyed seeing Ben Murphy, whose post "Alias Smith & Jones" career I kinda missed; he's still very handsome here, and manages to escape with dignity unscathed--unlike a lot of the other cast members, many of whom are intentionally (or unintentionally) over the top. It was also interesting to see Robert Random, who doesn't make much impression here but is notable for having finally surfaced recently as the nominal male lead in Orson Welles' endlessly delayed "The Other Side of the Wind" (shot a decade earlier, more or less). Anyway, this movie doesn't quite fully capitalize on the trash potential of reawakened-Egyptian-mummy-turns-modern-campus-slasher, but that conceit alone is worth some entertainment value, and "Time Walker" is relatively slick by 80s B-movie standards. It just could have used a bit more energy and outrageousness.
One of my favorite "B" movies
Trooper8-221 February 1999
I don't know why, but I found this super-cheesy story of a mummy terrorizing a college campus a lot more entertaining than I should have. Sure, the acting and effects are horrid, but I thought the story was good for this kind of movie. A classic B-movie in my opinion.
Good Story, Bad Cast, No "The End"
claudio_carvalho2 September 2004
In California, a university acquires a sealed sarcophagus found in the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankamon. The mummy is under the responsibility of Prof. Doug McCadden (Ben Murphy), and will be presented to the public in a big opening party in the campus. After many x-rays of the coffin and the mummy for study, the operator Pete Sharpe (Kevin Brophy) finds five hidden jewels in a compartment in the bottom of the coffin. He hides the finding and steals the jewels, selling and giving them to other persons in the campus, including his girlfriend. Meanwhile, the x-rays revive the mummy and it vanishes, looking for the five jewels and leaving a weird green substance in the empty casket. A student touches it and the fungus eats his arm. A further investigation reveals that the fungus is activated by x-rays and eats human flesh. When the news about the disappearance of the mummy is disclosed, the students decide to have a thematic party about Egypt, including costumes of mummies. Meanwhile, Prof. McCadden realizes that the mummy is indeed an extraterrestrial being and the jewels are crystals for a communicating apparatus.
"Time Walker" is a B-movie not so bad as IMDB User Rating indicates. It has a good story, bad cast and poor special effects. The greatest problem is the conclusion with "To be continued" instead of "The End". Therefore the story has no ending and the sequel has not been released. There is a kind of frustration due to the lack of conclusion of the plot. With better actors, actresses and director, and some improvements in the screenplay, it could be a great movie. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Time Walker"
Note: On 16 April 2024, I saw this film again on VHS.
"Time Walker" is a B-movie not so bad as IMDB User Rating indicates. It has a good story, bad cast and poor special effects. The greatest problem is the conclusion with "To be continued" instead of "The End". Therefore the story has no ending and the sequel has not been released. There is a kind of frustration due to the lack of conclusion of the plot. With better actors, actresses and director, and some improvements in the screenplay, it could be a great movie. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Time Walker"
Note: On 16 April 2024, I saw this film again on VHS.
almost a turkey
trashgang22 May 2012
What a turkey if you see when it was made, in the middle of the slasher era and this has really nothing to offer, the effects used when people touches the fungus is ridiculous and the mummy itself didn't look scary at all, and towards the end when the mummy shows it's real face you will laugh again.
Nevertheless, it got some names in it that were famous back then, Ben Murphy (Prof. Douglas McCadden) came from the series Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1973) and went further to Gemini Man (1976). Nina Axelrod (Susie Fuller) is more common towards horror buffs due her role in Critters 3 (1991) and the blockbuster Cobra (1986). Kevin Brophy (Peter Sharpe) can be seen in Hell Night (1981) one year earlier than this flick together with Linda Blair.
But it fails due the script itself. The mummy do attacks but really in a stupid way. And the editing itself is roughly done with full of mistakes. When a girl is running in corridors you see the POV from the mummy running behind her but when they shoot before the girls you can't see any mummy running behind her. And there is even a microphone to spot. There is one shot with a small nudity and the shower scene also looked laughable. But the movie never moves further and due some really bad acting it becomes a turkey. Easy to see that it was a low budget B-flick. Maybe for some it's a collectible due the cheesy situations but many will find it a waist of time.
Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5
Nevertheless, it got some names in it that were famous back then, Ben Murphy (Prof. Douglas McCadden) came from the series Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1973) and went further to Gemini Man (1976). Nina Axelrod (Susie Fuller) is more common towards horror buffs due her role in Critters 3 (1991) and the blockbuster Cobra (1986). Kevin Brophy (Peter Sharpe) can be seen in Hell Night (1981) one year earlier than this flick together with Linda Blair.
But it fails due the script itself. The mummy do attacks but really in a stupid way. And the editing itself is roughly done with full of mistakes. When a girl is running in corridors you see the POV from the mummy running behind her but when they shoot before the girls you can't see any mummy running behind her. And there is even a microphone to spot. There is one shot with a small nudity and the shower scene also looked laughable. But the movie never moves further and due some really bad acting it becomes a turkey. Easy to see that it was a low budget B-flick. Maybe for some it's a collectible due the cheesy situations but many will find it a waist of time.
Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5
It may be low budget junk, but it's *fun* low budget junk.
Hey_Sweden19 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Try this wacky premise on for size: when a mummy discovered inside the tomb of King Tut is brought back to a university, it turns out to actually be an alien, which is soon brought back to life by an X-ray overdose. A fairly slimy student (the same one who overdid it on the X- rays) discovers crystals inside the sarcophagus and, when he can't get a jeweller to take them, he sells them to his classmates. Well, this pisses off the "mummy" who embarks on a murderous rampage to retrieve the crystals, while the heroic archaeologist / professor Douglas McCadden (Ben Murphy) tries to figure out what's going on. I wonder how Steve Martin might work all this into his famous "King Tut" song? Anyway, I won't deny that this is far from being "good" stuff, but if you dig goofy low budget genre nonsense like this, as I do, you may also find some entertainment watching this. Hell, it does have its moments, in particular an extended chase scene. And among its crew are the under-rated composer Richard Band and art director Robert A. Burns of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" fame. "Flesh Gordon" star Jason Williams is actually one of those responsible for the story, as well as being one of the producers and playing a small role. While the acting is largely, predictably underwhelming, the casting mix has to be seen to be believed: first off, it *is* awesome seeing "Assault on Precinct 13" leads Austin Stoker and Darwin Joston (sadly, this was Joston's last movie role) once again acting together in scenes. Also appearing are Kevin Brophy ("Hell Night", "The Seduction", 'Lucan'), the under utilized James Karen ("The Return of the Living Dead"), Shari Belafonte-Harper (getting an 'introducing' credit), Antoinette Bower ("Prom Night" 1980), Greta Blackburn ("48 Hrs.", "Chained Heat"), Nina Axelrod ("Motel Hell"), Warrington Gillette (the guy credited as Jason in "Friday the 13th Part 2"), future 'L.A. Law' regular Alan Rachins as the jeweller, and the late, great trailer announcer Don LaFontaine as a reporter cracking bad jokes on television. Sporting supposedly clever touches such as green tinted alien P.o.V. shots and the frequent use of wipes, "Time Walker" is simply too hard to resist for fans of silly schlock. The ending is downright priceless in its attempt at sentimentality, as well as its attempt to set up a sequel, stating "to be continued" before the end credit crawl. While some viewers may be very happy that never happened, I still say that this movie has a certain clunky charm. Five out of 10.
"Being From Another Planet", I want OUT of this flick!!!
lemon_magic18 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is a perfect example of the kind of low-level, low budget, crummy movie that really should not have been made in the first place. It has the feel of a "direct-to-cable/3rd feature at the Drive-in" snooze fest that never really generates any interest or momentum. The best you can say about it is that it helped a bunch of B-to-Z level actors make their condo payments, that Sherry Belafonte-Harper was fairly cute, and that both the director of photography and the soundtrack composer worked really hard to pump up the watch-ability of this movie with a lot of extra jiving and filling.
Poor Ben Murphy slogs along as best he can here, trying to make the audience (all 4 or us) believe that he is an archaeologist. I'll give him this; even in a snooze like this movie, where all the close-ups are held too long and every scene has the drama and pacing of a drivers' ed training film, he remains amiable and likable. God only knows how hard "Time Walker" would have been to watch if he hadn't at least given the movie his agreeable screen presence. People make fun of him, and he is a light-weight, but I've always liked the guy; I hope he made a million dollars and retired happily somewhere.
The rest of the cast comes off as somewhere between "unlikeable" and "despicable", (I have no idea what they are like in real life, so please don't take this as character assassination), so you actually sort of enjoy it (instead of being horrified) when the mummy kills them. Of course, that may have been the intention of the movie, but in that case, the director could at least have made the deaths a little more memorable. I saw better staged monster attacks in the infamous "Pod People" - the victim's death-scenes here are like watching hamsters getting squished with a giant clown hammer. And Belafonte-Harper actually has some on camera charisma, but the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with her - she seems to be in, but not of, the film. It's as if she wanted the exposure, but she couldn't bear to actually be involved in the plot.
The movie ends with Murphy's character teleporting off with the mummy to an unknown fate (good riddance) and the dean's assistant screaming into the camera as left-over space slime eats his hand. I think this was meant to leave us with a feeling of mystery and wonder and horror, but it left me with a profound feeling of relief that this bag of creaky dramatic devices was finally done. Not the worst or most incompetent movie I've ever seen, but definitely pretty useless.
Poor Ben Murphy slogs along as best he can here, trying to make the audience (all 4 or us) believe that he is an archaeologist. I'll give him this; even in a snooze like this movie, where all the close-ups are held too long and every scene has the drama and pacing of a drivers' ed training film, he remains amiable and likable. God only knows how hard "Time Walker" would have been to watch if he hadn't at least given the movie his agreeable screen presence. People make fun of him, and he is a light-weight, but I've always liked the guy; I hope he made a million dollars and retired happily somewhere.
The rest of the cast comes off as somewhere between "unlikeable" and "despicable", (I have no idea what they are like in real life, so please don't take this as character assassination), so you actually sort of enjoy it (instead of being horrified) when the mummy kills them. Of course, that may have been the intention of the movie, but in that case, the director could at least have made the deaths a little more memorable. I saw better staged monster attacks in the infamous "Pod People" - the victim's death-scenes here are like watching hamsters getting squished with a giant clown hammer. And Belafonte-Harper actually has some on camera charisma, but the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with her - she seems to be in, but not of, the film. It's as if she wanted the exposure, but she couldn't bear to actually be involved in the plot.
The movie ends with Murphy's character teleporting off with the mummy to an unknown fate (good riddance) and the dean's assistant screaming into the camera as left-over space slime eats his hand. I think this was meant to leave us with a feeling of mystery and wonder and horror, but it left me with a profound feeling of relief that this bag of creaky dramatic devices was finally done. Not the worst or most incompetent movie I've ever seen, but definitely pretty useless.
Can I borrow a movie plot for my mummy?
hollywoodshack27 June 2021
The movie wants to be original with a story about a mummy that is really an alien from outer space, activated by radiation to terrorize a college campus. But in the second half it starts borrowing from films like The Blob, Shadow of the Cat, Psycho, and even E. T. The TV movie music on the soundtrack doesn't help much either or the "To Be Continued " message for a plot that never continued into another movie. All of the drive-in cheapie thrills are included in a plot by numbers style that causes too much emotional detachment.
Memorably terrible
msmith-5629 July 2005
I saw this over 20 years ago and still remember. It was the only movie I walked out of before the end. Horrific acting combined with a pathetic "King Tut as the mummy" plot and dialog from a poorly stocked vending machine, this stunk to high heaven.
The only actor that I recognized at the time was a TV actor from a rip-off of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His performance seemed forced, like somebody was pointing a shotgun off-camera with a sign that said "act or else." I strongly recommend this to anyone constructing a "worst movie" list.
In all fairness to the crew who put this together, I hold no ill will. It takes a lot to make a movie and get it into the theater. For that they deserve some credit. However, it still was a terrible movie.
The only actor that I recognized at the time was a TV actor from a rip-off of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His performance seemed forced, like somebody was pointing a shotgun off-camera with a sign that said "act or else." I strongly recommend this to anyone constructing a "worst movie" list.
In all fairness to the crew who put this together, I hold no ill will. It takes a lot to make a movie and get it into the theater. For that they deserve some credit. However, it still was a terrible movie.
A mummy that is an alien that has deadly fungus, but is not hostile, but it breaks bones
Aaron13756 April 2016
This film had something almost going for it as at times the movie held my interest even with the gang from Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffing it. It held my interest enough that I may actually want to see this film in an uncut state as this one not only got the MST3K edits, but also looks like another casualty of that video company that would get older movies and repackage them with either a new generic title screen (this one and Marooned in Space) or they would play an entirely different film during the opening credits (Pod People and Cave Dwellers). In the end, it is still probably pretty bad though as there were aspects of the film that were interesting and it had some good effects, but it had a horrible setting and completely idiotic plot points. This film stars Ben Murphy and the only other film that I have seen him in is another MST3K film, Riding With Death. He is actually somewhat decent in this one, I don't fault him for the horrid aspects of the film, that falls back squarely on the screenwriter who seemed to have absolutely no idea how to end the film so he ended it quickly and vaguely, kind of reminiscent of Monster-A-Go-Go. Or, perhaps, the blame for that ending falls on the company that repackaged the film and they cut it short? Who knows?
The story has people discovering a mummy and bringing it back to a college where the head of the university is strongly in favor of using it to get more money or something. The man who discovered it, wishes to take a slower approach and considering the guy who discovered it is Ben Murphy and the hero, you know he is right. Well, a strange fungus is found with the mummy and an idiot who finds a secret compartment of things that look like diamonds and steals them. He X-rays the mummy a couple of times and this awakens the fungus which is very deadly to the touch and the most interesting aspect of said film. It really does a wicked number on anyone who touches it! The mummy wants those gems and the head of the school's sidekick wants to frame Ben Murphy who thinks the mummy is an alien and his girl gets one of those diamonds as a gift and soon gets targeted by the mummy who doesn't mean her any harm, but he sure meant to harm that dude he threw into the wall!
This made for a pretty good episode of MST3K. I found it a bit absurd when Tom Servo suggested that this film was worse than many of the films they had viewed up to said point. This was not worse by a long shot, in fact, it had some things working for it. I thought the way the fungus got people was cool, but they ditched that aspect, probably because it was too costly an effect. There is also a lot of point of view monster going on here with green light. It is not a good film I guess, but to say it is worse than some of the crap they had riffed is absurd.
So not a good film, but it had some points in it that were interesting. I would like to see an unedited version of the film just to see if they showed more of the fungus as it may have been something they cut out because it was too graphic. I do think the college setting and some of the plot points kind of doomed this one. We did not need to have a kid trying to sell the stones nor did we really need to see the head of the college and his sidekick trying to frame Ben Murphy as both of these things were just filler. You had an entire campus to kill, and you go really light on the kills. I guess because they wanted that really cheesy ending that just kind of halts the film and brings it to a complete stop.
The story has people discovering a mummy and bringing it back to a college where the head of the university is strongly in favor of using it to get more money or something. The man who discovered it, wishes to take a slower approach and considering the guy who discovered it is Ben Murphy and the hero, you know he is right. Well, a strange fungus is found with the mummy and an idiot who finds a secret compartment of things that look like diamonds and steals them. He X-rays the mummy a couple of times and this awakens the fungus which is very deadly to the touch and the most interesting aspect of said film. It really does a wicked number on anyone who touches it! The mummy wants those gems and the head of the school's sidekick wants to frame Ben Murphy who thinks the mummy is an alien and his girl gets one of those diamonds as a gift and soon gets targeted by the mummy who doesn't mean her any harm, but he sure meant to harm that dude he threw into the wall!
This made for a pretty good episode of MST3K. I found it a bit absurd when Tom Servo suggested that this film was worse than many of the films they had viewed up to said point. This was not worse by a long shot, in fact, it had some things working for it. I thought the way the fungus got people was cool, but they ditched that aspect, probably because it was too costly an effect. There is also a lot of point of view monster going on here with green light. It is not a good film I guess, but to say it is worse than some of the crap they had riffed is absurd.
So not a good film, but it had some points in it that were interesting. I would like to see an unedited version of the film just to see if they showed more of the fungus as it may have been something they cut out because it was too graphic. I do think the college setting and some of the plot points kind of doomed this one. We did not need to have a kid trying to sell the stones nor did we really need to see the head of the college and his sidekick trying to frame Ben Murphy as both of these things were just filler. You had an entire campus to kill, and you go really light on the kills. I guess because they wanted that really cheesy ending that just kind of halts the film and brings it to a complete stop.
Crummy
Gafke16 January 2005
The year is 1982. A strange mummy is discovered in the tomb of King Tut, apparently having been overlooked by Howard Carter the first time around. When the bandage-wrapped dude arrives at the California Institute of the Sciences, it is up to Ben Murphy, his stoned looking girlfriend and a team of badly dressed losers to examine him. When a dorky jerk discovers a handful of crystals inside the sarcophagus, he decides to steal them for money. Unfortunately, the mummy wakes up and goes looking for his crystals, which have been spread all over campus in the form of bracelets and necklaces. Everyone the mummy touches is consumed by a killer green fungus and dies, if they're not killed outright by the cranky mummy. The mummy stumbles his way through boiler rooms, drunken frat parties, terrorizes a naked girl in the shower and another fully dressed one in a library. Turns out the mummy is an alien, and he needs those crystals to get back to his own planet.
What a lifeless, unenthusiastic mess this film is. Everyone looks half asleep and not particularly interested in the stupid film they were making. Horror enthusiasts might appreciate the presence of horror veteran James Karen and "Motel Hell" heroine Nina Axelrod is here too, playing the soggy, vapid love interest. Other than that, there is really no reason whatsoever to see this movie. It's boring, repetitive and ugly.
What a lifeless, unenthusiastic mess this film is. Everyone looks half asleep and not particularly interested in the stupid film they were making. Horror enthusiasts might appreciate the presence of horror veteran James Karen and "Motel Hell" heroine Nina Axelrod is here too, playing the soggy, vapid love interest. Other than that, there is really no reason whatsoever to see this movie. It's boring, repetitive and ugly.
Mummy horror on campus wipe-out.
MarshallStax17 December 1998
Sorry, but mummy's aren't scary. Especially badly-made ones that wander around with flashlights in their chests. This is one of those films where you wonder why you don't stop watching; you know it's not going to get any better. But, after you've invested the time to start watching it, well...who wants to let that go to waste. Here's a tip for you; if you get the idea you're watching a bad movie, you probably are. Get up and walk away. You only have so many minutes in your life; don't let movies like "Time Waster" devour any of them.
Being a Boring, Bad Film
wyrder4215 June 2004
This movie is also a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. This makes sense.
There are some IMDb users that have said this is a *good* movie. I try, but I fail to comprehend this. See, I agree that there are *some* movies that, although bad, could actually be sort of interesting to watch if you take away Joel and the bots.
But this film isn't one of them. Perhaps it's that I watch Doctor Who and these people don't. Even a really *bad* Doctor Who episode is better than this film.
Summary: This is a really, *really* bad movie. The worst aspects of this movie are: the acting, the manner in which they attempt to create suspense and tension (but only achieve boredom and apathy), and the incidental music.
Close after in "badness" are the special effects and the plot. To my knowledge, there are *no* really good aspects to this film...
Oh wait, I got one: the "TV's Frank Home Shopping Network" at the end of the Mystie episode wouldn't have been possible if it had not been inspired by the artifact in the movie.
There are some IMDb users that have said this is a *good* movie. I try, but I fail to comprehend this. See, I agree that there are *some* movies that, although bad, could actually be sort of interesting to watch if you take away Joel and the bots.
But this film isn't one of them. Perhaps it's that I watch Doctor Who and these people don't. Even a really *bad* Doctor Who episode is better than this film.
Summary: This is a really, *really* bad movie. The worst aspects of this movie are: the acting, the manner in which they attempt to create suspense and tension (but only achieve boredom and apathy), and the incidental music.
Close after in "badness" are the special effects and the plot. To my knowledge, there are *no* really good aspects to this film...
Oh wait, I got one: the "TV's Frank Home Shopping Network" at the end of the Mystie episode wouldn't have been possible if it had not been inspired by the artifact in the movie.
Beware of the crummy mummy
Woodyanders28 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Along with the dreary big budget bomb "The Awakening" and the enjoyably idiotic Italian splatter-fest "Dawn of the Mummy," this deliciously dreadful sci-fi/horror alien mummy abomination tried (and failed) to inject some much-needed juice into the all dried up mummy fright feature genre. Archeology professor Ben Murphy discovers the coffin of the mysterious Ankh-Venharis (that's "Noble Traveler" to you and me) in King Tutankhaman's Egyptian tomb. Murphy takes the mummified interstellar stiff back to the California Institute of Sciences. Naturally, the mummy comes back to life and shambles about the college campus, offing dipstick students with its lethal fungus touch as it tries to find the five glowing crystals it needs to go home.
Sluggishly paced, woodenly acted, poorly written, and flatly directed, "Time Walker" follows the basic pattern of many other then fashionable academia-set kill-the-collegians slash'n'gash movies. Boasting plenty of classically cruddy dialogue ("Listen you pervert -- if you don't get out of here I'll kick your bandaged butt!"), this wonderfully wretched stinker starts out pretty silly and becomes more increasingly ridiculous as it goes along, reaching an uproarious apex of all-out stultifying stupidity during its absurdly overwrought and sentimental conclusion. The cast reads like a veritable who's who of 80's exploitation cinema: "Motel Hell" 's Nina Axelrod, "Chained Heat" 's Greta Blackburn, Allene Simmons (she's one of the luscious ladies being eyeballed in the infamous shower sequence in "Porky's"), "Hell Night" 's Kevin Brophy as the dumb greedy X-ray technician who steals the mummy's hot rocks and accidentally revives it by over-amping the radiation; "Invasion U.S.A." 's Melissa Prophet (who does a brief topless scene and gets attacked by the mummy while taking a shower), and "Prom Night" 's Antoinette Bower. "Assault on Precinct 13" survivors Darwin Joston and Austin Stoker are reunited here as a diligent, no-nonsense police lieutenant and a wise pathologist, respectively. James "The Pathmark Man" Karen grumbles his way through the thankless role of the cranky college dean. Robert A. Burns (the titular psychotic white trash lunatic in the grimy, flesh-crawling "Confessions of A Serial Killer") was one of the set designers. Jason "Flesh Gordon" WIlliams not only co-wrote the story and co-produced the flick, but also has a small part as an overaged jerk frat boy. Prolific B-pic composer Richard Band supplies a surprisingly good creeped-out gloom-doom orchestral score. Robbie Goldberg's delectably cheesy cinematography goes overboard on the slipshod, would-be state-of-the-art fancy-pants visual flourishes: vertical wipes, shaky hand-held camera-work, green-tinted POV shots of the murderous mummy on the prowl, and some especially strenuous drawn-out slow motion. Bad to the point were it borders on the unbelievable, "Time Walker" serves as a potent reminder that sloppy, supremely ill-advised attempts at handy-dandy multi-genre combos can indeed be a surefire formula for superior shoddy schlock at its most entertainingly awful.
Sluggishly paced, woodenly acted, poorly written, and flatly directed, "Time Walker" follows the basic pattern of many other then fashionable academia-set kill-the-collegians slash'n'gash movies. Boasting plenty of classically cruddy dialogue ("Listen you pervert -- if you don't get out of here I'll kick your bandaged butt!"), this wonderfully wretched stinker starts out pretty silly and becomes more increasingly ridiculous as it goes along, reaching an uproarious apex of all-out stultifying stupidity during its absurdly overwrought and sentimental conclusion. The cast reads like a veritable who's who of 80's exploitation cinema: "Motel Hell" 's Nina Axelrod, "Chained Heat" 's Greta Blackburn, Allene Simmons (she's one of the luscious ladies being eyeballed in the infamous shower sequence in "Porky's"), "Hell Night" 's Kevin Brophy as the dumb greedy X-ray technician who steals the mummy's hot rocks and accidentally revives it by over-amping the radiation; "Invasion U.S.A." 's Melissa Prophet (who does a brief topless scene and gets attacked by the mummy while taking a shower), and "Prom Night" 's Antoinette Bower. "Assault on Precinct 13" survivors Darwin Joston and Austin Stoker are reunited here as a diligent, no-nonsense police lieutenant and a wise pathologist, respectively. James "The Pathmark Man" Karen grumbles his way through the thankless role of the cranky college dean. Robert A. Burns (the titular psychotic white trash lunatic in the grimy, flesh-crawling "Confessions of A Serial Killer") was one of the set designers. Jason "Flesh Gordon" WIlliams not only co-wrote the story and co-produced the flick, but also has a small part as an overaged jerk frat boy. Prolific B-pic composer Richard Band supplies a surprisingly good creeped-out gloom-doom orchestral score. Robbie Goldberg's delectably cheesy cinematography goes overboard on the slipshod, would-be state-of-the-art fancy-pants visual flourishes: vertical wipes, shaky hand-held camera-work, green-tinted POV shots of the murderous mummy on the prowl, and some especially strenuous drawn-out slow motion. Bad to the point were it borders on the unbelievable, "Time Walker" serves as a potent reminder that sloppy, supremely ill-advised attempts at handy-dandy multi-genre combos can indeed be a surefire formula for superior shoddy schlock at its most entertainingly awful.
I'll give the filmmakers points for originality.
udar553 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
A professor gets ready to unveil a mummy to the media, only to have it not be in the sarcophagus when they open it. It appears the mummy is on the move because a X-ray tech zapped the thing with too big a large a dose. Plus, said tech stole some transmitter crystals hidden in a secret compartment of the mummy's coffin and he wants those back because it turns out this ain't no mummy! It is actually an alien life form that landed in Egypt 3,000 years ago, spread its deadly mold to Tutankhamen and then promptly died. Also, they have a fun cast including Ben Murphy as the Prof, Darwin Joston as a cop, Austin Stoker as a doctor and James Karen as the sneaky head of the school. Apparently this movie got the MST3K treatment at some point but I actually enjoyed it as a stand alone b-movie. It ain't gonna change the world but I was never bored. Quite possibly the only film to feature a mummified alien peeping tom. Jason (FLESH GORDON) Williams co-produced, provided the story and has a small cameo.
B-movie that got redone as Being From Another Planet
junipermb5 August 2012
Warning: Spoilers
**CONTAINS SPOILERS**
In 1982 I saw this in the theater as the second movie in a double-feature. So, my total cost for this movie was $0. I overpaid.
The plot is terrible. NO one is going to believe that university professors will "mistakenly" find King Tut's tomb and a sarcophagus in it. From there, everything that happens makes even less sense. A Mummy goes after college students (one is topless, so I see how the T&A fans may have wanted it, but it is even too short to really justify that pretense) in search of crystals that appear to be light bulbs. THe mummy kills several (and after each kill, I found myself rooting for the mummy since fewer cast members meant we were getting closer to the end). The worst part, though,was the conclusion. After waiting for the movie to end, I was rewarded with a "To Be Continued." No, I'm not kidding. That really is how it ended in the theaters. Even the writer didn't know what to do with a "mummy gone wild." There is no sequel. The movie IS that bad.
However, somewhere along the lines, someone must have decided it could be fodder for a "made-for-TV" level movie, so it was renamed "Being From Another Planet" and an extra 15 minutes or so were added to wrap up the ending. As you might expect, it is very hastily added, and the quality is lacking. Should you want to watch this movie, I would recommend that version since it at least has an ending.
In 1992 (about 10 years after it released), Mystery Science Theater used it in one of their episodes and finally it got what it deserved - a funny soundtrack.
I did not see the MST 3K episode when it aired, and only learned of its treatment of this show after MST3K was off the air, so for two decades Time Walker was my all-time, worst ever movie. It had such a bad plot that it didn't even have an ending until one was slapped together to make it a TV movie. After watching the MST3K version, though, I was able to laugh through it.
If you like cheesy movies, watch this one with the robots on MST3K, or riff it yourself. Otherwise, save your time and avoid Time Walker.
In 1982 I saw this in the theater as the second movie in a double-feature. So, my total cost for this movie was $0. I overpaid.
The plot is terrible. NO one is going to believe that university professors will "mistakenly" find King Tut's tomb and a sarcophagus in it. From there, everything that happens makes even less sense. A Mummy goes after college students (one is topless, so I see how the T&A fans may have wanted it, but it is even too short to really justify that pretense) in search of crystals that appear to be light bulbs. THe mummy kills several (and after each kill, I found myself rooting for the mummy since fewer cast members meant we were getting closer to the end). The worst part, though,was the conclusion. After waiting for the movie to end, I was rewarded with a "To Be Continued." No, I'm not kidding. That really is how it ended in the theaters. Even the writer didn't know what to do with a "mummy gone wild." There is no sequel. The movie IS that bad.
However, somewhere along the lines, someone must have decided it could be fodder for a "made-for-TV" level movie, so it was renamed "Being From Another Planet" and an extra 15 minutes or so were added to wrap up the ending. As you might expect, it is very hastily added, and the quality is lacking. Should you want to watch this movie, I would recommend that version since it at least has an ending.
In 1992 (about 10 years after it released), Mystery Science Theater used it in one of their episodes and finally it got what it deserved - a funny soundtrack.
I did not see the MST 3K episode when it aired, and only learned of its treatment of this show after MST3K was off the air, so for two decades Time Walker was my all-time, worst ever movie. It had such a bad plot that it didn't even have an ending until one was slapped together to make it a TV movie. After watching the MST3K version, though, I was able to laugh through it.
If you like cheesy movies, watch this one with the robots on MST3K, or riff it yourself. Otherwise, save your time and avoid Time Walker.
See also
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