A hacky pastiche of Indiana Jones, Lara Croft and a little of "The Librarian", with mediocre acting, a non-sensical script, and a shape-changing sphinx who is alternately mediocre CGI and laughable human. While not as truly vile as some of the SciFi channel offerings, there is little else to recommend this. You could find a worse way to waste two hours, but you would have to try. As usual, everywhere in the world (Greece, Iraq, etc.) look just like where the movie was shot, in this case Canada. The sets are either obviously something else (power plant standing in for secret underground base) or so minimal (burned out 50 gallon drums for Iraqi war zone, a few Styrofoam pillars for Greek ruins) as to be distractingly laughable. Everyone continues to shoot at the obviously bulletproof monster, and if you can't guess who the traitor is I hope your babysitter didn't ruin it for you.
25 Reviews
Bad bad bad
ctomvelu-128 September 2008
The delectable Dina Meyer and the normally competent Lochlyn Munro co-star in this turkey made for The Sci-Fi Channel, about archaeologists unleashing an unkillable monster from an Egyptian tomb. Meyer looks great in black leather and shooting two guns at a time a la Tomb Raider Lara Croft while Munro simply looks like an idiot in an Indiana Jones hat about two sizes too big for his head. The movie goes nowhere once the monster is unleashed, which happens about five minutes in. At times, the creature looks like a poor man's griffin; at other times, it morphs into a bad copy of Inhotep from the first two THE MUMMY movies. The dialog is from hunger, as is the acting. Other than tuning in to get a look at the beautiful Meyer, this one is best skipped.
Soul crushing
Leofwine_draca17 May 2015
An Egypt-themed B-movie from the Sci Fi Channel. I'm not sure that many people will be wowed by this set-up or idea and indeed the execution turns out to be just a poor as in many a film made by the channel. The storyline sees a couple of heroic characters teaming up to battle an ancient curse whereby a Sphinx is wreaking havoc in the modern world and killing all who stand before it.
Despite the Egypt theme and setting, this cheapo movie was made in Canada and boy does it show. None of the sets are remotely convincing, the CGI effects are awful, and nowhere is there an air of authenticity. Instead, the film happily copies and combines the characters from the INDIANA JONES and TOMB RAIDER franchises, to ill effect. Dina Meyer (STARSHIP TROOPERS) is the ageing female lead, saddled with an awful hairstyle and trying desperately to be Angelina Jolie (hint: she isn't). Lochlyn Munro is the chubby, goofy Indiana Jones wannabe (he even dresses the same) and frankly he's an embarrassment. RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX is thus barely watchable.
Despite the Egypt theme and setting, this cheapo movie was made in Canada and boy does it show. None of the sets are remotely convincing, the CGI effects are awful, and nowhere is there an air of authenticity. Instead, the film happily copies and combines the characters from the INDIANA JONES and TOMB RAIDER franchises, to ill effect. Dina Meyer (STARSHIP TROOPERS) is the ageing female lead, saddled with an awful hairstyle and trying desperately to be Angelina Jolie (hint: she isn't). Lochlyn Munro is the chubby, goofy Indiana Jones wannabe (he even dresses the same) and frankly he's an embarrassment. RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX is thus barely watchable.
Sci-Fi Saturday - where Hollywood writers go to die
slstrongarm27 September 2008
The Sci-Fi channel. Despite having some really good original TV series, I always think of the network first and foremost as the "Disaster/Monster B-movie network". Even its documentaries are blatantly science fiction. That may come as a shock to some people, but dude, you CAN'T find a crystal skull with a metal detector...
I only watched this movie because I was bored and I have a more than passing fascination with archaeology. I don't normally watch Sci-Fi Saturday.
Now, as a writer, I understand that ideas are a dime a dozen, but I also know that we've been out of ideas pretty much since we've had the ability to HAVE ideas. That said, I understand the similarities to The Librarian and Indiana Jones, but COME ON! Don't make the hero of this movie dress IDENTICALLY like Jones! That's just taking the similarity too far!
I applaud the idea of a female hero, but don't make her so gung-ho about guns that she admits they're her "security blanket" and continues using them after realizing time and time again the hard way that the monster's completely bulletproof.
I can also understand the need to draw in the young adult demographic, but having the tweenaged girl be a complete genius and outthink the adults in almost every scene smacks of badly written Mary Sue fanfiction, especially if the concerned father seriously makes such a stupid decision as to take the kid into the heart of the war in Iraq(wearing bright pink no less), let alone repeatedly exposing the kid to an invulnerable monster when there's a perfectly good hidden sanctuary where she'd be safe. There's a reason why we have satphones, people.
As for the writing, the movie was so completely predictable, it's hard to come up with a suitable adjective to describe it.
I only watched this movie because I was bored and I have a more than passing fascination with archaeology. I don't normally watch Sci-Fi Saturday.
Now, as a writer, I understand that ideas are a dime a dozen, but I also know that we've been out of ideas pretty much since we've had the ability to HAVE ideas. That said, I understand the similarities to The Librarian and Indiana Jones, but COME ON! Don't make the hero of this movie dress IDENTICALLY like Jones! That's just taking the similarity too far!
I applaud the idea of a female hero, but don't make her so gung-ho about guns that she admits they're her "security blanket" and continues using them after realizing time and time again the hard way that the monster's completely bulletproof.
I can also understand the need to draw in the young adult demographic, but having the tweenaged girl be a complete genius and outthink the adults in almost every scene smacks of badly written Mary Sue fanfiction, especially if the concerned father seriously makes such a stupid decision as to take the kid into the heart of the war in Iraq(wearing bright pink no less), let alone repeatedly exposing the kid to an invulnerable monster when there's a perfectly good hidden sanctuary where she'd be safe. There's a reason why we have satphones, people.
As for the writing, the movie was so completely predictable, it's hard to come up with a suitable adjective to describe it.
Typical Sci-fi Channel crap.
JaredCSM28 September 2008
No surprise - about what you would expect from a third rate network. The budget was probably whatever the limit on the producer's credit card was. All of the typical clichés for a poorly written / directed / acted project that looks like it was done by a bunch of film students over a weekend in Vancouver. (Yeah, we noticed that Egypt, Greece, and Iraq all look a lot like British Columbia in the fall, cough, cough)
The only real surprise is that someone with the talent of Dina Meyer would agree to participate in this kind of garbage. Yeah she looked great, but come on, put any physically fit 40 year old actress in an outfit inspired by Laura Croft and they will too. Need the work that badly eh - what a shame.
A big waste of time and pretty sad considering how many other potentially decent projects didn't get bankrolled so this waste of film could.
The only real surprise is that someone with the talent of Dina Meyer would agree to participate in this kind of garbage. Yeah she looked great, but come on, put any physically fit 40 year old actress in an outfit inspired by Laura Croft and they will too. Need the work that badly eh - what a shame.
A big waste of time and pretty sad considering how many other potentially decent projects didn't get bankrolled so this waste of film could.
Pull out a picture book sometime.
Lunaroseice31 July 2010
I couldn't take this movie seriously from very early on in the movie. The CGI department, or whomever was giving them instructions, obviously didn't know what a sphinx looks like and decided to go with a strange looking griffin instead. Even I could tell the difference between the two creatures while I was still in grade school.
The acting was fairly poor. The make-up department should never be hired by anyone ever again. The bald guy looks like his head was shaved the day they stared filming and make-up never even tried to blend the skin tone.
The script was pathetic. I've seen some bad stuff on SciFi and this is one of the worst. The male lead just comes off as corny while the female lead is normally a much better actress. The little girl suffers from the Wesley Crusher syndrome. People don't like this so why do they keep using it as a plot device I will never understand.
The acting was fairly poor. The make-up department should never be hired by anyone ever again. The bald guy looks like his head was shaved the day they stared filming and make-up never even tried to blend the skin tone.
The script was pathetic. I've seen some bad stuff on SciFi and this is one of the worst. The male lead just comes off as corny while the female lead is normally a much better actress. The little girl suffers from the Wesley Crusher syndrome. People don't like this so why do they keep using it as a plot device I will never understand.
Poor and unconvincing *1/2 out of *****
WelshFilmCraze20 December 2009
Riddles of the Sphinx (2008) which I saw on the UK Sci-Fi Channel Today out of boredom more than anything, is clearly a homage (Rip-off) of Indiana Jones, Right down to the Main Character's job as a College Professor and his choice of clothes complete with Indiana Jones style Hat..
The biggest problems with this is the dire acting and totally unconvincing performance by the lead actor
The budget is VERY low as most of the 'action' in filmed in front of not-very anonymous Backscreen...as The Filming ALL took place in Canada and There are only 4 characters in the entire Film...So the 'Double Agent' is obvious from the get go...
I'm a big fan of these types of Adventures, but this badly needed more money spent...and as a result my rating is low.
*1/2 out of *****
The biggest problems with this is the dire acting and totally unconvincing performance by the lead actor
The budget is VERY low as most of the 'action' in filmed in front of not-very anonymous Backscreen...as The Filming ALL took place in Canada and There are only 4 characters in the entire Film...So the 'Double Agent' is obvious from the get go...
I'm a big fan of these types of Adventures, but this badly needed more money spent...and as a result my rating is low.
*1/2 out of *****
Dino Meyer is decent, the rest of the movie is bad
TheLittleSongbird10 June 2012
Watching Riddles of the Sphinx with little else to do, I was anticipating little and got almost nothing to write home about. Dino Meyer is a sexy and decently charismatic lead. However when it comes to redeeming qualities that's where Riddles of the Sphinx ends. The sets look minimal and nothing to done to make them interesting, and the costumes were reminiscent of the actors having had a fantasy-adventure movie fancy-dress party(or even about to have one). The editing is choppy and the effects particularly with the monster of the title are hopelessly cheap in quality. The script is aimless and filled with unfunny lines that were no doubt meant to be witty, and the story is structurally thin, unoriginal(if it was trying to pay homage to Indiana Jones it took the homage to extreme levels that it feels like a rip-off instead) and has no excitement whatsoever. The characters are badly-written clichés(SyFy clichés in alternative to genre clichés) with none of them likable or developed enough. I was especially irritated by the girl who seems to be cleverest of the bunch, I've seen that plot-device before and something about it always annoys me. The rest of the acting apart from Meyer suffers from the writing and characters, Lochlyn Munro is an especially unconvincing hero. Overall, with the exception of Meyer Riddles of the Sphinx just didn't engage. 2/10 Bethany Cox
INDIANA TOMB RAIDER
stevesky-1508724 February 2022
Take a guy dressed as Indiana Jones, a woman dressed up to look like Lara Croft, stick in a kid and wrap it up with some home made computer effects and you have this movie. Honestly, you can hear the lack of imagination that was shown in the pre-production meetings screaming at you through the screen. I mean why would you so blatantly copy two of cinemas iconic characters like this? It's bound to effect the entire film project. And I say 'film' very loosely as it looks like it was shot on tape. The sets aren't too bad but the green screens don't do the locations any favours. So what about the plot? Well this is one of these where you couldn't care less. The characters are writen so one dimesionaly and lines delivered so blandly you can't invest in them. It's terribly over written and the shots way too long, but the worst part is the choice of lead male actor. He is beyond bad. Even for tv. I can only assume he was chosen because hit fit the Indy jacket. It's worth watching to knock one off over Lara. She wears her outfit well. But it's all just badly put together rush at the end of the day. Oh and there's some bald guy hanging around them for some reason... like a Star Trek security guard... I think you know why 😊 One for 6 year olds to keep them busy while you do your tax returns.
"I would have expected something a little more flashy"
hwg1957-102-26570414 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Am not sure I understood anything that went on in this dire movie. The main cast say a lot of dialogue but nothing made sense. The ending was particularly puzzling. The main characters consist of not a Lara Croft called Jessica, not an Indiana Jones called Robert, an obvious duplicitous agent called Ryder and a very annoying smug teenager called Karen. They go around the world on a quest for.. well who knows?.. and it's all quite boring. The actors don't make any impression though they can't be blamed I suppose for the painfully routine script. The CGI sphinx wasn't too bad looking in some shots but apart from that there was no visual appeal, particularly as the exotic locations were obviously filmed in Canada. A low budget movie is not automatically a bad movie but this one was definitely so.
A Unique Take on History
nevadaluke28 September 2008
Factual concerns have little to do with this melodramatic fantasy. Forget the notion that you will learn anything about the Great Sphinx of Giza, mythology, or, for that matter, cogent story design in the art of cinema.
But you may enjoy seeing a strong cast working on green screen sets, trusting that the budget will be there to put them in a realistic and menacing setting. That trust was seriously misplaced.
I give it six stars because it crosses into the dreaded -- or prized -- "Plan 9" territory. Some will say this movie is a mess and a disaster. Others will say it's so bad it's actually fun to watch.
Filmmakers in this genre walk a fine line when they try to depict a fantastic scenario without losing the audience's suspension of disbelief. Here, the disbelief is unsuspended fairly early in Act One when the protagonist blows up his own house in order to kill a deadly mythical creature pursuing him. I was wishing I could be there when he gets around to explaining to the insurance adjusters what had happened.
The hero, Robert, is a high school teacher and language expert who transforms into an Indiana Jones clone as he and his allies jet from one ancient history site to another in search of clues to -- what else? -- the key to save humanity from a Biblical plague. Wait. Make that a pre-Biblical plague.
He does so with the help of Karen, his plucky teenage daughter, who has some kind of super-analytical skills that aren't really explained, and Jessica, a plucky operative of a super-secret paramilitary organization that labors outside of international law but somehow has the support of academics worldwide and seems to be intent on fighting the forces of evil. The fact that Jessica is a beautiful brunette who took her fashion sense from Catwoman gives this movie at least one leg up on similar Sci-Fi Channel fare.
My ultimate wish was that this was made as a comedy. That certainly must have been the conclusion of the closed-caption editors, who obviously had great fun. Several times every scene, when the pulsating soundtrack was turned up to explain motivation, the CC line was "music" -- flashing every 10 seconds. When Robert used his mystical amulet to try to break through an ancient Plexiglas barrier to save Jessica, the caption was "Bash, bash..." Indeed, this could be taken as a comedy until the last scene, when the climax unfolds in context of Ultimate Sacrifice. Certainly not the stuff of comedy.
This then, is the Riddle of the Riddles of the Sphinx. Is this a Disaster for the Ages or a misbegotten comedy of errant intent?
You be the judge.
But you may enjoy seeing a strong cast working on green screen sets, trusting that the budget will be there to put them in a realistic and menacing setting. That trust was seriously misplaced.
I give it six stars because it crosses into the dreaded -- or prized -- "Plan 9" territory. Some will say this movie is a mess and a disaster. Others will say it's so bad it's actually fun to watch.
Filmmakers in this genre walk a fine line when they try to depict a fantastic scenario without losing the audience's suspension of disbelief. Here, the disbelief is unsuspended fairly early in Act One when the protagonist blows up his own house in order to kill a deadly mythical creature pursuing him. I was wishing I could be there when he gets around to explaining to the insurance adjusters what had happened.
The hero, Robert, is a high school teacher and language expert who transforms into an Indiana Jones clone as he and his allies jet from one ancient history site to another in search of clues to -- what else? -- the key to save humanity from a Biblical plague. Wait. Make that a pre-Biblical plague.
He does so with the help of Karen, his plucky teenage daughter, who has some kind of super-analytical skills that aren't really explained, and Jessica, a plucky operative of a super-secret paramilitary organization that labors outside of international law but somehow has the support of academics worldwide and seems to be intent on fighting the forces of evil. The fact that Jessica is a beautiful brunette who took her fashion sense from Catwoman gives this movie at least one leg up on similar Sci-Fi Channel fare.
My ultimate wish was that this was made as a comedy. That certainly must have been the conclusion of the closed-caption editors, who obviously had great fun. Several times every scene, when the pulsating soundtrack was turned up to explain motivation, the CC line was "music" -- flashing every 10 seconds. When Robert used his mystical amulet to try to break through an ancient Plexiglas barrier to save Jessica, the caption was "Bash, bash..." Indeed, this could be taken as a comedy until the last scene, when the climax unfolds in context of Ultimate Sacrifice. Certainly not the stuff of comedy.
This then, is the Riddle of the Riddles of the Sphinx. Is this a Disaster for the Ages or a misbegotten comedy of errant intent?
You be the judge.
Simply awful
Wizard-81 June 2013
The movies that are made for the SyFy network are typically very bad, and usually a lot worse if they happen to be made by Canadian filmmakers. "Riddles of the Sphinx" is a Canadian production, and it's awful in almost every department you can think of. The story doesn't make much sense, for one thing, with the screenplay depending on the regular action sequences to grab the audience's attention. The direction is awful - there are several sequences where key linking footage is missing, leading to a number of "Huh?" moments. The movie is extremely cheap as well, trying to pass off the British Columbian landscape as - get this - Iraq and later Egypt! The only saving grace of the production is the CGI creature, which doesn't look that bad for what was a pitifully low budget. Were these filmmakers even TRYING to make a decent time waster?
Once again why SciFi Channel Why??
meldaviszoo31 May 2009
Is there any way you could just FIRE your writers, directors and casting director? They need to be told they don't have any business being in this business. The actors didn't even seem convincing, so either this is because they are just that bad OR the director doesn't know how to help anything. The beast didn't look good in the least bit either. I really don't understand the continual monies filling the coffers to waste film on these "productions." There are better stories, better heroes and better music.
Terrible drudge. Waste of time is what my 13 yr old boy commented to me about this "movie" I am using that term loosely here. Someone needs to seriously get someone new to head up the programming for SciFi, someone with the ability to tell someone no when they hear a bad idea. I've seen B-rated movies that are better than this, B-rated movies that SciFi channel PLAYS on it's channel. Why don't they take some pointers even from those movies and you know... strive for that?
Terrible drudge. Waste of time is what my 13 yr old boy commented to me about this "movie" I am using that term loosely here. Someone needs to seriously get someone new to head up the programming for SciFi, someone with the ability to tell someone no when they hear a bad idea. I've seen B-rated movies that are better than this, B-rated movies that SciFi channel PLAYS on it's channel. Why don't they take some pointers even from those movies and you know... strive for that?
Bad but entertaining
Pencho154 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I ended up watching this Canadian TV movie for the sole reason that I saw that Lochlyn Munro was the lead actor, while he is not really known, I saw him when he was young as part of the cast of the short lived Hawkeye TV series, and I was pinched by curiosity about what he was doing ten years after that. I had no expectations about the quality of the film, and it turned out to be as bad as I was expecting, despite this I kind of enjoyed it. The plot is so simple, a passage to another dimension is opened and this act sets free a sphinx which, being responsible of protecting the passage, goes on a rampage to kill those responsible. The sphinx is not the only things that gets free, there's also an ancient curse that will destroy the human race, our only hope is a group made by a high school history teacher (Munro), his teenage daughter, a femme fatale which is also his ex-girlfriend and the leader of a government branch dealing with the supernatural. To stop the sphinx they will have to solve a number of riddles and collect a series of mystical stones hidden around the world.
I don't think no one watching this films thinks they are going to see something worth of remembering, but if someone does the very first scene, when the sphinx goes wild killing a number of people, should be enough to make clear the quality of the film. Bad acting and bad fx, the monster created with computer animation is terribly unrealistic and could be considered as a digital equivalent to the puppets seen in the worst sci-fi B movies. Sum to this that the two main characters are obvious copies of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, that the script is totally predictable and with every possible common place included: a traitor in the group, a very smart girl, a reluctant hero. I could also talk about the unrealistic settings and the absurd presence in every encounter with the monster of a couple of extras added to the group with the sole purpose of giving the sphinx someone to kill.
But despite all the bad things told, I must say the film is bad, but not terrible, and it didn't bore me at any moment. If you know what you are up to then you can also have a good time watching it, and I guess that's what the creators of the film had in mind, it is a bad film, but it is entertaining. If you are in a good mood and with the correct company, then you can have fun checking the inconsistencies of the plot, or some laughable stuff like anti-gravity guns; the genius teenager, with the ability to calculate with mathematical precision the exact second in which a ricocheting bullet will stop; or the sphinx transformation into a human, a moment in which it is played by a wrestler that made me remember Tor Johnson, an actor appearing in Ed Wood films.
To finish I must say that the way in which the monster is finally stopped does have a little bit of originality. To sum everything up this is a predictable adventure lacking in both economical and artistic resources, but if you don't take it seriously you may enjoy it. Watching a bad film from time to time is good, as I think it helps you put the good stuff in the right perspective. And if you are watching something bad, then its better if its something like this which despite its shortcomings is good fun.
I don't think no one watching this films thinks they are going to see something worth of remembering, but if someone does the very first scene, when the sphinx goes wild killing a number of people, should be enough to make clear the quality of the film. Bad acting and bad fx, the monster created with computer animation is terribly unrealistic and could be considered as a digital equivalent to the puppets seen in the worst sci-fi B movies. Sum to this that the two main characters are obvious copies of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, that the script is totally predictable and with every possible common place included: a traitor in the group, a very smart girl, a reluctant hero. I could also talk about the unrealistic settings and the absurd presence in every encounter with the monster of a couple of extras added to the group with the sole purpose of giving the sphinx someone to kill.
But despite all the bad things told, I must say the film is bad, but not terrible, and it didn't bore me at any moment. If you know what you are up to then you can also have a good time watching it, and I guess that's what the creators of the film had in mind, it is a bad film, but it is entertaining. If you are in a good mood and with the correct company, then you can have fun checking the inconsistencies of the plot, or some laughable stuff like anti-gravity guns; the genius teenager, with the ability to calculate with mathematical precision the exact second in which a ricocheting bullet will stop; or the sphinx transformation into a human, a moment in which it is played by a wrestler that made me remember Tor Johnson, an actor appearing in Ed Wood films.
To finish I must say that the way in which the monster is finally stopped does have a little bit of originality. To sum everything up this is a predictable adventure lacking in both economical and artistic resources, but if you don't take it seriously you may enjoy it. Watching a bad film from time to time is good, as I think it helps you put the good stuff in the right perspective. And if you are watching something bad, then its better if its something like this which despite its shortcomings is good fun.
Waste of time
YetTheSoulObeys31 May 2013
Terrible film. Going in I knew it was going to be classic low-budget quality, but as someone who loves mythology and history I decided to give it a go. However it was without question a waste of time; terrible acting, writing, quality, and editing, the characters that should have been brilliant were about as quick as children, and tried to blatantly rip off Lara Croft and Indiana Jones, it was incredibly predictable, and I don't think any research was done (see the goofs section). I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Don't waste your time on this like I did, I wish I had read the reviews here first because they said it all: Waste of time. :/
Don't waste your time on this like I did, I wish I had read the reviews here first because they said it all: Waste of time. :/
Seasonal discrepancies
ghosthauntsdotcom3 August 2009
Not the worst movie ever, but not even mediocre. Set at beginning of summer break, yet the season is quite obviously fall. Although I've seen both leads in other films that were fairly good, this one really leaves good effects and acting behind. The story is old, the filming is discount and the graphics moderate at best. Once finished, it may be that you feel dismay at never getting those two hours back. Life's too short for films of this caliber, so go throw a ball with your kid or take your spouse to dinner. Many activities would be less a waste of time. The music gets at least a four out of ten. All in all, good movie to throw on in the background while you're cleaning out your laptop files.
By any other name still smells as bad !
FountainPen9 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This was in a large batch of DVDs I bought on eBay at a bargain-basement price. Its title was "Curse of the Pharaoh", but under whatever name it might be released, it will always be a real STINKER.
Low budget, yes. Lousy acting, yes. Flimsy story, yes. Surprisingly, however, it was not, unlike other stinky-pooh movies, shot is almost total darkness, so kudos to the producers on this point, for sure!
I suppose that for someone who is an over-the-top obsessive, crazed lover of anything Egyptian and curse-like, this flick may have some appeal, but anyone who is in the slightest way discerning, will be turned off within the first few minutes, by the appearance of a poor CG effort at a scary monster (a kind of pudgy, flying bear), and the silly pretty, smirking gal with twin big automatic pistols, banging away at it, while another character waves his arms frantically, runs around and yells appropriately. Oh dear, dear me. Laughable, really. What a start!
Not really a contender as a film for grown-ups, but a fairly good lesson in how NOT to make a movie. I give it a 2 because it is not shot in darkness, is in focus, and the music is not intrusive.
Low budget, yes. Lousy acting, yes. Flimsy story, yes. Surprisingly, however, it was not, unlike other stinky-pooh movies, shot is almost total darkness, so kudos to the producers on this point, for sure!
I suppose that for someone who is an over-the-top obsessive, crazed lover of anything Egyptian and curse-like, this flick may have some appeal, but anyone who is in the slightest way discerning, will be turned off within the first few minutes, by the appearance of a poor CG effort at a scary monster (a kind of pudgy, flying bear), and the silly pretty, smirking gal with twin big automatic pistols, banging away at it, while another character waves his arms frantically, runs around and yells appropriately. Oh dear, dear me. Laughable, really. What a start!
Not really a contender as a film for grown-ups, but a fairly good lesson in how NOT to make a movie. I give it a 2 because it is not shot in darkness, is in focus, and the music is not intrusive.
Quite fun - making (almost) the most of zero budget
freydis-e16 June 2021
I don't understand the very negative reviews. OK, it's not great in any department, but if you have a zero budget and set out to make an entertaining action flick, you could do a lot worse. The nice thing is, the lead man isn't an action hero but a 'thinker' (and I thought pretty well played) supported by an action-woman and his genius teen daughter who seems to work through every problem on a hand-held game console.
Generally OK plot-wise, though there's nothing original, but two things did annoy me. Who else are we supposed to think might be the traitor? And why, at the climax, does the 'thinker' suddenly go off on his own, leaving the women behind, given one is much tougher than him and the other much smarter? More to the point, why would they ever let him?
Generally OK plot-wise, though there's nothing original, but two things did annoy me. Who else are we supposed to think might be the traitor? And why, at the climax, does the 'thinker' suddenly go off on his own, leaving the women behind, given one is much tougher than him and the other much smarter? More to the point, why would they ever let him?
Funny Bad
darochaabreupaulo3 September 2023
So bad it becomes entertaining. The CGI is some of the worst I have ever seen in a movie and the storyline itself is also not exactly strong. The sets are so horrendous there is zero immersion throughout the entire movie. I am only giving it four stars because there is something entertaining about watching something this terrible. The characters all feel very generic, the one girl is clearly meant to be a cheap tomb raider knock off while the guy is supposed to be Indiana Jones or something like that. The only reason one would watch this movie is because they are extremely bored and have nothing better to do. Not recommended.
Life is too short!!
mfc9118 September 2018
Utter drivel of the highest order!! Avoid at all costs!
Do yourself a huge, huge favour. Go and clean the bathroom, paint the shed, Hoover the greenhouse.
Do absolutely anything but do not waste your life watching this insult to anyone that has a brain cell!
GUFF!
Curse of the Sphinx is an ok TV movie rip off of Indiana Jones and nothing more
daniel-mannouch9 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
What expectations does one go in with when watching a 2008 TV Movie ripping off The Mummy? If their answer is anything but predictable, normie entertainment, then i'd suggest they recheck their priorities. Curse of Sphinx is not: original, spectacular or all that well acted. It is not also however: poorly paced, atrociously acted, or technically inept. This film is cheap, it does lack charm, but it gets the job done. I hate playing devil's advocate, especially when a film doesn't really deserve it, but this had a degree of competence in both it's direction and writing that kept me engaged, for the most part.
Like I was saying about the acting, everyone is playing a type here, some more obvious than most, but they were all pretty decent. Nothing else I can say. The CGI was Asylum level, but it was used better than the majority of their productions, wisely switching their big Griffin thing into a slaphead gym bunny, so their budget would not be exposed for half the running time.
There is really no easy way to describe better than average, with occasional dips into mediocrity, but that's what we get with Curse of the Sphinx. Undemanding, escapist fare that is cheap thrills for cheap shills. If you like that kind of thing, then go with God and buy this perfectly serviceable Indiana Jones rip off.
Like I was saying about the acting, everyone is playing a type here, some more obvious than most, but they were all pretty decent. Nothing else I can say. The CGI was Asylum level, but it was used better than the majority of their productions, wisely switching their big Griffin thing into a slaphead gym bunny, so their budget would not be exposed for half the running time.
There is really no easy way to describe better than average, with occasional dips into mediocrity, but that's what we get with Curse of the Sphinx. Undemanding, escapist fare that is cheap thrills for cheap shills. If you like that kind of thing, then go with God and buy this perfectly serviceable Indiana Jones rip off.
still haven't seen part of it
leader-161 October 2008
When i saw the preview for this last Saturday, i thought it was going to be a stupid mummy horror film. What i got was a future Indiana Jones story.
Acting was alright for this, music was cool. I find it funny that he was dressed up like Indiana Jones, when there are supposedly in Greece, which is was probably just shot in a wooded area in Indiana or Canada, he was acting like Indy. That probably was the aim for this movie, and this is a rare treat, for those who like horror and comedy rolled into one. This has the potential of a Indiana Jones movie, too much actually, solving seven riddles to get rid of some transforming bird, (actually a gryphon most probably, it looked like one).
The jokes kinda wore off, not real funny, it sounded like he was trying to be funny.
OK movie i guess, i still have to see the other half of it before i make up my mind.
Acting was alright for this, music was cool. I find it funny that he was dressed up like Indiana Jones, when there are supposedly in Greece, which is was probably just shot in a wooded area in Indiana or Canada, he was acting like Indy. That probably was the aim for this movie, and this is a rare treat, for those who like horror and comedy rolled into one. This has the potential of a Indiana Jones movie, too much actually, solving seven riddles to get rid of some transforming bird, (actually a gryphon most probably, it looked like one).
The jokes kinda wore off, not real funny, it sounded like he was trying to be funny.
OK movie i guess, i still have to see the other half of it before i make up my mind.
Don't bother
Stevieboy6663 December 2018
I knew from the outset that chances are this was going to be bad. And it most certainly was. Not in a so bad it's good way either, just so bad that it's painful. The story is a confusing mess, its boring, the effects are terrible, as are the attempts at recreating locations in Greece, Egypt and Iraq. The ONLY redeemed thing is Dina Meyer, who looks pretty hot throughout.
Terrible
Hayden-860556 June 2020
Rubbish acting, poor cgi and a bad storyline is what awaits you if you choose to watch this film. The Villain looks like a WWE wrestler and is more laughable than anything else, the fact that some of the sets are massive means this must have had a decent budget as well which makes it all the more depressing.
1/10: Horrendous, one of my least favourite films ever
1/10: Horrendous, one of my least favourite films ever
Tomb Riddler
frukuk12 February 2022
Just about bearable as something to have playing in the background, but not worth paying much attention to.
Dina Meyer (as Jessica) and a young Emily Tennant (as Karen, daughter of Robert) give decent performances, but Lochlyn Munro (as Robert) delivers his lines very unconvincingly.
The story is far from gripping and it never feels like "our heroes" are in any real danger. They seem to relatively easily get out of any tight(ish) scrapes. And the sphinx is at times impregnable and at other times easily (temporarily) defeated.
Dina Meyer (as Jessica) and a young Emily Tennant (as Karen, daughter of Robert) give decent performances, but Lochlyn Munro (as Robert) delivers his lines very unconvincingly.
The story is far from gripping and it never feels like "our heroes" are in any real danger. They seem to relatively easily get out of any tight(ish) scrapes. And the sphinx is at times impregnable and at other times easily (temporarily) defeated.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
