mosquitodragon’s review published on Letterboxd:
"Don't tell me you believe those ridiculous stories about evil spirits and witch doctors that turn themselves into giant alligators and all that rubbish?"
I can't deny it - there's something about these William Grefe films that just work for me. Yes, they are incredibly cheap, with some of the hokiest effects imaginable and some truly amateur acting. But I have really come to trust in Grefe's abilities to make something watchable out of almost nothing.
A hammock (area of raised dry land) in the Everglades is reputedly haunted by the spirit of an ancient Native American shaman who, if disturbed, can take on the form of animals and kill whoever trespasses on the land. It's a simple premise, sure, but it's also pretty novel. I don't know of too many movies about shapeshifting spirits.
It allows Grefe to make mix this haunted tale into an animal attack film as well. And as we should know from Mako: The Jaws of Death, Grefe can shoot a damn effective animal attack scene. In this film we get scenes of people getting attacked by snakes, sharks, alligators and even ducks! Only joking about the last one, but each of these are filmed using real animals (sometimes getting alarmingly close to the actor, at least in the case of the gator). What? A shark in fresh water, you cry? Well, yes, but Tartu can do anything! And despite presumably not having a shark at his disposal, the shark attack scene is pretty great too.
Yes, there are some laughable aspects (Tartu's final transformation into a... rather nondescript Native American warrior was a disappointment, especially considering how good his zombie make-up was), and a few obligatory scenes of bad actors walking through swampland, but I thought this film moved at a decent enough pace, and there's just something about the cheap scratched film stock that I find beautiful in a way that really is hard to describe. The Everglades location is used beautifully.
I dunno man, I just think even in comparison to C-grade schlock fare like HG Lewis and others, Grefe's films seem pretty strong. Really glad I picked up that Arrow box set now - and I thought maybe I was wasting my money. Not a chance!
"Tartu's prophecy was that only Nature could destroy him. How right he was."