Forgotten Film: Mongolian Death Worm, 2010

Forgotten Films: Mongolian Death Worm, (2010)

This is the 90th in my series of Forgotten Obscure or Neglected Films

Recently I came home from work and my wife proudly announced, “I was surfing the TV channels today and saw a film listed that sounds just like you, so I set it up on the DVR.” She was pleased. I looked at the title and saw Mongolian Death Worm and I had to smile. “You know me too well.” And she should. Our 33rd wedding anniversary is next month.

So the film came on, the DVR whirled and I captured the essence of what can only be called a bad film. It had so much going for it! Well, really, all it had was the title.

Adventurer and treasure hunter Daniel (Sean Patrick Flanery, a good old Texas boy best known for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) is searching for the lost tomb of Genghis Khan (isn’t everyone?). He has run afoul of the local Mongolian mob and finds himself without funds and with an old car that mostly runs. He meets Alicia (Victoria Pratt, from Mutant X TV series where she played Shalimar Fox), a Doctors without Borders volunteer who is traveling to a small village with drugs to help stop an epidemic. Unfortunately she wants to go the opposite direction from Daniel, but she has money which he takes and they begin their journey with a coworker of Alicia’s in tow. He is so obnoxious I blocked out his name but he matters little.

The truck breaks down and the Mongolian bandits capture the group but they manage to escape and in the process have their first meeting with the Mongolian Death Worms, which look like a low budget attempt to do another Tremors film. They arrive at the village and the worms attack again. The worms are, according to legend, the guardians of the great Kahn’s tomb.

They attempt to contact the US but there is weird radio interference. So they end up at a power plant which has been built in the desert but which has been suffering delays and disasters at a regular pace. The plant manager is trying to keep things going but the efficiency expert sent form the US is not impressed. The expert is taken prisoner, because, surprise, surprise, the plant has been built over Genghis Khan’s tomb and the manager and his flunky are planning on looting it.

Alicia and Daniel arrive at the plant and attempt to use the phone but are also captured. Suddenly everyone is in the basement, guns are waving, and Death Worms come out of the woodwork. Everyone except Daniel and Alicia dies and the plant is blown up along with the remains and treasure of the Khan of Khans.

I have seen many worse films. I had high hoped for this film, but they were not reached. It did keep me entertained for the two hour running time but I have no desire to see it again. If you catch it on SyFy (where it was originally shown as their original movie of the week) you know what you are getting. I should have watched Tremors instead.

Series organizer Todd Mason hosts more Tuesday Forgotten Film reviews at his own blog and posts a complete list of participating blogs.