Directed by
William Grefe.
The Tartu of the title refers to a foul-tempered Seminole sorcerer (Doug Hobart) who returns from the dead as a crusty ghoul to torment and destroy a group of young archaeology students who unwittingly violate his grave during field studies in the Everglades. Tartu assumes the shapes of a variety of local fauna to exact his revenge, including a venomous snake (with remarkable acrobatic qualities) and a ferocious alligator; he even takes the form (for reasons unknown) of a not-so-indigenous man-eating shark. Not before we witness the ultimate horror of Tartu camping it up in a pair of nylons (don't ask), the villain eventually falls victim to one of the swamp's many treacherous patches of quicksand. This drippy backyard nonsense made the late-night cable TV rounds before sinking into much-deserved oblivion. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide