Mongolian Death Worm (2010)

Directed by: Steven R. Monroe | 86 minutes | horror, adventure, science fiction | Actors: Sean Patrick Flanery, Victoria Pratt, George Cheung, Drew Waters, Matthew Tompkins, Nate Rubin, Jon Mack, Tiger Sheu, Ryan Manalansan, Cheryl Chin, Billy Blair, Jay Serra, Fouatchao Moua, Lieu Tran, Andrew Stevens

A very distinct, largely speculative and somewhat obscure branch of modern biology is so-called cryptozoology. Practitioners of this (pseudo)science are mainly concerned with the search for creatures whose existence is at least controversial, but usually even very improbable. For example, think of creatures known only from stories, myths, legends or eyewitness accounts, such as the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot or the Yeti. The Mongolian death worm (allghoi khorkhoi) is without a doubt one of the strangest creatures in the cryptozoological lexicon. In local legends, the animal is usually described as a blood-red worm about three feet long that closely resembles a cow’s gut. Many Mongolians attribute special properties to the animal: the death worms could kill people from a great distance and have an extremely potent, yellow-colored venom.

However, scientific evidence that would make the existence of the worms plausible is still lacking. Many biologists therefore think that the animals in question may rather be snakes or large legless lizards, especially since the Mongolian death worms mainly inhabit the dry and sandy biotopes that are also suitable for the above-mentioned reptiles. It goes without saying that bloodthirsty predatory worms and other cryptozoological scum are welcome extras for the dubious monster films that regularly see the light of day, certainly in the United States. Dangerous giant worms, hungry for human flesh, have already made the sandy planet Arrakis (‘Dune’) and the American town of Perfection (‘Tremors’) unsafe. In ‘Mongolian Death Worm’, the mythical Mongolian critters come to wreak havoc after being awakened by the activities of an American firm that comes to drill for oil in worm territory. At the same time, a second storyline unfolds, in which two American doctors have to reach a village where a life-threatening epidemic has broken out. After a breakdown on the road, however, the traveling doctors are dependent on the adventurer and treasure hunter Daniel, a rather self-centered gentleman who is looking for the lost treasure of Genghis Khan and who is also on the heels of a couple of dangerous and very unpleasant creditors. . It should come as no surprise that ‘Mongolian Death Worm’ isn’t exactly movie-price material.

But even the most devoted fans of bad monster films will find this piece of work only moderately appealing. This has partly to do with a bit of narrative ambivalence. The main part of the film is formed by action scenes in which the worms only appear sporadically as a complicating factor. A pity, because anyone who expects a real monster movie with man-eating worms in the lead role will come home a bit of a cold fair. In addition, the giant worms don’t look too convincing most of the time and they certainly won’t make many viewers stand up for fear. Only in the somewhat dark corridors of the oil factory do the computer-generated creatures sometimes appear reasonably and seriously threatening. Plus, unlike many other movie monsters, the whimsical creepers are pretty easy to take out with firearms. Remarkably enough, after watching ‘Mongolian Death Worm’ you also get the impression that Mongolia is richly dotted with lush forests, small-scale cultural landscapes and juicy, green meadows. In reality, on the other hand, the country consists mainly of barren grassy steppes, desert and impressive, rugged mountain landscapes. Also bizarre is that the local Mongolian policeman walks around in an American-looking sheriff uniform and drives around in a car that very nicely says ‘police’ in English. Those are details that even in a reasonably budget-free B-movie could have been paid more attention to. Also in terms of acting it is all pretty meager and it is a small mystery what a once promising acting talent like Sean Patrick Flanery is looking for in a production like ‘Mongolian Death Worm’. ‘Mongolian Death Worm’ is certainly not a film for gourmets. A viewing is only recommended if you have nothing useful to do or feel like an hour and a half of unpretentious film nonsense.