The Indian Tomb

The second part to Fritz Lang’s The Tiger of Eschanpur, The Indian Tomb (1959), is what can be called (in a good sense) more of the same—only a little more so. Since the two films were made together and meant to be seen in succession, it’s not surprising that they’re stylistically of a piece. The Indian Tomb, however, is slightly more fun in that it’s so very obviously exotic nonsense of the serial-film kind. The very fact that it is part two necessitates five or six minutes of “last time, as you remember” lead-in to the story proper—and in its favor, it doesn’t cheat, but it’s still amusingly in keeping with the tone of a movie that boasts lines like, “Please, leave me my goddess. She’s a good goddess.” (Considering that said goddess has just had a spider save the leads’ hash by spinning a web to prove to their pursuers that they couldn’t be in the cave in which they’re hiding, one might agree.) Other aspects of charming foolishness include a lovably hokey papier-mâché cobra and a dancing scene where our heroine wears a scanty outft that’s either a testament to the quality of German glue, or proof that there is no law of gravity. And there’s the valuable lesson that if subterranean lepers appear in part one, there will be leper mayhem before part two is over. Always remember that.