So much average

A Major Disappointment

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

A group of friends receive word from a pal who has found gold in an old mind shaft nearby an ancient abandoned western town of Suttersville. Despite warnings by the local sheriff, Murphy(John Phillip Law), Old Man Prichard(Richard Lynch)a bedraggled hick who swindles tourists with supposed collectible Wanted posters, and kooky superstitious Aunt Nelly(Karen Black)to stay out of the mine due to it's notorious legend(..that an evil coal miner who sold his soul to devil and murdered a priest's(Jeff Conaway)daughter will return from the dead to kill those who remove the gold from his shaft), these people only see the green, not the blood red which could potentially ooze from their slain bodies. Finding the gold of Jeremiah Stone intact, they line their pockets and carrying cases, prepared for the bright futures that supposedly lie ahead. But, when you do not heed the warnings of those you consider backwoods loons, the obvious result will be gruesome death. Jeremiah Stone, as we see, is lying merely a skeleton near an alter containing skulls lined next to each other as the candles on top of them light up, the pickax underneath awaiting it's master, with dust particles returning him to a grotesque corpse with demonic exposition, his eyes aglow with wrath. This hapless group, hoping for some fun around the campfire with gold providing them with warm prospects for life ahead, will fall prey to the vengeful ghoul and his mean pickax. Another victim will meet the nasty end of a shovel thrown through the windshield of her vehicle, directing it's path straight into her neck. Another failed attempt to retreat has Stone causing a frightened victim to drive his car into a tree, his body engulfed in flames as he fails to escape without harm. Another, a local girl searching for her new friends, worried about their well being, receives the pickax buried into her stomach. Aunt Nelly informs those still alive about the Forty-Niner and the curse on those who raids his eternal stash..and pays the price for relating such information. Will anybody survive? Or, is the entire group fated to perish at the hands of the zombie miner?Make-up effects artist and monster creator, John Carl Buechler directs this supernatural slasher without worrying about logic or strong story-telling, opting instead to allow his zombie miner to destroy anyone and everyone who happens to be in his path. He provides just enough back story, and this is feeble at best, for the killer allowing special guest star, Karen Black(..oh how her career has sunken into the abyss)to explain to the viewer about him. The story given to us has the miner holding a priest's daughter hostage, threatening to execute her as the Suttersville authorities warn against such an action. Startling enough, Stone plants that pickax right into her back, with the opposition unloading their guns with little effect because he sold his soul to Satan. Retreating to his domain, the mine shaft, Stone sends out a warning against anyone even attempting to take what's his, the loot. Typical of most slashers in general, this bunch of twenty-somethings are your garden variety victims, with little development other than some banter and exchanging of words provides as filler until the undead maniac pops onto the scene to slaughter them. They are the usual group, from the city, trespassing unto unfamiliar territory, resurrecting an evil that should remain dormant. Like many of the later 80's slashers, a good deal of the violence is off-screen. What is on screen, the minimal gore, is rather mundanely presented and happens rather quickly. The ghoul make-up for the killer is only shown occasionally;he's mostly shrouded in darkness, the victims' horrified faces as he catches or chases after them are given more credence than the method of destruction. One thing's for certain, stunt men were set on fire many times. At least three times, a character is burned alive by either a lantern or flaming vehicle. Martin Cove has a minor cameo as Black's former husband, Caleb, now living with a much younger, and dense, honey. Vernon Wells(..of The Road Warrior and Commando fame)has the back story role of Jeremiah Stone as a human, still capturing the same type of menace he specializes in. John Phillip Law seems to be enjoying himself as the rather polite and hospitable sheriff, welcoming the outsiders to his neck of the woods. Buechler has quite an attractive cast of actresses, all wearing tight pants and smallish shirts, showing off their sleek and athletic figures, especially Elina Madison as easy-lay Roxann, always willing to remove her clothes for greedy jerk, Hayden(Rick Majeske). Stephen Wastell(The Ghosts of Edendale) is Axl, a rather clumsy foil, used as a butt of many jokes including his "dump in the woods" scene and current unemployment status.

Director and FX man John Carl Buechler doesn't have to do much in order to terrify me; the sight of his name in the credits alone is enough to strike fear into my heart.His lamentable straight-to-video output in the 80s sat on the bottom shelf of the horror section at my local rental shop; twenty years later, and his DVDs occupy the same space. It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. You can rely on old JCB to serve up dreck, whatever the format and regardless of advances in movie-making technology.In this contemptible offering, a bunch of friends travel to a remote town where they discover the secret treasure hoard of Jeremiah Stone, AKA the forty-niner—an evil, claim-jumping, cannibalistic miner who caused havoc in the mid-1800s. Before his death, Jeremiah cursed anyone who should find his gold, and it's not long before the pick-axe wielding killer is back, bumping off the hapless treasure seekers.With its dreadful script, unimpressive make-up effects and Scooby-Doo style villain, 'The Curse of the Forty-Niner' is par for the course for Buechler. Only genre stalwarts Keren Black, Richard Lynch and John Phillip Law lend this movie any credibility whatsoever, with the rest of the cast giving performances ranging from bad to awful (although I'll forgive Alexandra Ford, who is a complete hottie).Even fans of bad schlock horror will be disappointed since most of the women keep their clothes on, and a lot of the deaths occur off-screen (which is probably not such a bad thing since the on-screen deaths are pathetic).'The Curse of the Forty-Niner' is another in a long list of duds for John Carl.

"Miner's Massacre" is a better film than its reputation.**SPOILERS**While traveling to Suttersville, a small town in the middle of nowhere, a group of friends gather to go gold hunting. Along the way, an old man (Richard Lynch) tells Axl (Stephen Wastell) and Tori (Sangie) about a mysterious legend of the Forty-Niner. The other members of the group, Hayden, (Rick Majeske) Rox Ann, (Elina Madison) Nick, (Sean Hines) and Claire, (Carrie Bradac) arrive at an old ghost town with Axl and Tori. When Axl meets a local Eve, (Alexandra Ford) Tori has enough and leaves, leaving Eve to guide the others to a camping spot along an old mining shaft, who then leaves. Once inside the shaft, they discover the hidden gold of the Forty-Niner. As they decide what to do with their newfound wealth, they incur the wrath of the Forty-Niner, who has guarded his wealth for a hundred and fifty years. Together with a superstitious old woman (Karen Black) and the local sheriff, (John Phillip Law) they find a way to stop the killer ghost.The Good News: This isn't all that bad as it seems. It isn't that long a movie, and that allows for a very fast pace with lots of great killing and tons of gore. We do have a lot of great deaths. There's a pick-ax to the stomach, an ax to the back of the head, a shovel thrown into a car and into a neck, a people lit on fire, and a decapitation, among others. The shovel kill is in fact the best kill in the movie. After spotting the miner, they all flee in different directions. One runs into a car and tries to start it, but the miner throws a shovel through the windshield, hitting them in the neck. That is a really great kill. The miner himself is pretty creepy. He looks suitably evil, with that greenish-blue hue, a scraggly beard, and those piercing eyes that all combine to create a deadly villain. He merely needed more screen-time since the film is really short. There is a lot of action as well, with chasing, explosions, lots of people set on fire and killing in one fine film. It also has one great ending, one that wasn't easy to guess. It plays brilliantly on the classic false ending that so many films use, but it isn't the one most normally think of using. It's a great twist, and it doesn't come completely out of the blue. It also is filled with a few great B-movie stars of the past in one film. Richard Lynch, Karen Black, John Philip Law, Vernon Wells and Martin Kove all have roles in here.The Bad News: This was a lot shorter than it should've been. Just barely over an hour and twenty minutes, this definitely needed a little more time to flesh out. There is a lot of stalking going on in the movie, but it needed a little more, because the middle part of the film is a little dull. Once they leave the town and head for the mine, there is nothing for a good half-hour.The Final Verdict: This isn't the worst horror film ever made, and it does deserve a better reputation than it has. It features four great B-movie stars together with a great villain, lots of action, blood and gore, and an interesting story in a great film. This is definitely recommended viewing for all horror fans, or those that want to kill an hour and a half without doing too much to stress themselves.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Adult Language, Brief Nudity and some sexual situations

this movie absolutely terrible ..not only was the acting awful but so was the sleep got while this movie played..this movie achieved the all powerful goal of crap ..i watched this movie thinking my 5$ wouldn't b in vein .but i was very wrong ..i guarantee u r better off just reading what i have to say about this unbelievably horrible movie b4 ..puttin yourself in the way of this dignity depriving movie ..i give it a negative 1 for trying..but no please no don't watch this movie..i had friends who joined me for this film..shortly after they were no longer found this movie actually will make u end your life please please don't see it i beg of u. if u see this movie make sure u destroy all copies because this movie is a spawn of Satan.