Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Die Pyramide des Sonnengottes" or "Pyramid of the Sun God" is a German language movie from 1965 and a co-production between West Germany and a handful other European countries. Even without Winnetou in it, it is one of these many German Karl May adaptations from the 1960s as this was exactly what West German audiences wanted to see at this point. It follows "Der Schatz der Azteken" and apart from Barker as Dr. Sternau, you will find many other actors in here that are very familiar faces from these Karl May films. But the story is as generic and as forgettable as in most others and also extremely similar in terms of the plot compared to other films from this era. Not even the inclusion of director Siodmak and writers Fodor, Stemmle and Marischka, who worked on some quality films during their careers can elevate the material here. Oh well, maybe Karl May is just very overrated as a writer. One major problem here is as well the way the characters were written and that they had almost no shades. Either they were all good or all bad. The acting is nothing memorable either and the rare occasions of comedy (as usual provided by Ralf Wolter) could have been more convincing as well. I am not a fan of these Karl May adaptations and not even the fact that the very limited Pierre Brice is not in here can save this film. Watch something else instead.
