Dr. Wilfred Manz performs a magical experiment on a beetle-shaped amulet. His patience exhausted, he smashes his fist into some bottles and a few drops of blood fall onto the scarab. His laboratory is rocked by an explosion, the god Khepera appears and Manz is transformed into a demi-god magician. Thirty years later, Manz has assumed the name Khepera and lives in mysterious castle. Using his magical powers, he is killing heads of government and causing the collapse of major financial institutions. Jack Murphy, an American correspondent, witnesses the pandemonium following the suicide of the Spanish prime minister and notices an attractive nurse, Elena, take a small scarab which has fallen from the prime minister's lapel. Later, he visits an occult shop where the scarab is identified as being associated with the Egyptian god, Khepera. Murphy is captured and Elena — who was tricked into sacrificing her brother when they were children — once more takes up the sacrificial dagger...
Practical Effects
Khepera god manifestation looks like a glittery Halloween store exploded
Acting
Rip Torn commits to beetle deity with Shakespearean gravitas
Production
Mysterious castle clearly someone's Spanish vacation rental
Director
Steven-Charles Jaffe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Steven-Charles Jaffe later produced Dark City and Strange Days—Scarab was his feverish training ground.
The film chugs from 1980s Satanic Panic energy into Egyptomania leftover from 70s blockbusters, creating an unholy genre smoothie.
US
