...in the ground.? I saw the beginning of this scary movie as a kid, but cant remember the name now. It seemed to be from the mid 80's based on it's quality.

All I can remember about the plot is that a man was lowering things into a hole; which was in a desert location if I remember correctly. He used a rope and tripod to lower food into the hole, and the rope would always come back up with gold (I think) in place of the food. The man then lowered himself into the hole and disappeared, i think the rope came back with even more gold that time.

If my memory is correct, there was something carnivorous that lived deep within the hole, and was "paying" in gold for the food (including the man) that was lowered into the hole.