I was actually surprised that my wife, who’s not the biggest fan of horror films actually agreed to sit down and watch this film with me. After reading Jack Reher’s review of Primeval I will admit I didn’t have high hopes for the film at all. However my wife and I found ourselves really getting into the film right away.
Primeval is based on a true story about a man eating crocodile know as Gustave. Gustave is known as a major killer in the African jungle. His legend is real and he’s believed to have killed over one hundred human beings. The theory is that he got the taste for human flesh during the civil war that took place in Burundi, Africa. it’s believed that the rebels would toss the bodies of their enemies in the river or bury their bodies by the banks of the river. Easy picking for a hungry crock.
The movie follows a news crew whom is sent on assignment to get footage of the croc’s capture. A scientist whom reminded way to much of a toned down Steve Irwin, along with a hunter are planning on capturing the croc. and studying him. However they not only find the killer croc who will put them though one hell of a night, but they also have to deal with rebels whom will kill anyone who crosses their path. The movie basically turns into a fight for survival for a crew as they battle the rebels and the killer croc.
I honestly had a great time watching this movie right from the get go. It was very entertaining and the story was not half bad either. Sure it was very over the top and it was full of some comedic over tones thanks to Orlando Jones. But that’s what made the movie fun. That is until the movie starting to wide down to it’s conclusion and that’s where I believe the film makers messed up this movie big time. The last twenty minutes of this films was so choppy and so full of useless gore and blood that it ruined the whole film for me. It didn’t even look believable and characters that you’ve grown to love throughout the film are killed off without any kind of dramatic fashion. It makes one think is the producers of this movie changed the ending to include such a crazy scene as to please a blood thirsty audience. But I’m not the teenage kid who craves blood and gore. I just wanted a good story, and I got that until the twist of an ending came into play.
In terms of the acting and everything, this film was pretty much made as a big budget creature feature. A spin off of the killer animals films of the the nineteen fifties and sixties. While the leads were good in the film and most of the supporting cast, I’m not going to say they gave Oscar award winning performances. They basically did what they needed to do in order to make their characters believable enough for the audience. Think of the cast of Jurassic Park, and that’s pretty much the kind of cast you get with this movie.
The production value of the film was really good. There were some great on location sets build such as a base camp and a native village. The movie was also shot very well. I do how ever think that the CGI effects looked very fake, especially the scenes at the end of the film. Don’t get me wrong the make-up effects looked great, but the CGI croc at times looked somewhat decent, except when he got out of the water and ran like a cheetah across the savanna.
Overall, I would of probably given this movie a good review just for the fact that the majority of the film was really fun to watch and I had a great time. But it was the last twenty minutes of this movie which ruined it for me and I think if certain characters had a different fait then they did and the ending was not so over the top, I would of declared it to be a film well worth watching. However if your a hardcore horror fan like myself, and you want a good story over the gore, then this film is not for you. But if your someone who enjoys some great splatter and so bloody kill scenes, the ending will most likely entertain you. But in my case it just ruined what could of been a film that was potentially a film that could of been compared to the likes of Jurassic Park.
The DVD is full of some pretty cool extras such as a few deleted scenes Director’s commentary and a cool Documentary about bringing the killer croc to life on the big screen.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
