Mördersaurier

I admit it, I am a fan of stop motion animation. It can be excellent or hideous but if it's stop motion I am so there! I was first attracted to this movie when I was very young because it had dinosaurs in it (yes it had a caveman too but he was secondary to me).

Anyway, so why is this particular movie forever tied to my birthday? Therein lies a tale. 20 July 1969 will be forever remembered as the day Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. That day was also my 5th birthday and I was watching DINOSAURUS in my room on my 12 inch b/w TV. Just at the scene where the mortally wounded Brontosaurus lumbers into the quicksand the movie faded out for a commercial break. Then it cut to the TV newsroom where they were talking about the landing on the Moon. My uncle came into my room to ask if I was watching the news and I said "No, I'm waiting for the movie to come back on."

This made him start talking about how history was being made and I should be proud I could see this moment live and so on. Okay so to-0day I am aware of how important it was but back then I was 5 years old and this was a movie that had DINOSAURS in it for cryin' out loud! Let's just say my priorities were a lot different back then.

When the movie finally came back on I was as happy as could be and it had my undivided attention all the way to the end.

Now I make it a point to watch this movie every year on my birthday and at the scene where the Brontosaurus dies I cannot help but think about the first Moon landing. Curious how completely unrelated memories somehow get joined together isn't it?

Whilst building a harbour on a Caribbean island, construction workers discover two perfectly preserved dinosaurs—a brontosaurus and a T-Rex—frozen under the sea for millions of years. After being brought ashore, the prehistoric creatures thaw out and are struck by lightning during a storm, bringing them back to life. As the beasts wander the island, looking for food, construction boss Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey) tries to ensure the safety of the islanders. Meanwhile, a neanderthal (Gregg Martell), who has also emerged from the ocean, befriends local boy Julio (Alan Roberts) and protects him from his wicked guardian Hacker (Fred Engelberg).

Dinosaurus! is the one in which the 'cute' kid (ie., thoroughly irritating brat) and the caveman ride on the back of the brontosaurus, putting the audience squarely in family territory—good clean fun with very little to seriously scare the young 'uns. The juvenile nature of the film, along with some naff neanderthal-based comedy, make it just a little too cloying at times, but as a fan of dinosaur movies in general, and especially those that make use of stop motion animation, I couldn't help but be entertained. Yes, the animation is a long way from Harryhausen standard, and there's some even worse puppetry, but it still proves to be a reasonably decent dose of mindless fun. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the film also features two helpings of eye candy—tasty blonde Betty (Kristina Hanson) and dusky island beauty Chica (Lucita Blain)—to hold one's attention whenever the dinos are off-screen.

After undersea explosions near a Caribbean island, prehistoric creatures are unleashed on the unsuspecting population...

Allegedly, Marcel Delgado was given less than half the time originally agreed upon to create the dinosaur models used in the film. The studio initially agreed to give him five to six weeks, as he requested, but two weeks later he was told that they would begin production on Tuesday. This would explain why the effects are cheesy (or it could just be an excuse).

Howard Maxford sums up the film as having "dismal effects", which is not a poor criticism if that is the worst he can say. As just mentioned, this may not have been the creators' faults. And, really, this is 1960. We just went through the 1950s, where sci-fi films were constantly cheesy. To use that as a criticism seems unfair.

Howard Thompson of the New York Times said at the time that "motion picture art hit rock bottom" when this film came out. It is "a tired, synthetic, plodding sample of movie junk", says Thompson. Those involved "thoroughly wasted a few exotic backgrounds." Thompson finally points out that the film comes from Fairview Productions, who also made "The Blob". He categorizes both films as "Grade Z". Wow. I mean, it is one thing to not like it... but Thompson just goes off!

If I had to say one thing about the film negatively, it would be about Julio (Alan Roberts). He was a bit annoying. And, sadly, he passed away too young (though that has nothing to do with this film). I had no issue with the effects or plot. I mean, really, it is a movie about dinosaurs and a caveman who survived frozen for millions of years. If you accept that premise (and the idea that all three were found in the same areas), I would hope you could look past the execution!

I have an emotional attachment to this movie, as it was the first movie I ever went to a theater to see. As a six year old living in Fairbanks, Alaska, I begged my mother to take me to see this move about my childhood passion, dinosaurs. Thirty years later, I stumbled across a copy of this film at a video store and purchased it. I was surprised to find that, despite the rather unrealistic dinosaur animation, the movie holds up pretty well. Although much criticism has been directed against the leads in this film, Wayne Treadway as Dumpy ("Dinosaurus!"), Jack Younger as Jasper (Jasper: "Well, we're looking for a caveman, right? So, I think we ought to look in a cave!" Hacker: "Very good, Jasper, I had no idea you were an anthropologist." Jasper: "Not a very good one, boss. I haven't been to church in years.") and Gregg Martell as the Neanderthal Man turn in excellent performances in supporting roles. Martell, especially, combines comedy and pathos in his portrayal of a man caught out of his time but still very much a human being. The scene where Julio (Alan Roberts) rides the back of his pet brontosaurus thrilled me and the final battle between the T-Rex and the steam shovel gave me nightmares for years. How many good movies can you say that about?

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean this is a bad film....quite the contrary, in my humble opinion. Sure, the story has some huge holes, but don't you watch a film to be entertained and just to let yourself relax without the need to think every minute? This film is definitely right up your alley, if you enjoy dinosaurs and stop-motion animation.

Basically, this is the story of a construction crew that finds the bodies of a T-Rex, Brontosaurus and caveman frozen in the waters off a tropical island. With the help of lightning, the beasties and the caveman are brought back among the living and the remainder of the story is all the action that takes place when you place three pre-historics out of their element. Good clean fun, some decent stop-animation effects and a great way to spend an afternoon.