Carnosaurus

Roger Corman got the genius idea of going head-to-head with Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK the same summer and even cast Diane Ladd, the mother of PARK's Laura Dern. Sadly, the results aren't that good. Dr. Jane Tiptree (Ladd) has created some genetically modified eggs that house creatures made up of the blended DNA of various things including iguanas, ostriches, and chickens. It is all part of her plot to destroy mankind. Standing in her way are drunk night-watchman "Doc" Smith (Raphael Sbarge) and environmentalist Thrush (Jennifer Runyon). The only thing sadder than this movie is that I felt the need to watch it again nearly 20 years later to confirm, "Yeah, it still sucks." The film does have some bright spots in that the dinosaur attacks are gory and there are some funny Coca-Cola product placements. But the dinosaur effects are pretty bad and the script (adapting, but apparently not very well, a 1984 novel) is totally flat. Matching this flatness are woefully miscast Sbarge and the seemingly lifeless Ladd. Ladd, who probably only did 3 days max on this, has absolutely no pulse and delivers one of cinema's worst mad scientists EVER. The film holds the distinction of being the last Corman production to ever play in theaters, grossing $1.7 million over a period of six months or so. Corman did get two sequels out of it though, but I haven't seen them. I probably will now. :-(

"Carnosaur" is a film that can probably blame its obviously low budget on it being a missed opportunity. This movie contains many good elements including a very wonderful performance by Academy Award-nominee Diane Ladd. About half of the time, this movie kept me entertained in its own unique way and the other half of the time I was bored to tears. Thus, I give it two stars out of four. Half and half. Sounds fair to me.

"Carnosaur" is loosely based on a novel by John Brosnan about a mad scientist (Diane Ladd) who is disgusted by the human race's destruction of the planet and plans to wipe it out with a killer virus while genetically engineering dinosaurs so that they can take over the planet once again.

I was really surprised that film critic Gene Siskel, who had given the Oscar-winning masterpiece "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) a negative review found this movie appealing and gave it a marginally positive review. But now that I've actually seen the film, I can agree with him part way. I still give it a negative review, but I do see why he might have enjoyed it. First of all, like I mentioned earlier, Diane Ladd plays a terrific villain in this movie. Even though she was given some awfully poor lines to act on, she somehow managed to keep me interested and even a bit frightened whenever she was on the screen. I'll say this; she is a lot more interesting than the dinosaurs in this picture. Perhaps the reason "Carnosaur" was even made was to beat Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" (1993) to the big screen and make a little cash, which it did despite negative reviews from both critics and audience members. The film was made on a low budget and you can tell by the bad acting (excluding Diane Ladd, of course) and the poor special effects. The dinosaurs are seldom convincing at all. They are portrayed using rubber puppets and even though they are shot at night, they do become revealing at times. Sometimes painfully revealing. I also felt that the amount of blood and gore used in this film was way overdone, but that is typical of films of this grade.

And there is also one major plot problem in this movie. If the Diane Ladd character wants to wipe out the human race, why not just create the virus and not even bother with the dinosaurs at all? Why go through all the trouble and risk being caught? Of course, the dinosaurs were thrown in one because of the novel source and two to get people interested in seeing the movie, but still it almost seems as though "Carnosaur" would have been better, at least more logical, if there were no dinosaurs in it at all. And it also doesn't make any sense that she only breeds carnivorous dinosaurs and no herbivores. There are some strangely appealing elements to "Carnosaur", much to my surprise, and there are some ludicrous and unbelievably poor elements, as anticipated. It is just too bad I wasn't surprised more while watching this movie. A few re-writes of the script and a slight ante in the budget would have done it wonders.

A brilliant but deranged geneticist Dr. Jane Tiptree (Diane Ladd) finds a way to bring Dinosaurs back to life by using DNA from Chickens Eggs! Which these Dinosaurs gets bigger by eating flesh's and creating panic in a small town somewhere in the desert. Which slowly several different kinds of Dinosaurs starts to breed like Rats. Which Tiptree is planning to destroy the world by unleashing an lethal virus and letting Dinosaur ruled the world once more.

Directed by Adam Simon (Brain Dead) made an watchable but forgotten horror/sci-fi effort by that was made in the wake of Steven Spielberg's Big Budget "Jurassic Park". Which this movie was out a few weeks earlier before Spielberg's take on Dinosaur. Which oddly enough, Ladd's daughter is the lead actress in "JP". For all it's cheapness, the dinosaur sequences are well done (despite some funny unintentionally moments of the F/X sequences). Which it will recalls films of the special effects era from the 1950's. It is quite gory as well, which it's delivers the good often in a schlock way. Simon's film is surprisingly bleak with some moments of playful black comedy but it is not quite fun as we would expect from a Roger Corman production. A cast of familiar B cast tries to keep it lively. The third act of this thriller is extremely unsatisfying and the quite dark looking cinematography of this film could have better filmed. If u want to see Simon's better work, watch "The American Nightmare". Which it's a documentary on the horror movies of the 1970's. "Carnosaur" is more of a curio movie than someone might actually enjoying. I always find it funny on the VHS Cover of this effort, since the late Gene Siskel enjoyed it very much. If u enjoy this, it's followed by two direct-to-video efforts! Based on a novel by the late Harry Adam Knight (Who's real name is John Brosnan). Simon wrote the adaptation of this depressing movie. (** ½/*****).

My all time 2nd worst movie that I've seen ( the 1st being freddy got fingered) I couldn't even get through this movie it was so bad. The death scenes with the dinos. The special effects made me blind for life. Then when you thought the movie from going from AWFUL TO EXTREMELY AWFUL, it goes a little bit further to HORRIBLY WRONG I'M DAMAGED FOR LIFE AWFUL, with a stupid sub-plot about a deadly virus. NO NO NO NO NO, I can't believe my eyes.

The real tragedy of this film is that the book (by Harry Adam Knight)on which it is based is actually a masterpiece. But this adaptation has absolutely nothing to do with the book. So why in the name of sanity have the producers paid for the license?

The plot of this film involves a crazed scientist who intends to re-populate the world with dinosaurs. Before long her creations are out and about and terrorizing the locals. Unfortunately I'm one of those annoying, awkward people who just refuse to be in the least bit scared or impressed by laughable rubber creatures which look like they'd be more at home on 'The Muppets'. The script is disjointed and often becomes tedious and there are no interesting characters. There is no sense of awe and wonder surrounding the subject of live dinosaurs. They're more like cartoon monsters. A dinosaur even laughs at one point.

Always be careful when selecting films which claim to be better than box-office hits. Everyone involved in this cheap, tacky, wasted license should be ashamed.