Carnosaurus

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.

Reading about Carnosaur, I was expecting a terribly cheap movie and for it to be blatantly derivative of the Steven Spielberg classic Jurassic Park. While far from a good movie, and certainly nowhere near as fun, thrilling or intense as Jurassic Park, I was expecting far worse than what I saw. Diane Ladd relishes her mad scientist, and this is one totally bonkers mad scientist, and the baby carnosaur is genuinely scary. Carnosaur is also gorier and bloodier than JP, and the gore is actually quite good and has moments where it is used inventively to the extent that you may be put off eating for some time after. Carnosaur is a very cheap-looking movie though, the sets lack colour and the camera work and editing lack finesse and cohesion. But I agree about the special effects and the animatronics on the dinosaurs faring worst in this regard, they are truly dreadful and definitely some of the worst dinosaur effects I've seen for any movie in my life. The score is not particularly rousing and has nothing that leaps out as memorable. It doesn't distract from what's going on as such but it just doesn't add anything either, it's just there and fails to make much of an impact. The script doesn't work either, nor does the story. The dialogue is stodgy, cheesy and overly-talky, while the story- not doing much with a decent if rather silly concept- apart from some inventive gory scenes is stripped of suspense, scenes that should scare can be unintentionally funny instead, the romantic plot line is mawkish and slows things down in the middle and the prehistoric rampage antics do get predictable quickly. The characters read of every cliché the writers could find and are poorly developed, no scratch that, the movie certainly knows what it tries to be which is good but while it does strive for some fun and scares(though not really succeeding) the characters are almost completely forgotten in the process. Of the acting only Ladd makes any kind of impression, the rest just sleepwalk through their roles and don't seem to care less about their characters' situations. Overall, could have been worse, especially considering what I'd read, but not a good movie. I recommend it partially for those who want a bit of silly fun without having to think too much, but for those who does know what to expect but still want to see some kind of quality put into it they may want to look elsewhere. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Come on, did we really EXPECT a worthy rip-off of "Jurassic Park" here? If it's taken at face value, CARNOSAUR is a fun way to kill 90 minutes. The dinosaur effects are laughable at best, but overall it's better scripted than the average Roger Corman slaughterama, and Dianne Ladd gives an over-the-top performance that alone makes this one worth watching. You get the feeling that there was probably a decent movie here if only they'd had a big enough budget. It may not be saying much, but at least it's better than the two sequels that followed. If you're in the mood for a good, goofy, gory B-movie, CARNOSAUR shouldn't disappoint. Besides, you can buy it on DVD for only $5.99 (like I did). Can't beat that with a stick!

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.

I saw this film when I was 8 years old. Even then I was able to laugh at it. It wasn't a good movie, that's for sure. But the fact that I remember this film for its sheer mockability, well that alone is worth something. Not good, in fact it's terrible. Watch it if you want to be able to sit there and laugh at it with your friends. It's enjoyable in that sense, and isn't that the whole point?