The Curse of the Komodo

I thought 'Curse of the Komodo' was decent. Sadly, though, Jim Wynorski took what could have been a fascinating subject and turned it into a cheesy B movie.

The characters' remark that the Komodo Dragon is 'the world's most dangerous reptile' is probably accurate. It is certainly one of the more intimidating. The thought of Komodos being mutated to be larger, stronger, more aggressive or perhaps less held in check by whatever forces of nature hold them in check, is a pretty scary one. A movie in which mutated Komodos grow to be maybe 1.5 or twice their normal size would be scary and feasible enough to be acceptable for a horror movie junkie.

However, Wynorski seems to be trying to make another dinosaur movie. These gigantic Komodos look an awfully lot like raptors or T-Rex's! Do Komodos actually walk around on their hind legs? I cannot recall ever seeing a photo of one doing so. The scene that lost me was when the four crooks are sneaking up on the others and see them fighting off the Komodo from a side view. That shot was as cheesy and phony as any I recall seeing from the 1950s! Of course, those who touch the Komodo 'venom' turning into murderous zombies, is a bit over-the-line, too! That said, the movie wasn't terrible. I disagree with the attacks on the acting. The no-name cast isn't bad. I really like William Langlois as the professor---although he really reminds me more of a high school or college football coach than a scientist! He and his co-worker Dawn (Gail Harris) work well together. I couldn't keep the other 'good guys' straight in one and a half viewings.

The crooks aren't bad, either. Bad dude/bodybuilder Drake (Paul Logan) is convincing enough, although I was never really sure what I thought about him. His girl Friday, with her Meredith Baxter-Birney neon-white teeth, is a level above the average B-horror bimbo. I halfway felt myself being drawn to her as the film went on. I can't say the same for the good doctor's whiny big-boobed daughter, who really deserved to be Komodo food. I like the other two crooks, too. The booze-swilling copter pilot is well played by Ted Monte and Cam Newlin is good as Reese, the other crook.

Overall, this isn't a bad one. I certainly made sure I returned it in time, though. This isn't one that's worth paying a late fee on!

In the Isla Damas, a group of soldiers lands on the island and are attacked and murdered by a Komodo dragon. Two men, Hanson (Ted Monte) and Jason (J.P.Davis), leave a building surrounded by an electric fence to seek out survivors. They run back to the building and a woman, Rebecca "Becky" (Glori-Anne Gilbert), who is the daughter of the scientist. Nathan Phipps (William Langlois) deactivates the fence. Phipps and his assistant Dawn Porter (Gail Harris) contact the Chief of a Naval Base at Hawaii, Foster (Jay Richardson), to discuss the dragons that are genetically-engineered by them to produce food that have turned into war machines by Foster. Meanwhile, a casino is robbed in Hawaii by the thieves Drake (Paul Logan), Tiffany (Melissa Brasselle), and Reece (Cam Newlin) that flee to Damas using the pilot of helicopter Jack (Tim Abell). Soon they meet Phipps and Dawn shooting at a Komodo dragon and they learn that they need to team-up with the scientists to survive. Further, the contact with a Komodo turns the person onto a zombie. However the fuel of the generator is finishing and Foster does not have the intention of rescuing the group that knows too much about his project Catalyst. How will they survive from the dragons?

"The Curse of the Komodo" is one of those movies so lame, illogical and trash that becomes funny. The plot is absurd and stupid. Why the soldiers have come to the island? If fuel is primordial to keep the protection against the dangerous creatures, why there is not enough fuel and a backup generator? If bullets do not affect the dragons, why the group insists in shooting at the Komodo? In addition the ham acting is hilarious inclusive with the participation of soft-porn actress. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Criaturas" ("Creatures")

What is cheese? When it comes to movies "Curse of the Komodo" ranks right up there with Limburger and Fumunda cheese. The plot is thin and the acting is actually ok. The T.N.A. is great, if you like blonde women with nice boobs. Special effects of the Komodo dragons are reminiscent of the 1960's horror movies when compared with contemporary special effects.

If you like lots of gunfire, with out anything being killed, nature walks through a really bad jungle "movie set", corny dialogue and the afore mentioned gratuitous Boobs and butt shots, this movie is a must see.

Want to see Jurassic Park style special effects and Oscar caliber acting? I can recommend a lot of movies for you...but this is not one of them.

That however, is not a knock of this movie. Curse of the Komodo is a low budget romp and it serves it's purpose. It entertained me for 90 minutes, just as it was meant too.

My review. Not as good as the 'original', but still entertaining. It had it obligatory boob scene (rather pointless) and women in tight shirts, buff guys and baaad military guys. Did I mention the horrendous special effects? These FX would not have been out of place in the 60's! Bullerproof lizards, zombie creating slime, bank robbers and corrupt military officers, buff guys and buxom women, stock footage of big boats...what more could a movie want?

Watch Curse of the Komodo, and guess what the next line is going to be; you'll be amazed how frequently you not only get the gist of the coming dialogue, but predict it verbatim. But wait! It gets better! You can also quite easily predict what will become of essential items such as the generator keeping the electric fence going, all the vehicles, most of the communication devices, the thoughts of the higher up personnel.

I personally loved how the Komodo just stood there whenever it was in frame. It opened its mouth and roared with its 1950s-ish monster movie look and stock-sound-effect roar that's been used in such intimidating places as Scooby Doo (side-note, do Komodos roar?). Might as well make the movie about an oversized Chihuahua that just bounces up and down barking. People shoot at it. It stands there, not even bleeding. People fire more rounds, it still stand there.

At this point I think at least one person would try something a little different like aiming for universal soft-spots such as, I dunno, the eyes? We have to assume that they're not standing their firing randomly, but the director fails to communicate that idea.

They get into a truck and drive, and now the thing decides to move and try to dine. Why not charge while they're all just standing there? Characters and creatures do what the plot needs them to do when the plot needs them to despite the fact that the plot defies logic on so many levels that it can't be ignored (this coming from a fan of low budget horror films which always defies logic).

Let's think about this, guns going off and bullets hitting a Komodo is going to provoke it to take a little more action than standing and roaring. If it hurts or confuses the thing, it's probably going to go away. If it doesn't hurt it, it's probably going to p*ss it off which means its going to attack. You know what? Even if it is hurt/confused, it might still attack, actually. I'm no expert on Komodo dragons; maybe they would just stand there and smile . . . but would they still be around then (Komodo . . .dodo bird . . . hmmm).

Anyway, logically, wouldn't we see a more curious creature investigating these people before it started eating? And if the answer is `because the creature mutated, it would be more aggressive.' Okay fine . . . so why didn't it show this aggression during a logical moment like being shot at?

And to answer the above question - well, the Komodo effects were not well designed. In cinema, creature effects become an actor requiring a performance which requires a high degree of articulation (not present here). After all, we are creating organic beasts with a wide range of expressions, gestures, that would communicate its intentions. The plot needs the thing to roar and run, so that's all it does . . . hey wait, that's not far off from what the cast has to do - talk and run.

I waited through the whole film for an intelligent decision, and found only one - "Let's backup our data so we can let the world know the truth.' Too bad I couldn't get an intelligent decision *and* an unpredictable plot element, but maybe I'm asking for too much. Especially in light of the final few scenes involving an air strike, which I'm assuming was cut together with stock footage since the planes changed from shot to shot.

The high point of the film was the character Jack thanks to the actor. All the actors played this quite stale like they realized they were making a goofy monster movie and just wanted their paycheck so they could get out of there. Kinda strange that the actor to breath some life into his role was the character stuck in a place he didn't want to be in and just wanted the hell out of there. Maybe I just detected a hint of ironic honesty in the performance. Go figure.