Carnosaur 2

"CARNOSAUR II" (1995, Morneau) is a surprisingly star-studded low-budget film inspired by "ALIENS" (1986, Cameron). Funnily enough James Cameron wanted to make "Jurassic Park" and he said it would have been "ALIENS but with dinosaurs", so perhaps "CARNOSAUR II" isn't far off what we might've gotten from Cameron (except the effects, sets, soundtrack, directing, props, story, etc. Would have been miles better...) had Spielberg not gotten his golden mits on the rights.

I don't know if this is better than "CARNOSAUR" (1993, Simon) because that would be like comparing apples and oranges. This second outing is definitely more mainstream and more watchable but with the same gore value. The raptors aren't as detailed as the deinonychus from the original but there are more of them and the Rex is just the same. Big, jerky and unforgivingly hungry.

Exciting non-related sequel about a crew sent in to repair an underground basement and to find out what happened to the original crew that is now missing. There they run into a group of super intelligent dinosaurs that are smarting then the crew themselves that then make the crew lunch. Better effects, some genuine surprises, plenty of scares, and a good atmosphere make this a fun outing, but it is sorely missing Diane Ladd's demented performance.

Rated R; Graphic Violence and Profanity.

Carnosaur 2 is the best entry in the series. If you ignore the rubbish dialog, this film might come across as decent for a (very) cheap horror flick. Compared to the original Carnosaur, this one is a masterpiece. The gore is less severe and obnoxious, The creatures are shot in a such a way that for most of the time they don't look too rubbery. Most importantly however is the fact that the plot is far more coherent than the original, Part of it has to do with copying almost directly from the well written screeenplay of Aliens. For a cheap budget, the set design is pretty good and gives the movie a dark, industrial feeling. The acting is stiff and unrealistic, but again, next to Carnosaur it is acceptable. I would not recommend this film to everybody, only to extreme horror fans.

This movie is for those with patience. It can be very tedious at times. They seemed to have wanted to go with suspense but fell short. Somehow Dianne Ladd's rubber puppet dinosaurs have ended up in a government mining facility in Nevada. And a very rag-tag crew of computer repairmen (and woman) just happen to be there at the time. From there, the movie follows a very Aliens type synopsis. The Velociraptor dinosaurs have improved their looks considerably since the first movie, but their movement is incredibly stiff. The same T=Rex appears in this film. Like the first, this movie is for those that like cheesy films with low production values.

And I was actually glad and surprised that the first movie wasn't being as much a "Jurassic Park" ripoff. It probably only didn't because it couldn't, since it was released a couple of months before "Jurassic Park" hit the theaters. This movie makes up for that though, since it really doesn't have an original idea of its own in it. It even more blatantly is ripping off James Cameron's "Aliens".

It even isn't being subtle about it. It doesn't try to conceal that it 'borrowed' heavily from "Aliens" and pretty much steals entire scenes, dialog and characters from that movie. Really, if you have seen "Aliens", you have seen "Carnosaur 2" as well already! The story even progresses in the exact same way.

But oh well, I still have to give the movie that it at least is being better to watch than the original. The story is much easier and pleasant to follow and it at least has some half decent characters in it as well.

Another thing that had been improved were its effects. The dinosaurs are better looking and more threatening this time around. It really prevents the movie from being ever becoming a truly ridicules or horrible one as well.

Really, it isn't anything too uncommon for a movie to ripoff another one. Especially not for low budget movies like this one. And out of all the "Aliens" ripoffs that are out there, this ons is not all that bad and actually at times quite good and enjoyable.

Not original by any means obviously but it at least is a watchable enough, cheap, little movie, that is far better and more pleasant to watch than the original as well.

5/10

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