A Tribo II

This is not a very good movie. I watched it on the sci-fi channel so I wasn't expecting it to be Oscar winning material and it wasn't. The comparison to Predator is valid when it comes to the creatures and how they see the human targets (quite a bit of monster eye view scenes). The acting isn't great but then again, most of the time its just the victims running around, screaming. The plot is certainly weak but if you are looking at this movie and complaining about details such as how the radio still works after washing up on the beach, this is not your movie. Turn off the critical thinking.

The movie begins by laying down the premise. Woman archaeologist finds missing link. Church wants her dead and her findings covered up. She is killed and then assassins are killed by creatures. Main characters wonder in after all this and have nothing to do with the archaeologist and the church. The church wanting to cover up proof of evolution is not terribly hard to believe but sending a group of brutal assassins is certainly over the top but even that isn't a new concept as Tom Hanks has been battling Vatican assassins over the course of two movies now.

So after they crash on the island its a lot of running around and stupidity. There is an argument and a main character walks off (wanting to be alone for a bit) and we are completely shocked that he disappears. This sets off the rest to go searching for him and the hunt begins in earnest.

You don't see any of the 'lost tribe' until the last 10 minutes of the movie and I was pleasantly surprised to see them as they weren't terribly bad, I could even say they were rather well done. Hybrid creatures that show part human part ape. They look more ape like in the way they move but more upright standing and they obviously have a language they speak, ritual and hierarchy.

Acting is, by far, not the worst but far from the best, monster affects are better than your average low budget and are the best part of the movie but only shown in the last 10-15 minutes of the movie. Script and originality are the real weak points.

All in all it was better than I expected but I was expecting it to be so bad I would not finish it (like many sci-fi channel movies).

About 75% of the time, all you see is darkness and outlines, sometimes with some crunching noises and people screaming. That approach is OK for a horror movie when used in moderation: here it's used so much they might as well have been filming from inside a closet. With the door shut.

Except for the anthropologist (or whoever she was) character, the acting looks like a You-Tube video somebody at a drunken frat party shot of his friends when they were all beyond hammered. All of these characters are obviously there for no other purpose than to become roadkill pizza for the creatures. There's one recognizable actor in the cast, whose purpose is even more baffling; he's an extra bad guy but who knows what his motivations are. And it never matters or changes anything anyway. I guess the actor had some free time and worked on the cheap.

The movie brazenly cuts and pastes direct images from Predator and several other movies. The creatures (that you can hardly ever see) grunt Kling-On and chase the scientist blonde all over the place, and then let her go. Then chase her some more. She thinks they might be the long sought-after Missing Link, but who knows? They show more skill, intelligence, and adaptability than some modern humans, such as whoever was responsible for this silliness.

million dollar budget? are you sure it wasn't more like a 1,000 and shot in somebody's backyard not a movie studio?

I watched this film in the early morning hours one day when I try to catch horror movies that don't get shown in prime time because many of my favourites are movies that get lower than deserved scores from critics who don't appreciate good horror movies.

This one on the other hand seems more like a student movie that was filmed in a back yard than a professional film. Hiding the enemy in the dark or in the forest cover so you only hear them before they strike can be useful if not overdone but when that is constant it make you wonder if it is an excuse to avoid using special effects.

also means that whatever tension did build begins to dissipate.

there is no real sympathy developed for the characters so why are we supposed to care if they become a meal for whatever it is that lives there ...who are kept separated from the rest of the world by ...the Roman Catholic church who is out to get everyone the stone age lost tribe misses.

although I thought it was a tribe of people who run around in bad gorilla suits.

I first saw this almost a decade back on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently on a fast forward mode. It is a rehash of the The Forgotten Ones by the same producers as they became obsessed with the idea of Predator, Descent n Ford Coppola's Dracula or mayb they wanted to splurge the money earned on interest. But the original cast n crew were not fools to reshoot the entire film.

Be careful to avoid wasting time on this turkey, so be aware of the various titles this film is known as, Primevil, Primal, The Lost Tribe, etc. I hope Lance Henriksen charged the producers good money for his 2 mins appearance.

The lead girl escapes the creatures many times/she is not killed by the creatures quickly while the other characters r jus bumped off quickly. The ending is very convenient n a real piece of cake.

First of all, yes, THE LOST TRIBE does contain several similarities to earlier films such as PREDATOR and THE DESCENT. In fact, some could be called outright lifts. In addition, the idea of "the church" sending out a hit squad to cover up "proof of evolution" is absurd.

However, it somehow works in spite of these glaring flaws.

The characters are believable enough, with Anna (Emily Baldoni) being the unexpected standout. The creatures are better than expected, full of primal menace. While much of the movie is indeed derivative and the story line is rather inane, the final 30 minutes are worth the pain.

Lance Henriksen fans take note: His screen time amounts to about a minute and a half...