Dinocroc

An unscrupulous genetic engineering firm, conducting cloning experiments with crocodiles as a means to resolve the world's impending food shortage accidentally releases a specimen into the woods surrounding a popular lake with predictable consequences. Executive produced by Roger Corman, you might have hoped for better than this limp wristed CGI-dependent cheapie that features some capable and familiar faces. The leads are so busy getting into each other's pants, that poor Michael (Jake Thomas) is left to search for his missing dog alone, ending up on the Dinocroc platter. A grieving brother (Borlenghi) then sets about taking revenge with the assistance of Aussie game-hunter doubling as an ichthyologist (Mandylor) and Corman veteran Charles Napier as the local sheriff.

Joanna Pacula's role as the firm's chief could have been a stroke of deft casting, but she receives so little air time, her role is reduced to a caricature of the stereotypical villain. But even more disappointing is the reliance on CGI animation and post-production effects to create the action sequences with the "Dinocroc". Much of the camp quality of the Corman-inspired monster movie was in the flimsy, plastic construction of the title beast. Some of the sequences on the lake (take the water skiing moment) would have been far more entertaining were it not for the clumsy computer animation.

Co-writer John Huckert does a misguided Peter Benchley inspired cameo as a journalist – now punters will know his face as well as his name, which could jeopardise future writing gigs once you witness the quality (or lack thereof) of this effort. Choral orchestral soundtrack layered over the attacking sequences give the beast an almost unholy reverence, but the CGI effects are out of sync and the result is anything but precision or grace. If there's any redemption at all, you might draw visual relief in the fresh-faced and feisty Jane Longenecker who in spite of her lower order billing, is the constant presence throughout (and much better looking than either Mandylor or the "dinocroc").

Just for the record, Dinocroc is not the worst movie I've ever see, or even one of them, not even close. But I don't really recommend it either. Dinocroc is certainly not without redeeming values. The scenery is decent, though could have done with more of an atmosphere, while the soundtrack is haunting and not too obvious and Joanna Pagula as well as having an alluring presence does what she can with a rather stereotypical character. On the other hand, I was very mixed on the story, it didn't ever bore me, it did start off well and it deserve credit for not being too derivative of Jurassic Park, on the other hand it has a very standard concept which was partly why I was never surprised at what went on in the film, the attack scenes are not suspenseful and come across as goofy instead and the the climax is abrupt and just not convincing on any level. Apart from the scenery, Dinocroc was lacking for me visually also, the editing is not as choppy as similar movies I've seen but there are moments where it is rather obviously done which detracts from any kind of nail-biting terror or suspense. I've seen worse effects, but these ones are still artificially rendered with the monster crude and not scary or the like at all. The script is horribly cheesy also, while the characters are stereotypical and made to do irritating things(like the man using his dog as bait but is still killed) and the acting is bad, especially from a bland Matthew Borlenghi and an over-the-top Costas Mandylor. All in all, cheap and irritating nonsense but not the worst way you can waste your time on. 3/10 Bethany Cox

...In that this movie never seems to deliver exactly what it wants. I, personally, love cheap straight-to-video monster movies, but this one just doesn't satisfy enough. I was expecting Tobe Hooper's CROCODILE, but was left with the sequel. Overall, worth renting if you enjoy the genre.

1.5 (out of 5) Rated: "R" for some creature violence/gore, and language.

Summary: DinoCroc is what you get when you mix SNAKEHEAD TERROR and CROCODILE 2: DEATH SWAMP. Don't expect an oscar.

This is the first non-zombie subgenre review ive done but this movie is worth doing a review for. Dinocroc is a good movie in general but unfortunately it is still an obvious b-movie. The Dinocroc itself looked great but i thought the movie itself needed a little bit more weight as in action and violence because whenever the croc is shown or is in a fight scene not very much goes on except the croc is shown and the croc either kills or runs off in a repeated process. Jane Longenecker was hot which is a plus and the acting was better than average and the most surprising thing is that the croc looked fleshy instead of like a cartoon coughs* curse of the komodo*coughs. I enjoyed this movie enough to be glad that there is going to be a sequel which is more than what i can say about some movies in general. Overall 3/6 stars and worth a watch.

There are some things I can never understand. Such as this movie. What if I were to create a really really cheap and crappy looking Dino and crocodile polygon model in Maya and then proceed to cut and paste that into an amateur video clip having people scream and getting eaten by the same thing? How can anyone even believe that an utterly fake CGI dinocroc that looks completely out of place, would influence the events in this movie? I know that its B-grade, low budget and all but the producers could do better than making a piece of crap that no one will ever seen see or sit through. It just does'nt make sense. Are people really so stupid that they would sit through this? Apparently so. For laughs? No, this thing isn't even worth laughing at.