Dinocroc

If you are a fan of B movies, you have probably seen that Roger Corman's movies have become cheaper and tackier as the years have passed. So when I sat down to watch "Dinocroc", I thought this would look worse than even the last entries of his "Bloodfist" series. But the movie did surprise me to a degree. In this Corman movie, the sets, props, and the cinematography look much better than usual. As for the special effects (mostly CGI work), for a low budget movie they are impressive. While it's true that the dinocroc looks real bad when it's seen in full light, when seen underwater or in darkness it is an acceptable special effect. It's too bad, then, that the movie is mostly sunk by a poor script. We have dumb hunters, evil scientists who hardly make an appearance, and not enough scenes of the monster munching on people. Oh, and the way the monster is dispatched at the end of the movie is VERY unsatisfying. Still, with the knowledge that Corman has made MUCH worse movies, I know this movie could have been a lot worse than it is right now.

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").

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.

This is a low budget Roger Corman horror/creature flick. A DinoCroc is created when manipulation of prehistoric genes runs amok. An engineered croc first kills one of its own then gets the taste of human and becomes a fast growing terror after escaping. None of the characters have any depth, but then they are not the focal point. We only get a few glimpses of the huge two-legged dinosaur descendant and some of the best "kill" scenes in a small budget film.

My favorite scene is of a moronic character trying to use a three legged dog for bait and becomes croc food himself. Nothing left on the pier but ankle top feet. With no real stand out roles: Jane Longendecker, Bruce Weitz and Charles Napier. Most pathetic is Matt Borlenghi and an obnoxious professional croc hunter Costas Mandylor. I was most impressed with the alluring Joanna Pacula as the respectfully feared Dr. P. DINOCROC is redeeming as a crock of pickles.

If you know what to expect, then Dinocroc, may not be such a terrible watch. The best word to describe it would be amusing, because it is just as unintentionally fun as it is intentionally.

The premise is your typical science experiment gone wrong. One night, a genetically engineered baby croc (prehistoric croc actually) escapes from a lab, and after a midnight snack of human flesh, it grows to full size in a matter of hours (now that's funny). A mixed matched handful of people go out to stop it, before it kills any more.

In addition to fairly weak acting, and visual effects that wouldn't fool a four year old, Dinocroc also has several blatant Jaws rip-offs. At the same time however, it makes a few wiser decisions. It chooses to avoid extreme gore, and clear sighting of the creature until the director feels it's time to move into action mode.

These movies are usually made for no more than a couple of million dollars, but Roger Corman has made so many that together they probably cost as much as Titanic. I don't know much about him, other than he's a veteran of the B-movie industry. I've chosen not to ask why he does this sort of thing. Dinocroc is not bad, there is better but there is also much worse.