Primal

Formulaic B-movie horror flick about a group of 20-somethings that venture into the Australian wilderness with their anthropologist friend, Dace (played the very buff and very sexy Wil Traval), to study an ancient cave painting. It's paced well and it's not too long into the movie that Chad's free-spirited girlfriend, Mel, begins a horrific transformation into a frenzied predator that stalks them one by one.

For the gorehounds, there are rocks bashing heads in, teeth falling out, flesh ripping, cannibalism, and much more. Veteran horror fans, it's nothing you haven't witnessed before. The film borders on cheesy but, I have to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie until the last 20 minutes or so, when the special effects department decided to throw in some hokey CGI and a bizarre attempted impregnation scene between Anja and a seven foot cave-dwelling slug.

Primal isn't so much scary as it is intense. There are quite a few white knuckle moments, as well as a couple of holy sh*t, what the hell was that scenes that will stun and amuse you. It's almost devoid of gratuitous nudity since Mel's transformation from cute blond chick to ravenous killer with three inch fangs happens fairly quickly (sorry, men).

Definitely not recommended to the squeamish type or the casual viewer. If you liked movies like Cabin Fever and The Ruins, you may get a kick out of this return to Ozploitation from writer/director, Josh Reed.

In horror movie terms, Primal is nothing new or original. It follows a very predictable path of the whole "young people camping in the woods with a monster" story. The characters are fairly predictable, as is the ultimate ending.

What makes Primal stand out, though, is, aside from the Australian Outback setting, the monster itself. Sure, the general idea is pretty standard, but the actual character of the monster is one that, at least for me, is new and exciting. Definitely pulling from the name of the film, the monster is very animalistic in its movements and behavior, but what was most exciting is the bridge between man and beast that it creates. This is perhaps the most terrifying part of the entire movie; the hinting of ourselves from, relatively speaking, not that long ago.

Sadly, all of the tension, thrill, and the interest of our primal selves completely falls apart in the last twenty minutes or so, as it seems that the filmmakers blew their budget, in terms of both money and creativity, as we get a terrible and confusing climax full of horrible (especially by 2010 standards) CGI which hurls us through the wormhole (you'll see) to the expected, but not entirely bad, conclusion.

Oh, and one of the best, and most Aussie, ending lines to any movie.

I first saw this a decade ago on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently.

I enjoyed this film as it is a fast paced horror with lots of gore, creepy moments n some truly good effects.

I found it to be better than Cabin Fever.

A group of friends travel to the Australian outback where one of em wants to study ancient symbols placed outside a mysterious cave. They come across n kill a mutated rabbit with pointed teeth.

At nite one of the girl goes skinny dipping into a pond and afterwards she starts mutating with pointed sharp teeth, enormous strength and hunger for flesh.

This is a classic 'take your friends to the woods and kill them' first-time horror movie, but it's so much better than other similar movies that it deserves a watch.

First, I want to commend the outstanding lighting. I can't remember a better lighted movie. Every scene is just as dark or as bright as it needs to be, you're never confused about who is where or what is what. If you're a student of lighting or cinematography, especially if you want to make horror, this is a mandatory watch.

The cinematography is also very good throughout, never betraying a budget, as are the effects. The director holds his cast through what must have been a fairly frustrating shoot for some of the actors (you get to wear blood makeup for 3/4's of the movie! We're nowhere near a shower!). This is a professional movie, and I couldn't tell if it was made for 1 million or 10.

The writing is well above par for this type of movie. There is a character who makes decisions that are very frustrating for the viewer and freezes more than you want him to, but that is good writing, not bad as some reviewers have complained. You get a feeling from the script that these people know each other and have relationships deeper than what you see. The plot moves along at a nice clip, and the comedy comes at the right moments to relieve tension and is genuinely funny. The last line works in a special kind of way where it's predictable, you want it said, and yet it brings a smile to your lips when it is said.

One more thing, the gore is pretty normal for the whole movie, but the ending turns to a couple of concepts that definitely pushed me past my comfort zone and made me feel very squeamish. While most of the movie is horror of the jump-scare sort or the tension sort, the last few minutes get to some psychological horror that is genuinely disturbing. It felt scary and squidgy at the time, but it was appropriate and elevated the movie past a basic type of horror movie.

Hokay, so I'm giving this a 10 because it seems horribly low-rated to me. I think the movie did everything it set out to do, is scary, funny, and fun in parts, and feels like a complete piece. It gets a lot of average ratings but it doesn't feel like an average film. I see that a lot of people dislike the ending, but I'm not sure what they wanted/expected. The script went where it wanted to go. The ending ramps up the gore and is all but certain to shock you. Definitely worth a watch for yourself to see if you agree with them or me.

This movie is watchable but it has the typical character in horror movies that angers you more than the protagonist. If I had to kill a monster or Chad then Chad has got to go and when you watch this I am sure you are likely to feel the same. But overall, this movie is decent enough to sit through without getting bored and turning it off. It has many clichés that you would expect from this type of film, stranded in the middle of nowhere whilst being picked off one by one. If you are expecting a great, unforgettable flick then you'll be disappointed but let's be real, you aren't going to go in to watching this with high expectations.