Not too long ago, it seemed that everyone and their mother was making a zombie flick. The sub-genre was extremely saturated and it didn’t take long to bore of it. Now, with a great deal of time having passed since my last dance with the un-dead, I figured it was a great time to check out one of the most original films I’ve ever encountered. I’m referring to Milko Davis and Thomas Martwick’s The Jurassic Dead.
The Plot
After a meteorite that he predicted would make impact actually does, a mentally unstable scientist unleashes his greatest weapon — a re-animated, bloodthirsty dinosaur. Now, a crew of ragtag soldiers and a group of college students must co-exist to take down the evil scientist and his dinosaur, too.
My Thoughts
Having the imagination to create a film about zombie dinosaurs is commendable. It is certainly something that has never been done before. That being said, there is probably a good reason or two as to why that is.
The Jurassic Dead is everything you would imagine it to be; it is extremely low-budget and cheesy. It also features mediocre-at-best acting performances across the board.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the dinosaur in the film was actually created using practical effects. I couldn’t be happier to see that I wouldn’t have to sit through 82 minutes of a shoddy CG creature. Sadly, my happiness diminished rather quickly as I realized literally everything else in the film was in fact achieved using those same unwelcomed CG effects.
Sci-fi horror films of any kind, low-budget or otherwise, generally feature any of the following: gunfights/shoot outs, explosions, and gore. The Jurassic Dead does include all of these elements, but they are produced using zero practical effects. This is understandable for larger scale events like explosions or even the film’s meteorite impact, but what is not acceptable is the fact that 90% of the movie’s setting was created using computer graphics.
Do you know how harsh it is on the eyes of a viewer to watch a film that has entire buildings and other various scenery made completely of CG? Sure, this type of thing is done in huge Hollywood films all the time, but when this same technique is used throughout The Jurassic Dead, the backgrounds bleed into the faces and bodies of the actors, making it very obvious and very hard to sit through.
The Verdict
Perhaps I am being too hard on a film that I was well aware of before pressing play. After all, this is the one and only film about re-animated dinosaurs. While it does have a lot of negatives going for it, it does succeed in a few areas.
The Jurassic Dead delivers with great practical creature effects and is a good watch if you’re looking to grab some buddies and have a silly time. It is not meant to be taken too seriously and can provide some with an entertaining movie experience.
If you would like to check out The Jurassic Dead for yourself, be sure to grab the Blu-ray and DVD combo pack from Wild Eye Releasing today!
I give this one 1.5 fist fights with a dinosaur out of 5.
