When I’m not at work, the gym, or some family get-together, the majority of my time is spent watching and sharing my thoughts on movies. This leaves me very little time to look at what others are saying about films — which ones are good, which ones people should steer clear of. Thanks to social media, however, I am able to get a small glimpse into what is circulating around the genre. One film that I saw over and over again on peoples’ top of 2018 lists was Patrick Magee’s Primal Rage.
The Plot
Ashley has just picked up her husband Max from state prison, where he has spent the last year [one month, and nine days]. After they get into an accident, hitting a stranger on the road, they run into even more trouble. An ancient creature is lurking in the woods and has chosen the recently re-united couple as its next prey.
My Thoughts
A few years back, there was a whole slew of films being releases, which centered on the ever-present legend of Bigfoot. I watched as many of them as I could and while I actually quite enjoyed them all, I never found the Bigfoot movie. All hope seemed lost… until now.
Primal Rage is exactly what I wanted every other Bigfoot film to be! Don’t get me wrong, Hunting the Legend, Willow Creek, and Exists all had good qualities about them; I liked them all in unique ways. None of them even come close to the experience that is Patrick Magee’s film.
While all of the films I mentioned did a great job at alluding to the beast, they never really did it justice. Just as the legend goes, the elusive creature was always just out of focus or just out of frame. Not here, though. Magee and his incredibly talented team of special effects masters have created a monster so beautifully crafted that they decided to show him off in all of his massive glory.
Not only does the ape-like legend look wonderful here, but so do all of the other special effects on display throughout the film’s 106 minute runtime. Primal Rage is truly a gorehounds dream, as Bigfoot, or as Magee’s film refers to it, the Oh-Mah, constantly displays his power by ripping jaws in half, tearing limbs apart, and squishing heads to a bloody pulp.
Director Patrick Magee and co-writer Jay Lee have based their script on ancient Native American lore. This helps to bring even more to the proverbial table, as most of the other films regarding the mythology of the Sasquatch are just straight-forward “hunting for” flicks. There is no hunting a creature like this. It finds you and does whatever it wants with you.
The Verdict
Primal Rage is a film that everyone should be watching. Yes, I saw it mentioned on a couple of random horror lists, but more people need to be talking about this one.
It is full of insanely impressive practical effects and features a great cast of very talented and entertaining performers, beautiful cinematography, and a thoughtful and effective script.
I don’t care how you get your hands on Primal Rage. Stream it, buy the DVD home release, borrow it from a friend… whatever it takes, go watch this film!
Primal Rage gets a very well-deserved 4.5 mooses with a cellphone out of 5.
