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’65’ Million Years Ago: 6 Underrated Dinosaur Movies to Watch Ahead of the Adam Driver Movie

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I never understood why Jurassic Park was the only dinosaur-related franchise to outlive the dino hysteria of the 90s. Don’t get me wrong, Spielberg’s classic is clearly the best movie to come out of that trend, but that doesn’t change the fact that dinosaurs as a concept are in the public domain and should have been featured in countless other films.

Fortunately for fans of all things prehistoric, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’s upcoming 65 (March 10th) promises a return to the Jurassic-Park-less thrills of completely original dinosaur movies. And with that in mind, we’ve come up with this list highlighting six of the best non-JP dinosaur thrillers for all your prehistoric media needs!

As usual, this list is purely based on personal opinion, but since this is Bloody Disgusting, we’ll be limiting entries to monster movies and thrillers. That means no Super Mario Bros or Disney’s Dinosaur (despite those freaky iguanodon lips). We’ll also only be featuring movies that actually focus on the dinosaurs as a key part of the story, so no King Kong.

With that out of the way, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite dinosaur movies if you think we missed a good one.

Now, onto the list…


6. The Dinosaur Project (2012)

As you can see from the rest of this list, it’s pretty hard to depict a realistic dinosaur onscreen without a Spielbergian budget. That being said, clever filmmakers can always find ways to work around sub-par effects, which is precisely the case with Sid Bennett’s The Dinosaur Project.

A unique Found-Footage flick that uses the shaky-cam aesthetic to smooth out the rough edges of its visual effects, the film follows an expedition to the Congo as a group of explorers attempt to find the legendary Mokele-mbembe. Naturally, prehistoric terror ensues as the expedition comes across a series of carnivorous threats.

It doesn’t exactly re-invent the Found-Footage wheel, but The Dinosaur Project’s impressive CGI and overall earnestness make it way more charming than it has any right to be.


5. Carnosaur (1993)

Mockbusters may be a questionable business practice, but the best of them manage to only rip off general themes and ideas instead of entire plots. A good example of this is Adam Simon’s Carnosaur, which was commissioned by the legendary Roger Corman to compete with Jurassic Park. Telling a ridiculous story about genetically engineered chickens and reptilian murderers, the movie was a surprisingly creative cash grab that spawned a franchise of its own.

Sure, the effects are about as absurd as the juvenile script, but if you keep in mind that the entire thing was shot in 18 days on a budget of less than a million dollars, it’s a miracle that the flick is as fun as it is.


4. Velocipastor (2017)

As a rule, “so bad it’s good” movies don’t happen on purpose. Usually, this is something that occurs organically after the fact, with audiences lamenting a film’s lack of quality at the same time that they connect with the misguided passion behind the project. Velocipastor throws these conventions out the window, as it’s quite clear from the beginning of this schlocky horror comedy that director Brendan Steere had no intention of making a traditionally good movie.

And yet, the end result is even more fun than similarly trashy productions like Sharknado, with the film making up for its minuscule $36.000 budget with plenty of humor. Hell, they even got gothic artist Aurelio Voltaire to make an appearance, not to mention a lovable dinosaur costume that makes Carnosaur look like a Disney production!


3. The Lost World (1960)

While he’s mostly associated with Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an incredibly prolific writer, creating several other characters who had their own popular adventures. One of the most memorable of these recurring figures is Professor Challenger, who was first introduced in the 1912 novel, The Lost World.

With the book becoming a hot property in Hollywood, Challenger would go on to be portrayed by numerous performers, from John Rhys-Davies to Bob Hoskins. However, my own personal favorite take on the character comes from the legendary Claude Rains (the original Invisible Man!) in Irwin Allen’s loose adaptation of the book.

Sure, the lizards with glued-on horns are a far cry from the artistry of Willis O’Brien’s stop-motion creatures in the original adaptation (and the script has its fair share of scientific blunders), but I’d argue that the film’s low-budget charms only make it more endearing. That being said, fans of the novel are better off watching the more faithful 1922 version.


2. Tammy and the T-Rex (1994)

Sometimes, a good prop is all you need to make a compelling movie. This was the case with Stewart Raffill’s Tammy and the T-Rex, an absurd project that only went into production because the director met a theater producer who owned an animatronic T-Rex. Filmed in a rush before the expensive dinosaur was set to be shipped to Texas, what resulted was a madly entertaining horror comedy that deserves a bigger following.

While the uncut (and vastly superior) version of the film was only released in 2019, I actually caught the original cut on TV late one night when I was a kid and fell in love with its cheesy delights. Unfortunately, it took me a really long time to meet someone else who had seen the flick, resulting in many years spent thinking that I had hallucinated the entire thing.

After watching the unrated cut, I’m glad I didn’t!


1. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

Few movie monsters have evolved as much as Godzilla over the years. From a demonic creature possessed by the souls of concentration camp victims to an irradiated iguana, old ‘Zilla’s never had a problem with re-inventing himself. Naturally, this means that, at one point, the radioactive lizard was depicted as an innocent “Godzillasaurus” who became mutated by nuclear bombs during the second world war.

This backstory presented in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah would be contested in later pictures, but fans loved the idea that the world’s most popular kaiju had his own superhero origin. Plus, the movie itself was one of the better Godzilla sequels, featuring plenty of monster movie action and some unexpected time-travel shenanigans.

And here’s a fun fact for you: Gojirasaurs have since been recognized as a real dinosaur, though the real ones don’t look much like the creatures featured in GvKG.

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

Editorials

5 Deep Cut Horror Movies to Seek Out in April 2024

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horror
Pictured: 'The Uncanny'

New month, new horror recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. This installment features selections reflecting the month of April 2024.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s offerings include telepathic plants, ecological horrors, and a lot of killer cats.


The Uncanny (1977)

horror

Pictured: The Uncanny (1977)

Directed by Denis Héroux.

The Uncanny is a two-for kind of deal: it works for both National Pet Day (April 11) and Tell a Story Day (April 27). Here we have Peter Cushing‘s character talking at length about the evils of cats, with his three examples fleshing out this singular anthology. And while this film is often mistaken for an Amicus production, it was, in fact, made by The Rank Organisation. However, Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky was also a co-producer.

The Uncanny has a tendency to be one-note in its execution and story styles; vengeful felines come up more than once in the film. Even so, these macabre, cat-centric segments told in EC Comics fashion are more entertaining than not.

Watch The Uncanny at streaming sites such as SCREAMBOX.


The Kirlian Witness (1979)

horror

Pictured: The Kirlian Witness (1979)

Directed by Jonathan Sarno.

The Kirlian Witness (also known as The Plants are Watching) fits the bill when looking for something to watch on International Plant Appreciation Day (April 13). Similar to Eyes of Laura Mars, this film’s story is built on pseudoscience. More specifically, Kirlian photography. Nancy Snyder‘s character Rilla hopes to use this technique — revealing the energy field, or aura, of people and other animate things — to solve her sister’s murder. However, the only witness to the sister’s death, apart from the mysterious killer, is a plant. Rilla’s bizarre investigation eventually leads her to a startling discovery.

Jonathan Sarno’s film is a certified slow-burn, but it’s also intriguing and good-looking. This oddball of crime-solving horror is, at the very least, unique.

The Kirlian Witness is available for rental/purchase (under its alias) at digital retailers like Apple TV.


Scream for Help (1984)

horror

Pictured: Scream for Help (1984)

Directed by Michael Winner.

For Scream Day this year (April 24), why not visit Scream for Help? In this teenage thriller filtered through Death Wish, a Nancy Drew type suspects her stepfather is up to no good. And when her suspicions are proven right, she and her mother have to fight for their lives.

Scream for Help had the makings of a standard ’80s teen-slasher, but this turned out to be more like an “afterschool special meets home invasion” flick. And a hilarious one at that. It was likely not Michael Winner’s intention for this film to be so laugh-a-minute — star Lolita Lorre, bless her heart, has the funniest deliveries — however, trying to keep a straight face during his cinematic hot mess is impossible. Tom Holland‘s script was straight up murdered. Still and all, this is an entertaining disasterpiece that would have been an entirely different film had the original director, Richard Franklin, stayed on (rather than going off to direct Link).

The HD restoration of Scream for Help is available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, but the digital version is standard-def.


Penumbra (2012)

Pictured: Penumbra (2012)

Directed by Ramiro García Bogliano & Adrián García Bogliano.

While it’s advised not to stare at the sun during the solar eclipse on April 8, fans of satirical horror are encouraged to give Penumbra, an Argentinian-Mexican film featuring an imminent solar eclipse, a watch. The unsubtle artwork suggests a straightforward survival story, however, the actual product is quite different and twisty. Cristina Brondo plays a prickly businesswoman who may have made her last sale; her new client has ulterior motives.

Surely some viewers will be put off by the protagonist of Penumbra, whose behavior in anticipation of the ominous eclipse is problematic. Yet, strangely enough, her being an imperfect victim adds something to the film, whereas a more pristine character would have made the whole experience less gripping.

Penumbra is currently available on AMC+.


Strange Nature (2018)

Pictured: Strange Nature (2018)

Directed by James Ojala.

For a less known eco-horror film to watch this Earth Day (April 22), Strange Nature tells its story with both urgency and force. Here, the late Lisa Sheridan (of FreakyLinks) played a struggling single mother looking into a local anomaly: mutated frogs. Soon enough, the cause of this abnormality extends beyond the water and creates other threats for the town’s human residents.

This truly indie production has its obvious limitations, yet the story — one based on a real life incident in Minnesota — and characters compensate for any visual flaws. The practical effects for the mutant beast are also admirable, given the meager resources available.

Strange Nature is currently streaming on Tubi.


No genre is as prolific as horror, so it’s understandable that movies fall through the cracks all the time. That is where this recurring column, Deep Cuts Rising, comes in. Each installment of this series will spotlight several unsung or obscure movies from the past — some from way back when, and others from not so long ago — that could use more attention.

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