"DINOCROC"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Costas Mandylor as DICK SYDNEY Bruce Weitz as DR. CAMPBELL Charles Napier as SHERIFF HARPER Jane Longenecker as DIANE HARPER Matt Borlenghi as TOM BANNING Jake Thomas as MICHAEL BANNING Max Perlich as DEPUTY KERRIGAN Joanna Pacula as PAULA KENNEDY Rated R Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment Directed by: Kevin O’Neill Back to DVD Review Home |  |
With a name like “Dinocroc,” you know you ain’t getting “2001: A Space Odyssey.” You’re not even getting “2001: A Space Travesty.” Heck, it’s a Roger Corman film – says so right on the box.
“Dinocroc” was released along with some classic Corman films like “Death Race 2000” and “Big Bad Mama.” It’s the most recent of the bunch, but it still delivers the same cheesiness and corniness you’ve come to love (or hate) in a Corman film. Sadly, it’s not worthy of comparison to the classics like “Death Race,” but you’ve gotta market it somehow.
To evaluate a film like “Dinocroc,” you have to put it on a different scale than your normal films out there. It can’t be held up against something like “Sling Blade.” It’s a completely different audience. Rather, it can be scaled against other films from Roger Corman – from the 1994 disaster of “Fantastic Four” to the goofy SciFi Channel original pieces like “Black Scorpion.”
The film tells the story of a genetic research lab that is developing a rapid growth hormone. One of its subjects escapes from the lab and enters a wildlife preserve nearby. This massive predator is now hunting more than just deer on the preserve. The corporation brings in a famous reptile hunter to subdue the creature, but it becomes more complicated.
There’s a predictable romance between the animal control ranger (Jane Longenecker) and her ex-boyfriend, and they take up way too much screen time to have too much fun with this film. The movie doesn’t hold a candle to other massive predator movies like “Jaws,” but it might be comparable to some of its sequels. It’s about the same caliber as “Red Water,” a TV movie several years back about a shark that swims up river to a quiet community.
The film initially came out in 2004, and it’s about what you’d expect from a direct-to-DVD science fiction horror flick. There’s nothing too scary or gory in the movie, but it delivers some good shocker scenes. Plus, the scenes are uncut in their R-rated glory, not like what might have been shown on the SciFi Channel.
Still, the brilliance of something like “Dinocroc” is that you aren’t leading anyone down a path they shouldn’t already expect. There’s a giant crocodile on the cover box, right under Roger Corman’s name. No one is expecting Shakespeare from this.
The thing that definitely saves the film are several death scenes that may have awkward special effects but are well conceived. Fans of the Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire” will get to see the end of Lizzie’s annoying brother Matt in one of the best death scenes on DVD today.
“Dinocroc” comes with no special features, which gives little extra reason to check it out. So, if you don’t like stupid monster movies, skip this one.
Specifications: Dolby Digital Stereo Sound. Widescreen (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
