(2004)
Review By Paul Cooke Director : Kevin O’Neill Scripted : Frances Doel , Dan Acre & John Huckert Starring : Costas Mandylor , Jane Longneck , Charles Napier , Jake Thomas , Joanna Pacula & Bruce Weitz
‘‘Catch it , Cage it , Kill it’’From the stable of Producer Roger Corman bolts another environmental creature feature , this time with a monster that has a prehistoric attitude that’s as tough as its skin. A DNA accelerated growth hormone is cultured by a modern Doctor Frankenstein played by Bruce Weitz. His patented growth technology food stock is being developed in the cause of feeding the world. The ultimate fast food chain that is grown at such a rate it will enhance the process of from procreation to table in a fraction of the time.
One of Doctor Campbell’s crocodile test subjects escapes from its captivity and is free to roam the surrounding environment of swamp land. Its growth rate is off the chart and soon the Gereco Corporation reserve is host to a new kind of swamp thing !. Time to call in a specialist big croc hunter in the guise of Costas Mandylor. A beefy Australian going by the name of Dick Sydney , armed with all the tools of his trade except for a convincing Australian accent. He teams up with the regional animal control officer Diane , with begrudging assistance from her father played by regular face Charles Napier who just so happens to be the town sheriff.
With the prehistoric mix of super DNA flowing through its system Crocodylus Rex quickly becomes king of the backwoods , feeding off the local poachers and mastering its terrain. Diane’s boyfriends kid brother unfortunately becomes part of the scaly terrors menu as he sneaks out one night in search of his missing three legged dog , ironically called lucky !. The young boy is soon stumped himself , despite a valiant attempt to outsmart the rampaging reptilian , as he becomes gator bait and loses his head.
The bloody discovery raises the stakes in hunting down the killer crocodile , but time is running out as it finds a way out into the residential lake and the opportunity for multi kills. Reminiscent of the beach front sequence from ‘Jaws’ the sheriff has a big problem in keeping the townspeople from panicking. As he races to get the towns folk away from the water Costas Mandylor and crew feverishly hunt the creature down. The pandemonium gives rise to a CGI moment where the now forty foot long super crocodile leap frogs waves thrown up behind a speeding power boat , snappily chomping down on a hapless water skier being pulled behind it. Thrown in at the deep end Dick Sydney gets close enough to carve his initials into the monster crocs skin , showing that that’s definitely what you would call a knife !.
With a relentless surge the monster chomper tears through all in its bloody wake, including creator Bruce Weitz who ends up with the ‘Kill Street Blues’ !. When the sheriff’s fellow officers all fall victim to the jaws with legs its overtime to take radical action and a retaliatory plan is thrown up to bring the monster down once and for all.
The final surge delivers ninety per cent of the crocodile CGI action , very welcome but overall is almost unforgivable by the production company at this late stage. The film is after all about a humongous crocodile with an appetite for flesh yet its under use is both neglectful and unforgivable. ‘Dino Croc’ will leave you shedding a tear for what it could have been , long after the woeful end shot that shows it up as the Croc it is.
Presentation : Full Screen 4:3 Release : Russian DVD Coding : PAL Sound : Dolby Digital 5.1 Extras : Cast Filmography / Trailers For Other Movies
Film: 2.0 BITCH SLAPS Picture: 4.0 BITCH SLAPS Sound: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS Extras: 1.5 BITCH SLAPS Overall: 3.0 BITCH SLAPS
