Movie cans are well aware of the name Charles Band but
perhaps most people are not. Band was the son of director Albert Band who
decided to follow in his father’s footsteps beginning in the 70s. In the 80s he
came up with a plan to form his own studio, to produce movies for the growing
niche market of video stores at the time and to produce so many films before
the end of the century. I don’t think he quite made his goal but that was not
for lack of trying.
Beginning under the mantel of Empire Pictures he later
changed his productions to fall under the umbrella of Full Moon Pictures. The
company had consistent output at first and created several successful series of
films, most notably PUPPET MASTER, TRANCERS and SUBSPECIES. In the early 90s
Band decided to have a wing of the company that would make nothing but family
friendly films featuring science fiction, fantasy and non-horror relater films.
He called this branch Moonbeam. Their first film was PREHYSTERIA! and it’s
making its way back to disc once again.
Opportunistic museum curator Rico Sarno (Stephen Lee) is in
search of a secret cave in South America. A blow hard of the worst kind and an
ugly American as well, he cares nothing about the sacred lands of the people
whose caves and tombs he enters. When his guide tells him they can go no
further he returns on his own, finds a set of giant eggs in a cave and prepares
to steal them. The native finds him but before he can stop him Sarno knocks him
unconscious and absconds with the eggs.
Cut to Sarno’s home town where Frank Taylor (Brett Cullen)
is raising his family on a farm, selling fossils he finds to Sarno. His wife
having passed away two years earlier Frank has two children to take care of,
Monica (Samantha Mills) your typical rebellious teen and Jerry (Austin O’Brien)
an Elvis loving all around kid. Vicky (Colleen Morris) who works for Sarno
tries to treat Frank fairly but Sarno wants none of it. She also tends to flirt
with Frank. Trading in his latest finds and then heading home the Taylor’s dog
picks up the wrong cooler on the way out.
Once home the dog takes the cooler to the basement and lays
with the eggs in that cooler, hatching them. Jerry happily finds the result, a
group of small dinosaurs. Letting his sister in on the secret it isn’t long
before the cute little critters make a mess and dad finds out what’s going on.
In the meantime Sarno is on the rampage looking for the cooler and the eggs,
intent on making millions from them.
Vicky shows up at the Taylor’s house to warn them that Sarno
is intent of blaming them for the loss of his cooler. When they show her the
dinosaurs she tells them not to let Sarno learn about them because he’ll just
exploit the animals and not worry about their welfare.
Of course it isn’t long before Sarno figures out what’s
going on and brings along two goons to capture the dinosaurs and Vicky as well
for good measure. But some way the Taylors will find a method to set things
right, save the animals and rescue Vicky. At least we hope.
Let’s start out by saying that if you view this film only as
an adult you’ll find it to be only so so. But that’s the point, the movie
wasn’t made just for adults but for kids, for families. Viewed through those
eyes the movie is a great success offering some fun for the adults, cute little
dinosaurs for the kids and enough mayhem to have the little ones laughing from
start to finish. It’s no more harmful than the Three Stooges or Abbott &
Costello movies we all grew up with. Kids will love it.
The thing that makes or breaks a movie like this though is
the dinosaurs. Remembering this was the days before major CGI and done on a
miniscule budget do they pull it off? Absolutely. A combination of puppetry and
stop motion animation bring the tiny creatures to life. Not only that they
display different characteristics as well. And they come off as the cuddliest
creatures you will find. Hopefully they won’t grow to full size though.
The film was followed by two sequels and did fairly good
business when released. Kids who grew up in the 90s and are adults now will
find a certain amount of nostalgia watching this movie. On top of that they
will be able to pick it up to share with their kids as well.
The movie is being released on blu-ray format and includes
just a few extras. Those include previews for other Full Moon titles, an audio
commentary track with O’Brien and Band and the Moonbeam Videozone, an extra
created at the time to offer a behind the scenes look at each movie being made.
If you loved the movie growing up then by all means make sure you pick it up to
enjoy again.
No comments:
Post a Comment