Director: Milko Davis
Year: 2018
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: Z/Rex: The Jurassic Dead
Genre: Creature Feature; Zombie
Plot:
After a series of personal setbacks, a scientist who prophesized that a series of impending accidents to wipe out humanity sees them come true forcing a Black Ops unit and travelers into banding together at an abandoned silo that houses a rampaging dinosaur attacking and eating everyone.
Review:
This here wasn't that bad of an effort. One of the more enjoyable aspects here is the dinosaur action, when it occurs, ends up being rather fun throughout here. The opening release of the creature at the sale has some rather fun moments once he brings the creature to life as the gunfire to stop it offers some solid action to open this up, the bunker scenes are a lot of fun and the rampaging creature in the final half alongside the zombies offer up some nice action-packed fun. Those bunker sequences, from a soldier bare-knuckle boxing it to the creature lurching out of the darkness to mangle the intended victims or the different brawls with the zombies coming back to attack manage to offer up even more thrilling kinds of action here during the main part of the film that really needs it. This variety is quite enjoyable offering a different take on these types of scenes instead of relying on the same traditional moments.
As well, there's also the other big plus of the film is the cheesy enough special effects which is to be quite commended throughout here. Rather than dwell on bargain-basement style CGI that really should've been employed here, this decides to go for a largely inanimate model that at least manages to interact with the cast and gives the impression of something being there physically in the shot with people that normally doesn't emerge in these kinds of films. The creature looks decent enough and far better than expected which is the main point here, and it has to be commended on that front. As well as the rather impressive scope of the story which is quite large for this type of film, there's a few solid points here which hold it up over the few minor flaws to be had.
Among the main flaws here is the act that this one just has too many plot points for what should be a rather simple and straightforward storyline. The idea of the serum getting unleashed and bringing about the dinosaurs' rampage should've been the main point of this one, but putting together the backstory at the college, the various interjections with the Black Ops team traveling through the desert and the exploits of the power-plant sealed away in the distance all don't have too much purpose being here in the film. Not only do they complicate matters way too much when it doesn't need to, but there's also the facet of keeping the dinosaur off-screen far longer than it really should for this type of movie. Despite staying interesting for the most part, a movie of this length really doesn't need to have too many subplots keeping it's star attraction off-screen with these issues the way the film does.
The only other problem to be had here is the rather obvious lack of budget to be had in the film. Not only is the film basically drenched in a rather irritated computerized glow that makes it look post-apocalyptic when it doesn't really do anything for the film, but the one-location set used here stands out for just redressing the same setting as the various rooms in the bunker. The main dinosaur itself is obviously a puppet on a rotor that's maneuvered around in a herking manner that gives away the low-budget nature of the whole film, which is then brought home by the eighty minute running time of this one. These here are what manage to hold this down overall.
Overview: ** 1/2/5
With a few solid parts to enjoy here and some underwhelming features that are usually found in these low-budget genre films, this one serves as a wholly serviceable entry. Give it a try if you're willing to go for some of the better elements within this one or find it quite intriguing, while those who are completely turned off by the flaws featured here should avoid this one completely.
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