Pterodactyl (2022) by Sophie Storm K

Director: Sophie Storm K.

Year: 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Dinosaur

Plot:

Looking for her missing sister, a woman and some friends head to a remote section of the countryside to find her after the authorities won’t help her, but the more they look into the incident they find the area overrun by giant pterosaurs controlled by superstitious locals and must get away alive.

Review:

This was a pretty fun cheesy creature feature. One of the better features here is the solid setup that carries on the tradition of providing a decent way of getting everyone out to the countryside where they can be attacked by the creatures. Getting the kind of start-up here with the missing sister dragging them out to the remote English countryside where the unnatural behavior is seen as enough justification to get everyone out to this part of the woods, this not only accomplishes that task but also allows the kind of build-up about the group so we can get an idea about who they are and what they’re doing there. While that’s not always a good thing, the central idea generated from all of this is well enough to provide a solid series of plotlines to get this one going.

That allows the creature action here to be quite enjoyable focusing on the cheesy nature of the concept at play. With the specific creatures identified early on and bringing about a rather fun type of confrontation where the flying swarm appears out of the sky to grab and bite at their victim before flying away with the body that’s ripped to pieces in the process, this all comes together quite nicely to generate some fun sequences. As there’s a nice bit of suspense involving the creatures stalking them first through the mountainous, rocky terrain present before the subsequent attack, it takes a nice bit of suspense to the type of cheese present for the creatures to give the film a lot to like.

There are some detrimental factors to be had with this one. The main drawback to this one is the sluggish first half which doesn't do much in the way of building a cohesive storyline. While building up the idea of the sister being missing and no one willing to tell them the truth, the main mindset here is on stifling the pace to get this corrupt, incompetent set of local authority in the area unwilling to get out and do their duty in the face of an obvious emergency which holds up the action to a distressing degree. Even more apparent during this section is the lack of genuine friendship displayed during this section between the girls who spend a lot of the time arguing and complaining about the situation to the point that it’s hard to believe they're genuine friends with how they interact with each other.

The last drawback to the film is the sheer lack of explanation for the group responsible for tending to the creatures all along. With the introduction here treated to us so late in the film and given so little thought that it’s just impossible to figure out what the whole point is, this feels so confusing that the counterpoint about their presence there is rightfully brought up to where it’s so easy to outwit them and renders them completely irrelevant. As well, there are also the other expected issues here with the lackluster CGI including size and dimension changes depending on the scene being featured, clunky animation for normal activities, or being forced to perform unnatural motions or behavior to suit the sequence, none of these are truly detrimental but still stick out overall here.

Overview: ***.5/5

A perfectly cheesy indie creature feature, this one manages to contain the hallmarks of the genre necessary to be worthwhile while only being let down by its cheesy qualities for the most part. Those with an affinity for this type of genre approach or appreciate the style attempted here will be the main audience for this one while most others out there should heed caution.