Director: Mark Polonia
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Dinosaurs
Plot:
After being uncovered during a project, the bones of a massive Tyrannosaurus skeleton are housed at a local museum, but when a local cult sees that as the chance to unleash the beast on transgressors bring it to life and forces a priest, a cop, and other survivors to stop the dinosaur.
Review:
This was a fairly intriguing low-budget genre effort. Among the better factors here is a twisty and far more engaging storyline than expected for this kind of genre effort, with several really fun elements put together. The central setup, involving the discovery of the bones during a renovation project and being housed at a local museum, which signals a deadly cult to feel as though a special prophecy is at hand that will require them to reanimate the skeleton and go on a rampage, striking back against those who challenge them, is a really solid idea on its own. That this introduces several unifying plot-threads tying this into other films from the director's past works, including a priest who battled against an evil cult previously and a group of survivors from a botched Mafia robbery in town connects these into a unique and solid storyline.
That makes the whole series of attacks here come together quite well. The series of occult practices and rituals used to reanimate the skeletal bones and bring the flesh-and-blood animal to life is a solid touch to help make the whole thing feel more supernatural than just a regular rampaging dinosaur film, and it takes out the special cult member who resurrected it, setting this off on a nice note. The resulting series of chases and confrontations around the museum manages to offer up the kind of cheesy setpieces and sequences that this type of film works well on, as the too-large dinosaur continually marches through the cramped corridors and hallways of the museum looking for the group, generating a few solid moments trying to get to safety through some creative ideas. It all makes this quite fun for what it is.
There are a few big factors here that bring this down. The main idea that brings this one down is the generally obvious and infuriating AI being used here for the gore in the kills, featuring bodies being distorted in some obnoxious manner that highlights its usage. Trying to use it to merge the film clips from the previous films, it tries to tie its lineage to means that some of the different outcomes here are hard to sync up with the new footage in this particular film, leaving this a valiant effort, but way too obvious about what it’s trying to do. That also exists with the film’s other obviously cheap, low-budget origins, from the dinosaur effects of the creature changing size, shape, or dimensions depending on what it’s trying to do, the glaring CGI enhancements to some of the more overt spectacle sequences, and the one-location placement, and when combined with the ludicrous nature of the story itself, all manage to bring this one down overall.
Overview: **.5/5
A cheap and charming genre effort, there’s a lot to like here in this particular style, as the main elements that hold it back do give this enough pause to keep it from being what it could’ve. Those who appreciate this kind of genre fare or who are fans of the creative crew will have the most to get out of this one, while most others out there should outright avoid this one.
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