(1993)
1.5
Brian J. Dillard
The only way to tell that this isn't the Steven Spielberg blockbuster that it so shamelessly rips off -- besides, of course, the lack of pioneering special effects, A-list stars, and intelligent screenwriting -- is the unrelenting bleakness of the final scene. There are few ways to improve upon the universally beloved Spielberg, but axing his cheesy, upbeat endings is certainly one of them. That said, Carnosaur elicits a low-budget fascination all its own. Far closer in tone and production design to The X-Files than to that other 1993 dinosaur movie, this avowedly "B" production manages to slip in lots of enjoyably bad special effects and even moments of early-Cronenberg weirdness between its lengthy stretches of exposition. The only cast member of note is Diane Ladd, who goes way over the top in the role of a ruthless genetic engineer. Leave it to executive producer Roger Corman to make a quickie horror-action movie about mutant chickens -- and to get an Oscar-nominated actress to over-emote in it.
Carnosaur on AllMovie
Carnosaur (1993)
