Monster Movie of the Week: Primeval (2006)

PRIMEVAL (2006)

Director: Michael Katleman

Genre: Natural horror

THE MOVIE

Sadly, not every animal will see its day as an oversized monster in a b-movie. For example, you probably will never see a movie about a giant tarsier that runs amok, killing hundreds of people. There seem to be no shortage however of movies about man-eating alligators and crocodiles. One of the most recent is Primeval and the twist here is that it is based on a true story. The movie was released in 2006 with a truly inept ad campaign that tried to sell the movie as a serial killer thriller.

Domenic Purcell plays a hotshot journalist who is incapable of using more than three buttons on his shirt. He is sent to the African nation of Burundi to cover the “sensational” story of Gustave, a killer croc and his network’s attempts to catch it. Along for the ride is his wisecracking cameraman, a female scientist and a Crocodile Hunter wannabe. They are soon trying to survive not only Gustave but the various warlords and factions vying for control of the area.

The movie is set in Burundi and the overarching theme is that the years of bloodshed and violence have literally fed this monstrous crocodile that has developed a taste for human flesh from feeding on the victims of war and genocide. The movie merges a story about the socio-political situation in Africa with a monster movie about a rampaging 30 foot crocodile. While I think that this is somehow fundamentally exploitative and trivializing, there is something about the allegory of it that works very well. Who said monsters were supposed to be subtle anyway?

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS:

Gustave is basically a big crocodile. So if you’ve seen one on TV or at a zoo you know what to expect. Only really big. He is realized primarily through CGI. Not fantastic effects but pretty good.

MONSTERS FEATURED:

Gustave.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY:

Widely available on DVD. There are some nice extras, including a featurette about how the croc was brought to life.

Also available on Bluray.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE:

Gustave charging across the savanna in pursuit of Orlando Jones. You may have different reactions to this scene depending on how you feel about the often annoying former MadTV cast member and 7-UP spokesman.

7-UP yours, Orlando Jones.

SEQUELS

None.

SEE ALSO

Primeval is part of a long line of crocsploitation movies.

See:

Alligator 1980, Lake Placid 1999, Rogue 2007

Just to name a few. Rogue, in particular is quite good.

TRAILER