In another impossible world where humans and dinosaurs interact in the same time period, a pretty blond woman, Sanna (Victoria Vetri), finds she is to be sacrificed to the sun. Due to a fluke, she manages to escape, where she encounters handsome Tara (Robin Hawden), who belongs to another tribe. Trouble begins because Tara prefers Sanna to his chosen mate, and in due course he earns the enmity of most of his tribe. In the meantime Sanna runs off, takes shelter during a storm inside an eggshell, and finds herself befriended by a newly-hatched dinosaur even as it gets larger and larger. Reunited, Tara and Sanna wind up on the run from his tribe, until a cataclysm signals the creation of the moon.
Essentially a sequel or remake of Hammer's One Million Years, B.C., this is not really a better movie but it got more attention and better reviews,with some critics charmed by the business with Sanna and her pet dinosaur. When I first saw this in theaters on a double-bill with The Valley of Gwangi, I was confused, because it looked like a Ray Harryhausen movie but as soon as a triceratops thundered out of a cave, I could immediately see that the animation wasn't as good. That's because the animation wasn't done by Harryhausen but by Jim Danforth, who was certainly not untalented but never quite as good as the Master. While the animation of the aforementioned triceratops lacks that certain fluidity that marks the best of Harryhausen's work, there are still some very good sequences in this, including Sanna's "pet," who reminds one a bit of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and some deadly scuttling crabs the size of large dogs who even seem to have a bit of nasty personality. There aren't enough monsters in the movie, so a couple of clips from the 1960 Lost World are thrown in for good measure. Vetri, Hawden and the others manage some very effective pantomiming, and there's some limited language among the cave people. Oddly these savages seem to care for one another at times. Mario Nascimbene's score is better than the one he did for One Million Years, B.C., although his overuse of a sound like sticks hitting one another is annoying.
Victoria Vetri had quite a few credits before this picture under the name "Angela Dorian," including Rosemary's Baby. She appeared in Playboy and sort of reinvented herself as Vetri, winning a lead role in Dinosaurs that did nothing for her career. She later shot her husband and is in jail for involuntary manslaughter until 2020. Robin Hawden was essentially a British TV actor who later turned playwright and novelist. In this picture he had a lean, attractive swimmer's built but might have had an entirely different career if he'd had a few muscles! Val Guest directed The Abominable Snowman and many other movies.
Verdict: You get a little bored waiting for the dinosaurs to show up, but there are some good FX. **1/2.
Another dino pic I liked more than you, Bill! At 16 yrs old, about the only reason I thought it was inferior to ONE MILLION YEARS BC (which I loved), was because it didn't have Racquel Welch in it. I actually think the animation is pretty excellent for the time, but agree (from an adult perspective) that the creatures are definitely inferior to Harryhausen's. Except perhaps for the mother dinosaur that adopts Vetri, they simply aren't as well-designed, don't move as dynamically, and don't have the vivid personalities Ray managed to impart. I do have a ton of respect for Jim Danforth, however--and became a fan after seeing this. Later I read about the difficulties he went through making it, and now think he virtually worked real-world magic to make this look as good as it does. The only weaknesses I perceived as a teen were the aforementioned lack of Welch, some very unconvincing matte work (especially in the ocean-going sequences), and the "creation of the moon" being so visually vague that it made the climax a big, muddled letdown--especially after the huge buildup to it. I liked very much the smoothly-moving paddle-foot dinosaur escaping its ropes on the beach at the beginning--it had wonderful night-lighting and I thought I'd never seen anything as colorful and moody with an animated dinosaur before. Vetri's foster-mom dinosaur (not so much its cutesy baby) also impressed me--but it was probably the abundance of jiggly cavewomen in even skimpier outfits than in OMYBC that was the biggest factor in its teenboy appeal. I recall being elated when I heard this was nominated for an Oscar for special effects--and then disgusted when it lost to BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. I finally got this on dvd as a double feature, paired with MOON ZERO TWO, of all things. I was pleasantly shocked that the (very mild) nude scenes removed from the US version had been restored. The dvd case made no mention of it--from the box it could've passed for a children's dinosaur film. Way back when, my friends and I liked to refer to this as WHEN DINOSAURS DROOLED AND SLURPED. Weren't we clever?
ReplyDelete--Mark
As I recall the night-time sequence with the plesiosaur or whatever it was, was nicely done and I should have mentioned it. Danforth has done some very good work -- and there were a couple of others who specialized in stop-motion -- but they never quite came up to the Harryhausen level. Frankly I might have felt bad for Harryhausen if Danforth won the Oscar for doing something the master did only not as well -- I've never seen "Bedknobs" in any case.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever see "Creatures The World Forgot." That was nothing but "jiggly cave women" -- they couldn't afford the dinosaurs!
I tried to watch it, but CREATURES was a hard slog--even the scantily-clad ladies couldn't save it. My memory of it is solely of the cave tribe trudging tiredly through sand dunes and rocky outcrops, and me being overwhelmingly relieved when the film ended. Those animated dinosaurs DID add charm and interest, didn't they?
ReplyDeleteAnd you're absolutely right--if WHEN DINOS had won the Oscar, it would've been awkward. As he was one of Ray's biggest fans, I think even Danforth might've felt guilty. None of that occurred to me at the time, though--I merely wanted animated monsters to win over a mediocre Disney kid flick!
--Mark
Totally understand! Dino flicks never got any respect (although the picture did get surprisingly good reviews)!
ReplyDeleteI saw "Creatures" on a double-bill with something or other in a movie house and I couldn't believe there no "creatures" in it!