Rating: R
Genre:
Thriller
Release Date: 04/15/2000
Dubbed: English
Sound: 2
Run Time: 83 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: New Concorde
One of the more popular features from
Roger Corman's "B"-factory
Concorde/New Horizons,
Carnosaur perpetuates the grand
Corman tradition of zeroing in on a big-budget Hollywood studio moneymaker, then dashing off a quick-and-dirty poor man's version before moss gets a chance to grow on the larger film's concept. This bargain-basement spin on
Jurassic Park was actually based on a novel by
John Brosnan (under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight). It features
Diane Ladd (whose daughter
Laura Dern took the high road on
Spielberg's film) as a kooky mad scientist whose experiments on human and dinosaur DNA result in dual disasters -- first, a rubbery midget Tyrannosaurus bred from dinosaur and chicken DNA (imagine the barbecue potential!) which escapes the lab and goes on the requisite bloody rampage; and second, a specially-engineered virus with the ability to replace human beings with dino-babies. Although this exploitation quickie doesn't waste too much time delivering the standard
Corman cargo (blood and breasts), the mayhem is too often derailed by endless genetic techno-babble from
Ladd, whose freaked-out performance is the film's sole plus. The downbeat ending is pure '80s, and paves the way for the inevitable sequels.
~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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