Search - Carnosaur on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1993 DVD Release: 04/18/2000 Format: DVD Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 23 mins Studio: New Concorde Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Horror, Thriller, Creature Film, Sci-Fi Horror

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

Diane Ladd - Dr. Jane Tiptree
Raphael Sbarge - "Doc" Smith
Jennifer Runyon - Thrush
Harrison Page - Sheriff Fowler
Clint Howard - Friar

Adam Simon's low-budget Jurassic Park knockoff Carnosaur comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. There are neither subtitles nor closed captions on this release. Supplemental materials include biographies of the cast, and the theatrical trailer. This is a by-the-numbers, but inexpensive release from New Concorde Home Entertainment. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide