DVD Review: Primeval

By Jeff Swindoll Jun 13, 2007, 23:03 GMT

Inspired by the true story of a legendary 25-foot man-eating crocodile comes the intense, terrifying horror movie PRIMEVAL, starring Dominic Purcell (TV\'s PRISON BREAK) and Orlando Jones (RUNAWAY JURY, EVOLUTION). An American news crew, determined to capture this voracious monster and stop his demonic rampage, travel deep within the darkest reaches of Africa to hunt their prey. But Gustave, as the natives call him, is also on the hunt — ...more

The giant killer crocodile (or alligator as the case may be) genre gets one more member with the release of Primeval.  It also adds another film to the Orlando Jones filmography which is just about as bad. 

What the back of the box says:
“Inspired by the true story of a legendary 25-foot man-eating crocodile comes the intense, terrifying horror movie Primeval, starring Dominic Purcell (TV's Prison Break) and Orlando Jones (Runaway Jury, Evolution). An American news crew, determined to capture this voracious monster and stop his demonic rampage, travel deep within the darkest reaches of the African jungle to hunt their prey.

But Gustave, as the natives call him, is also on the hunt - always on the move, always elusive, always hungry for human flesh. Heart-pounding fear is nonstop in this edge-of-your-seat nail-biter about the cunning killer who continues killer who continues to blaze his blood-soaked trail of terror.”

Gustave is based on the true story of a giant crocodile that was found in Burundi, Africa.  He was 23 feet long and weighed over one ton.  Supposedly he’s still alive and in the Ruzizi River and feeding on tourists and other inhabitants of Burundi.  This beast, of mythological proportions, was actually sighted last in April 2007 (I don’t suppose he was invited to the film’s premiere?). 

Since the film is based on these true life events it has the moniker “based on a true story” at its beginning but it’s pure fiction (besides that there’s one frickin’ huge crocodile in it who just might autograph you DVD by biting a chunk out of it).  A white female anthropologist is hunting for mass graves in Burundi when her unfortunate shovel strike discovers an enormous crocodile who is not particularly happy to be awoken. 

Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) is a reporter with a problem, seems he is in hot water for using a less than reliable source for a story.  He’s called into his boss’ office thinking the worst but finds that he’s been given another assignment, but it’s basically punishment for his story screwup. He’s to accompany wildlife reporter Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton) to investigate the death of the anthropologist by the giant crocodile. 

Soon Tim and his faithful cameraman Steven Johnson (Orlando Jones) are winging their way to Africa to get footage of our reptilian friend.  In Africa they meet up with croc expert Matthew Collins (Gideon Emery) and great white hunter Jacob Krieg (Jurgen Prochnow).  Not only do they have to deal with Gustave the crocodile, but a local warlord dubbed Little Gustave - who is also murdering people in the bush.

When my kid saw the giant beastie on the screen she wondered if it and Jaws were somehow related.  I had to think the same thing myself but for different reasons since the script bears a striking resemblance to the giant, killer shark movie.  Even Jurgen Prochnow seemed to be playing the Robert Shaw part, complete with similar back story in that he has a history with Gustave. 

The film uses some tried and true (or it that tired and true?) hallmarks of the giant monster film in the various attacks and chases that big Gustave makes the cast run through.  It’s nothing new, but it does entertain.  However, I doubt that you’ll want to watch it a second time. 

Primeval is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include the 9 minute “Crocumentary: Bringing Gustave to Life” which interviews a bunch of people that they don’t identify(you’ll recognize the stars from the movie) about bringing Gustave to CGI life.  Next are 5 minutes of deleted scenes with a forced commentary by director Michael Katleman and visual effects supervisor Paul Linden. 

You can’t turn if off and it suppresses the dialogue of the deleted scenes – how annoying.  Finally there’s a commentary on the feature with Katleman and Linden. 

Though it’s nothing new, it does have a certain entertainment factor and is rather well shot.  However, I’d only recommend Primeval to lovers of the giant killer croc genre.

Primeval is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.