KILLERSAURUS (2015)
We’ve already reviewed a pair of Englishman Steve Lawson’s films, Nocturnal Activity and its much better follow-up Hellriser. Now we have KillerSaurus, which is to Roger Corman’s Carnosaur what Carnosaur was to Jurassic Park.
Professor Peterson (Steven Dolton, The Curse of Robert the Doll, Devil’s Tower) is taking 3D printing to a whole new level. he’s not just printing living tissue, he’s about to print a T Rex. Seriously. And he does, but, surprise, surprise, it eats several of his staff. He shuts the project down and it vanishes in a haze of secrecy.
Months later Kayleigh Ma (Helen Crevel, Curse of the Witch’s Doll) still hasn’t gotten over what she saw. So she goes back to talk to Dr. Peterson. She brings along journalist boyfriend Jed (Kenton Hall, Valley Of The Witch). Journalist is really stretching it, he writes tabloid stuff like Michelle Obama: Man Or Woman. Of course, the shadowy group that was funding Peterson is also about to pay a visit. They want not just a T Rex but a “Tier Two Creature” whatever that is.
Saying KillerSaurus was done on the cheap is an understatement. But if you’ve seen any of Lawson’s films then you know to expect that. And he knows it and fits the script to the budget, something more filmmakers needs to learn how to do. That does mean we get a lab that looks like an old warehouse complete with a garage door and fog machine. And plenty of silly “scientific” dialogue explaining how they managed to create the beast.
We get to see a fair bit of the T Rex. It’s a puppet of some sort not CGI for a change. It’s a value judgment whether you prefer its limited mobility to it looking like a bad cartoon character. Speaking for myself, I’m sick of bad CGI.
In case I haven’t made it clear, this is one for low, hell, micro-budget fans. Go in expecting something resembling a silly B movie from VHS days and you should be happy with KillerSaurus. Expect anything resembling the cover art and you probably won’t be.
KillerSaurus is available from 88 Films in the UK and Wild Eye Releasing in North America. It’s also available from streaming services such as Amazon.