I usually don’t get excited about films from The Asylum, just the opposite in fact. But the trailer for Triassic Hunt caught my attention. Mercenaries pitted against intelligent dinosaurs was an idea with plenty of potential. And, it’s a sequel of sorts to Triassic World which was one of the few Asylum films I liked. I hoped it would live up to the original.
The fact Triassic Hunt features appearances by Linnea Quigley (The Good Things Devils Do, Camp Twilight) and Michael Paré (Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, The Debt Collector) didn’t hurt either. Paré’s appearance here after a string of Rene Perez shitfests like Once Upon a Time in Deadwood and The Insurrection may mark the first time a role in an Asylum film was a step back up the career ladder for a performer.
While being transported across L.A. Ozzie and Harriet, two genetically recreated Allosauruses become agitated and break loose making quick work of the entire security detail. Granted it only consisted of one guy, Harrison (Mike Ferguson, The Beast Beneath, The Devil’s Heist) but this is a low-budget movie.
Survivors Simone (Linnea Quigley, The New York Ninja, Dead by Midnight (Y2Kill)) and Dr. Kelso (Kristie Krueger, The Jane Games, Little Bi Peep) order Luis (Ramiro Leal, Apocalypse of Ice) to call in the rest of his team Joy, a badass female (Sienna Farall, Errors of the Human Body, Insidious: Chapter 2) who has history with Deacon (Sam Schweikert, Ice Cream Truck). There’s a Russian, Karl (Todd Karner), an Asian Nick (William Jeon) who comes complete with a katana and Gordon (Kevin Keeling) a long-haired country boy.
If the dinosaurs get out of the industrial park and into the surrounding neighbourhood it’ll be a bloodbath. But that’s just what CEO Jordan Freedman (Michael Paré) wants. What better way to prove what excellent weapons his company’s creations are?
Director Gerald Rascionato (Claw, Open Water 3: Cage Dive) along with writers Ward Anderson (Doctor Death) and Marc Morgenstern (Vitals) get things off to a fast start. Unlike a lot of Asylum films that take forever to get moving, Triassic Hunt has boots and claws on the ground within the first few minutes.
Plotwise there’s nothing groundbreaking going on here. The hired guns stalk the Allosauruses through big empty warehouses. The creatures turn up at all the wrong moments and start killing them off. And it slowly begins to occur to them that the Triassic Corporation may have set them up and the giant lizards aren’t the only cold-blooded creatures they’re dealing with.
The CGI dinosaurs for the most part aren’t as bad as the ones in a lot of similar films, but they still leave a bit to be desired. The ones we see in footage from Triassic World actually look better. As do the attack scenes. Triassic Hunt is actually fairly tame in terms of gore, which was a disappointment for me.
Triassic Hunt isn’t a bad film, it’s just not anything special either. Granted, for The Asylum that’s a big improvement but it doesn’t change things. It’s a watchable, but by the numbers film where you can guess what’s going to happen long before it does. And it builds to one of those endings that feels good for about thirty seconds before you realize a few hundred innocent people were sacrificed in it as well. If you need a fix of dino action Triassic Hunt will keep you watching the screen instead of your phone, especially if you have some beer nearby. Just don’t expect it to do much else.
Triassic Hunt is available to stream with other options scheduled for May. You can check The Asylum’s Facebook page or website for more info.