"Monsters of Carnage" a.k.a. "Monsters of Carnage: The Dinobeast" is currently available on Amazon Prime and I think is probably a good choice for "watch before you buy", so here's your chance. This movie is likely gold to its target audience and a best a disturbing curiosity to anyone else.
Most of the plot is pretty straight forward, monster hunters and treasure hunters clash in the woods while being picked off by a legendary beastie. Fun, right? Throw in some all knowing townspeople who are hiding something and you have a real 70s drive-in throw back. But this movie takes a page from the old 1970 movie "Bigfoot", starring John Carradine and Joi Lansing. In that movie the titular creature is seeking out human women to mate with. In "The Dinobeast", things get graphic. If you've ever seen my movie, "Alien Vengeance" and found the initial probe scene to be disturbing, then expect this one to cause you to really squirm in your seat.
Ratings on IMDB are pretty respectable with a 5.2 average, but there is only one actual review and it's pretty short, starting with the phrase, "It's awful!" A lot of the rest of that review is inaccurate. The movie is not "dimly-lit". In fact, most of it takes place outside during the day. "Overcast" perhaps, but lit by nature most of the time. The same review claims there are "no F/X to speak of." Amazon reviewers were largely less kind than IMDB raters, so here I am adding my opinion to the pile. Now that I've reviewed the reviews, back to the movie.
To start, the score was mostly awful, but I'm going to guess that if you're a fan Skullhouse pictures, you'll like the music. I honestly fast forwarded the opening the credits just to not have to hear it. The rest of the audio is a mixed bag. Some is inaudible, but most of the time you can hear what people are saying. It's not polished audio, but it's there and gets the lines across.
The aforementioned F/X actually do deserve some speaking of. Some of them are hokey, straight from the Halloween store F/X, but there were one or two inspired bits of gore (accompanied by screeching musical score). The monster suit was outstandingly cheesy, but menacing. True to the movie's drive-in vibe. Lots of teeth, big claws and a sort of "shell" like body that makes you believe bullets might not be all that effective.
Aside from the monster, the rest of the characters are pretty two dimensional. The mercenaries are cardboard cutouts of movie mercenaries. One of them even wears a Rambo-esque Bandana. The monster hunters are similar. The smart girl, the dumb hunk, the sleazy professor who gets them all into trouble in the first place, etc. And the townsfolk are the keepers of the secrets we've come to expect in movies like this. I will say this, the cast was huge for an obviously independent movie. Lots of characters to keep track of and lots of potential food for The Dinobeast. As for the acting among this huge cast, well, it runs the gamut. We have some terrible acting with one character saying lines and clearly emphasizing words that seem like they changed the intent of the statement to downright talented people turning in pretty strong performances. Most of the younger members of the cast who seem uncomfortable with their craft clearly have "something" that can develop into talent with time. Others appear to have wanted to be in a movie and knew somebody. The scenes in the bar seemed to have the largest range of emotions and the most actual acting going on. I know that outdoor scenes can be distracting because you're afraid of being too loud and most of the time a mosquito is buzzing in your ear. Heck, on "Lumber vs Jack" we had an orange cat that would constantly visit and waltz through the scene when we were supposed to be deep in the woods.
So, if you can stand the musical score, forgive 2 dimensional characters, deal with large variations in acting ability and aren't scared off by the idea of a monster trying to impregnate human women, give Tommy Brunswick's "Monsters of Carnage: The Dinobeast" a spin.
I couldn't find a trailer on YouTube for Dinobeast, so here's one for my movie "Alien Vengeance". Check it out, back when I made this, I thought music like this was cool. Maybe it's my age.
Most of the plot is pretty straight forward, monster hunters and treasure hunters clash in the woods while being picked off by a legendary beastie. Fun, right? Throw in some all knowing townspeople who are hiding something and you have a real 70s drive-in throw back. But this movie takes a page from the old 1970 movie "Bigfoot", starring John Carradine and Joi Lansing. In that movie the titular creature is seeking out human women to mate with. In "The Dinobeast", things get graphic. If you've ever seen my movie, "Alien Vengeance" and found the initial probe scene to be disturbing, then expect this one to cause you to really squirm in your seat.
Ratings on IMDB are pretty respectable with a 5.2 average, but there is only one actual review and it's pretty short, starting with the phrase, "It's awful!" A lot of the rest of that review is inaccurate. The movie is not "dimly-lit". In fact, most of it takes place outside during the day. "Overcast" perhaps, but lit by nature most of the time. The same review claims there are "no F/X to speak of." Amazon reviewers were largely less kind than IMDB raters, so here I am adding my opinion to the pile. Now that I've reviewed the reviews, back to the movie.
To start, the score was mostly awful, but I'm going to guess that if you're a fan Skullhouse pictures, you'll like the music. I honestly fast forwarded the opening the credits just to not have to hear it. The rest of the audio is a mixed bag. Some is inaudible, but most of the time you can hear what people are saying. It's not polished audio, but it's there and gets the lines across.
The aforementioned F/X actually do deserve some speaking of. Some of them are hokey, straight from the Halloween store F/X, but there were one or two inspired bits of gore (accompanied by screeching musical score). The monster suit was outstandingly cheesy, but menacing. True to the movie's drive-in vibe. Lots of teeth, big claws and a sort of "shell" like body that makes you believe bullets might not be all that effective.
Aside from the monster, the rest of the characters are pretty two dimensional. The mercenaries are cardboard cutouts of movie mercenaries. One of them even wears a Rambo-esque Bandana. The monster hunters are similar. The smart girl, the dumb hunk, the sleazy professor who gets them all into trouble in the first place, etc. And the townsfolk are the keepers of the secrets we've come to expect in movies like this. I will say this, the cast was huge for an obviously independent movie. Lots of characters to keep track of and lots of potential food for The Dinobeast. As for the acting among this huge cast, well, it runs the gamut. We have some terrible acting with one character saying lines and clearly emphasizing words that seem like they changed the intent of the statement to downright talented people turning in pretty strong performances. Most of the younger members of the cast who seem uncomfortable with their craft clearly have "something" that can develop into talent with time. Others appear to have wanted to be in a movie and knew somebody. The scenes in the bar seemed to have the largest range of emotions and the most actual acting going on. I know that outdoor scenes can be distracting because you're afraid of being too loud and most of the time a mosquito is buzzing in your ear. Heck, on "Lumber vs Jack" we had an orange cat that would constantly visit and waltz through the scene when we were supposed to be deep in the woods.
So, if you can stand the musical score, forgive 2 dimensional characters, deal with large variations in acting ability and aren't scared off by the idea of a monster trying to impregnate human women, give Tommy Brunswick's "Monsters of Carnage: The Dinobeast" a spin.
I couldn't find a trailer on YouTube for Dinobeast, so here's one for my movie "Alien Vengeance". Check it out, back when I made this, I thought music like this was cool. Maybe it's my age.
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