Carnosaur 3: Primal Species

• Directed by Jonathan Winfrey
• November 5, 1996

A military team is sent to recover a stolen military shipment that turns out to be genetically reconstructed dinosaurs.

The story of Carnosaur 3: Primal Species isn’t all that different from Carnosaur 2. There are a few minor changes, but this third and final film in the series is not a new experience. This time rather than an isolated facility for the action they need to clean up a warehouse on the loading dock before action shifts to a boat. It’s all about killing ‘dinosaurs’ and people getting killed. I cannot help but think how this all began with a virus whose cure was lost when the survivor got killed yet no mention of a virus now.

A team of heroic hardened soldiers is led by Scott ‘Nick Moore from ‘Family Ties’’ Valentine as Colonel Rance Higgins. Valentine aims for a tough-as-nails soldier while ending up sounding like a Sylvester Stallone imitation. It kind of works in a Roger Corman produced film. As the leader of a counterterrorism team, he thinks his team is going to retrieve a truck with stolen uranium that actually has dinosaurs that were quite awake and free roaming when it was stolen. Make that make sense.

I can buy that Higgins and his men are some kind of special unit with them dressed all in black. I just have issue with the Marines that eventually show up and their uniforms. Maybe it’s because their uniforms look a little too clean or fresh. Maybe there’s just something generic about them, but I have trouble with my suspension of disbelief when it comes to them.

These creatures are supposedly vicious killers but the pools and splatter are rather dainty like somebody made a spot with no thought to authenticity. When we see blood squirt it is painfully obvious someone is tossing it from off camera. What should be a burst artery is a casual dump of liquid. The cheapest of cheap effects speeding up the film would’ve helped. Or a squeeze bottle. Nobody had a dollar to spare? I am fascinated how mild the gore is in this. Not heavy on the entrails but heavy on the red and wet and even that is tepid given they are dealing with ferocious predators.

Once again they make the dinosaurs difficult to see. When Jurassic Park came out and mixed CGI with high-quality dinosaur animatronics, something with a guy in a rubber suit that flails around was not going to cut it. Their performance reminds me of any number of videos floating around the internet of people in cheaper T-Rex costumes.

To get into this, you really must use your imagination and pretend it doesn’t look as cheap as it does. I mean that. Between the rubber seats and the empty building that doesn’t look like it’s been used very much if ever, it’s hard to buy that this is a warehouse and these are actually dinosaurs of any type.

Obviously we need a scientist to sell the bull so enter Dr. Hodges (Janet Gunn). You know she’s a scientist because she has glasses on and calls the creatures velociraptors and a tyrannosaurus. It’s a little confusing because even she admits they are genetic re-creations meaning they’re not velociraptors or tyrannosaurus unless there is something she knows that the rest of the audience has not been told.

There is a level of trashy fun. Most of the acting is passable, and the action is not bad. It just fails at keeping you from thinking it is dumb at times. It is a real shame. Corman never went for ‘classic.’ He aimed to make a buck which hurt this production. I think it would be much better if a little effort was put into dressing things up. Show the offices and make it look like it’s a government office. Just don’t have super tight shots of anything! Find someplace that looks used. I’m any warehouse would be willing to take a couple of bucks rather than let it sit empty indefinitely. 

Carnosaur 3: Primal Species is more of the same but it’s a mostly enjoyable more of the same. Not as good as number two, but certainly an improvement over the first film. If you’re looking to waste 100 minutes of your day this isn’t a bad option.