Whitsbrain

4/10

"Dinosaurus!" had been on my watchlist for probably more than a decade. As a fan of monster and kaiju movies, this was one of the outliers that had snuck by me. The delay to watch it can be attributed to my knowing exactly what it would be. As expected, this is a super cheesy and overcooked story. It's about a couple of dinosaurs found by Bart, Chuck, and Dumpy during a construction project on a tropical island. This is the type of movie that would be almost impossible for most current-day viewers to sit through. It's such a product of it's time. There's the handsome, rugged duo of Bart and Chuck, the smart and spunky but still vulnerable Betty, and Julio, the little boy with a heart of gold, abused by his evil stepfather. The melodrama is laid on thick. This is seriously one of the corniest movies I've ever watched. Oh, and there's also a caveman who starts out as comedic relief but almost reaches superhero status. Bart ends up saving the day as he battles a Tyrannosaurus to the death by piloting a steam shovel. Think Ripley in "Aliens" minus the suspense. There's moments when the filmmakers tried to add humor, like when the caveman looks for food in a modern home or O'Leary's drunken shenanigans. Most of the laughs come unintentionally, though. For example, the caveman rescues damsel in distress (Betty) from certain death by slamming an axe into the foot of the T-Rex. As she falls from its claws, the caveman catches her and then brings her to his cave (naturally) and proceeds to make her roast him a critter over a fire. Even the caveman knows Betty belongs in the kitchen! There were also a lot of snickers to be had watching the set extras, acting as islanders, reacting to Bart's feats of derring-do. But this movie's draw is supposed to be the dinosaurs and they were pretty much what you'd expect, a combination of stop-motion and puppetry. The stop-motion was passable and it's just such an endearing way to bring creatures to life. It's not as well done as most other movies like this but it's still fun. The use of puppets was surprisingly above average and brought a little personality to the dinosaurs, though the miniatures were subpar even for 1960. Still, if you are fond of the special effects of 60+ years ago, you will enjoy them. On a personal nerdy note, the noise made by the Ichthyosaurus of The Outer Limits Season One episode "Tourist Attraction" (1963) sounds like it was borrowed from the roar of the T-Rex in this movie. Overall, "Dinosaurus!" is the same as most other Sci-Fi movies of its time. It's full of forced, cornball melodrama, made more tolerable by its irresistible effects work.

Wuchak

0/10

_**The “Jurassic Park” of its day**_ While using explosives to build a harbor on a Caribbean island, a construction crew unearths a frozen tyrannosaurus, a brontosaurus and a caveman. They’re eventually regenerated during a storm and naturally terrorize the islanders. Ward Ramsey plays the construction boss and Kristina Hanson his girlfriend. Fred Engelberg is on hand as the abusive island authority. "Dinosaurus!" (1960) is a ‘B’ creature feature with a 50’s residue (being shot in 1959), but it was the “Jurassic Park” of its day, featuring stop-motion & miniature F/X mixed with puppets for close-ups. The story is simple, but it’s compelling entertainment; including a couple of laugh-out-loud moments with the Neanderthal (Gregg Martell). Kristina Hanson is fetching, especially in her one-piece bathing suit in the opening, but more shoulda been done with her than prancing around in a long dress (I’m thinking in terms of Beth Rogan in “Mysterious Island,” which was released the next year). A shot of the Tyrannosaurus was used six years later for the episode of Gilligan’s Island where Gilligan dreamed that the castaways were living in prehistoric times. The film runs 1 hour, 23 minutes and was shot at St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. GRADE: B