Prehysteria! (1993) Reviews

• Great Movie

  AJ-922000-08-17

  People can say that this was a bad movie, but I completely disagree. I thought that it was cute, although the dinosaur effects could've been better (ever see Jurassic Park?). Well, they wanted the movie to be cute and seem harmless, so they couldn't give the same vicious effects as "Jurassic Park". This movie is great, if you like animal movies (with dogs or cats) you might not like this movie, but if you like family-oriented comedies and dinosaurs, you might like it. I liked it, and I hope that somebody else does too.

• Where it all began

  RTheManF892008-11-24

  Stardate: Wednesday, November 25, 1998. That was the first time I had ever saw this adorable film, though it is still not my favorite in the series (That trophy goes to Part 3), but still adorable otherwise. I was 9 years old when I first rented it from the now-closed Hollywood Video on Woodway. Anyway, the film starts off with a somewhat typical family of the 90s, The Taylors. The father is widowed and works as a raisin farmer, the son is into Elvis, and the daughter seems to be on the verge of rebellion. But then their lives change when the past comes to them. They discover miniature dinosaurs, which the 2 kids name after various music icons, like Elvis, Paula, Jagger, Hammer, and Madonna. But it's not until the sleazy museum curator, Rico Sarno (Played by Stephen Lee from Dolls, The Pit and the Pendulum, Ghoulies III, Robocop 2) wants them back. He was the one who had originally discovered the eggs that the dinosaurs hatched out of, in South America. Like I said, this film is a childhood favorite. Now that I'm older, I will admit it is silly at times, but what's to expect? It's still the childhood favorite that I remember. Recommended. EXTRAS: The Paramount VHS (Which I own and sourced to DVD-R) has no trailers at the beginning, but the Videozone has an intro by Full Moon CEO Charles Band, where he talks about The Shrunken City and Remote and in depth details about Moonbeam, a behind the scenes, an interview with Peter and Andrea Von Sholly, and a trailer for Remote (1993)

• The Dinosaurs Rock! (But you can speed over the humans.)

  Cylex2001-10-21

  The life-like miniature dinosaurs are a joy to behold but the humans don't do this film any favours. It's obviously aimed at young children and is therefore awful. The dialogue and acting stinks. So the best way to watch is press the fast forward button whenever the cute dinosaurs aren't in shot. They deserve to be in a much better film. On their account I rate this 5 instead of 1.

• Lighten up on this kid's flick

  Dragoneyed3632008-12-28

  I had remembered loving this movie when I was a kid, because I loved dinosaurs in my childhood and had seen a handful of very obscure dinosaur movies aside from the other popular ones, and it had been so long since I had seen Prehysteria! that I asked for it for Christmas. I came to the occurrence that I had seen the movie before by some ad there used to be on Nickelodeon cassettes to the tune of "Happy Days" which featured quick showings of it. I got it on cassette, and pretty soon after, I watched it, expecting to love it as much as I did when I was kid. Let's just say, I certainly did not like it as much as when I was a kid. Well, overall the movie is entertaining and enjoyable; fluffy humor and insipid characters make it laughable, but ultimately failing in it's attempt to be good. The dinosaurs are so cute and lovable, however, that they make the film unable to completely hate, even if they are in lack of decent special effects. The acting was poor at some points, especially from the daughter who I just did not care for at all, but still, the acting is tolerable. The plot was pretty good, so no problems there, and they were able to make some likable characteristics, even if it is definitely not a masterpiece. Prehysteria! is meant for kids, no doubt, for the plain and simple fact that I loved this as a child, and now I thought it was kind of forgettable, but nonetheless, it was not a terrible movie, and if you think you can appreciate it for what it is, give it a view, just watch with an open mind. It is absolutely not as bad as it's rating idolizes it to be, even if it does not deserve amazing reception. I have seen worse, and I have seen better, but this can be enjoyable from time to time, and by that I mean if you ever do watch it more than once make sure you spend a long period of time between watches to grow any sense of appreciation towards it.

• KIDS LOVE DINOSAURS

  kirbylee70-599-5261792018-11-01

  Movie cans are well aware of the name Charles Band but perhaps most people are not. Band was the son of director Albert Band who decided to follow in his father's footsteps beginning in the 70s. In the 80s he came up with a plan to form his own studio, to produce movies for the growing niche market of video stores at the time and to produce so many films before the end of the century. I don't think he quite made his goal but that was not for lack of trying. Beginning under the mantel of Empire Pictures he later changed his productions to fall under the umbrella of Full Moon Pictures. The company had consistent output at first and created several successful series of films, most notably PUPPET MASTER, TRANCERS and SUBSPECIES. In the early 90s Band decided to have a wing of the company that would make nothing but family friendly films featuring science fiction, fantasy and non-horror relater films. He called this branch Moonbeam. Their first film was PREHYSTERIA! and it's making its way back to disc once again. Opportunistic museum curator Rico Sarno (Stephen Lee) is in search of a secret cave in South America. A blow hard of the worst kind and an ugly American as well, he cares nothing about the sacred lands of the people whose caves and tombs he enters. When his guide tells him they can go no further he returns on his own, finds a set of giant eggs in a cave and prepares to steal them. The native finds him but before he can stop him Sarno knocks him unconscious and absconds with the eggs. Cut to Sarno's home town where Frank Taylor (Brett Cullen) is raising his family on a farm, selling fossils he finds to Sarno. His wife having passed away two years earlier Frank has two children to take care of, Monica (Samantha Mills) your typical rebellious teen and Jerry (Austin O'Brien) an Elvis loving all around kid. Vicky (Colleen Morris) who works for Sarno tries to treat Frank fairly but Sarno wants none of it. She also tends to flirt with Frank. Trading in his latest finds and then heading home the Taylor's dog picks up the wrong cooler on the way out. Once home the dog takes the cooler to the basement and lays with the eggs in that cooler, hatching them. Jerry happily finds the result, a group of small dinosaurs. Letting his sister in on the secret it isn't long before the cute little critters make a mess and dad finds out what's going on. In the meantime Sarno is on the rampage looking for the cooler and the eggs, intent on making millions from them. Vicky shows up at the Taylor's house to warn them that Sarno is intent of blaming them for the loss of his cooler. When they show her the dinosaurs she tells them not to let Sarno learn about them because he'll just exploit the animals and not worry about their welfare. Of course it isn't long before Sarno figures out what's going on and brings along two goons to capture the dinosaurs and Vicky as well for good measure. But some way the Taylors will find a method to set things right, save the animals and rescue Vicky. At least we hope. Let's start out by saying that if you view this film only as an adult you'll find it to be only so so. But that's the point, the movie wasn't made just for adults but for kids, for families. Viewed through those eyes the movie is a great success offering some fun for the adults, cute little dinosaurs for the kids and enough mayhem to have the little ones laughing from start to finish. It's no more harmful than the Three Stooges or Abbott & Costello movies we all grew up with. Kids will love it. The thing that makes or breaks a movie like this though is the dinosaurs. Remembering this was the days before major CGI and done on a miniscule budget do they pull it off? Absolutely. A combination of puppetry and stop motion animation bring the tiny creatures to life. Not only that they display different characteristics as well. And they come off as the cuddliest creatures you will find. Hopefully they won't grow to full size though. The film was followed by two sequels and did fairly good business when released. Kids who grew up in the 90s and are adults now will find a certain amount of nostalgia watching this movie. On top of that they will be able to pick it up to share with their kids as well. The movie is being released on blu-ray format and includes just a few extras. Those include previews for other Full Moon titles, an audio commentary track with O'Brien and Band and the Moonbeam Videozone, an extra created at the time to offer a behind the scenes look at each movie being made. If you loved the movie growing up then by all means make sure you pick it up to enjoy again.