GL84 Following a disastrous affair, a team of journalists are sent to Africa to track down a vicious crocodile terrorizing the locals only to come under fire from a local warlord using the area as his own personal playground and must try to dodge both threats to get out alive.This is a really underrated creature feature that does have a lot to offer. This one has a pretty impressive feat in that there's a unique spin on it where rather than the creature showing up at a particular location where others are gathered together, this one takes place where the croc calls home. It's a surprising idea and all the fun from this is a cause from it, and that extends into the big reasoning for this one being so underrated which is all the action the film has. The early parts of the film, where the attempts to capture it result in some really big action scenes are rather fun with the opening attack inside the body-filled pit is really great, the group's first trap attempt is quite creepy and chilling and a chase through the jungle comes at the tail end of a huge gunfight with the warlord's henchmen isn't that bad either. The big one is the spectacular assault on the floating campground since it's on the water where there's a lot of opportunities for action from these scenes and they are just plain great as well with the surprise charge and the gunfire to hold it off before taking out the walkways and then leading into the charge against their hideout makes this a highlight that is quite fun. Even the rather fun and frantic finale, which is the big encounter in the bush surrounding the swamplands in the driving rain where they encounter both the creature and the henchmen in some rather fun and exciting scenes that really do end this on a high-note. The few croc attacks here result in some really graphic kills while the non-croc kills aren't that bad either, leaving this one with numerous amounts of bloodshed throughout here. These here all make it really underrated as this one here doesn't have a whole lot of flaws, and those aren't that bad. The main factor against it is that this one has a whole lot of really bad quick- cutting during the big action scenes that are nearly impossible to see at times, and along with the use of extreme close- ups there's not a lot to see during these. As these are the film's big moments, it has a real tendency to drag down. There's not a whole lot of surprise in the final twist in the film, which is one that could be seen coming from a mile away, and is so un-shocking that not even the characters offer up any surprise at it, merely taking it for granted that it happened. That alone speaks enough of how good it is. The last flaw is that, despite delivering some of the goriest moments in the film, there really should've been more crocodile kills. It gets only a few, and these are the real gory ones, but it doesn't have the majority, and for it's own film that is a little sad. Overall, these aren't that bad and make it somewhat worthwhile.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

bennyhagen The cast is okay and the production quality is good enough to make this kind of watchable, otherwise, the movie is just all over the place. African politics, native tribes, betrayal, sabotage, shamans, rocket launchers, black-guy-comedy and what not and then also there is a crocodile, for some reason. So what is this movie about? There is a lot of stuff aimlessly thrown around, genres mixed, but no part of it is going anywhere. Scenes are pasted together randomly and taking out any of them wouldn't generally influence the plot at all.Now there is at least the crocodile, you might think, but if you're looking for a creature feature, look elsewhere. The croc is not believable or awesome in any way, disregarding it's 10 tons or so it has the agility of your average urban squirrel, moving so fast you barely see what's going on at all, making this part randomly pasted in CGI animation.All this is hard to forgive already, but then the movie also totally fails to build up any kind of tension. There is something going on and then suddenly you get a minute of flying crocodile, people firing rockets at each other, or whatever and then you're back to the pointless "plot" where nothing actually develops. What makes this boat sink, is that there is absolutely no suspense going on and you'll find yourself looking at your watch frequently.Bad, boring, stupid movie.3/10

mckjam "Primeval" can only be regarded as a minor classic of the "true suspense" genre. Unfortunately, upon its release, it was publicized as a straight up horror film. That it isn't. Actually, it has a lot more going on than most - and offers much more of a payoff as a result. Dominic Purcell leads an impressive cast (including Orlando Jones and Brooke Langton) in a "true" story of the search for a killer crocodile in war-torn Burundi, an African country besieged by warlords and destructive civil unrest. Impressive direction raises the bar for this thriller, which I found to be very effective in both suspense and social relevancy. In fact, as Film Appreciation instructor at a state university, I showed the film to my students and we broke it down to its constituent elements. All agreed that it was a well directed, well acted addition to the suspense-thriller genre and unfairly overlooked upon its release. Yes, the studio should have sold it as something other than a "horror" film, but one cannot fault the film itself for a misleading advertising campaign.

long-ford Primeval is horrible but it didn't need to be. A thirty minute creature feature is expanded by incorporating a needless plot line showing civil war and genocide in Africa. Plus the sneering tone of the film in this 'genocide segment' feels totally inappropriate for what was supposed to be a cheesy B-movie. To make matters infinitely worse, the monster is barely even shown and the shaky cam means that the action footage makes no sense at all. The acting is mediocre. Special mention for Orlando Jones who has a cringe-inducing dialogue towards the end. All in all, you come out of the cinema hall feeling cheated.Overall 2/10