suite92 Anja, Krew, Lindsay, Kris, and Warren take a trip to the outback led by Dace. They are looking for cave paintings that have not been spotted for 120 years. Anja has some drawings left to her by an uncle from the 19th century. The group finds the site with little incident.Anja clearly has trepidation about when she reaches the opening of the cave. She has something akin to a panic attack and passes out after cutting herself by incidental contact with the rocks. Unfortunately, the blood of her family has been shed, which goes into the ground and the nearby water. This dooms the party...or does it? That is what the rest of this short film is about.They get about viewing the rock paintings, taking notes, and shooting photographs. The local fauna (mosquitoes, rabbit) seem to find them tasty. The dead rabbit had some fierce looking teeth, which should have been a clue. Mel's skinny-dipping had some bad side effects. When she came out, there were leeches all over her; that evening she gets a fever and her teeth start falling out.They try leaving, but the local wildlife have somehow disabled their SUV. By the next morning, Mel's teeth and personality have been replaced. She starts biting, which makes matters worse.Will anyone get out alive? If so, will they be regular humans?------Scores------- Cinematography: 7/10 Fine for the most part, except for interludes of very jerky camera motions.Sound: 7/10 The actors were adequately miked. The incidental music did not add much to the film.Acting: 2/10 Wil Traval was OK, The rest of the actors I could have done without.Screenplay: 4/10 This was a 15 minute story stretched to 84. The monster-human interludes were frequently boring and always unbelievable.SFX: 4/10 Those monster teeth look like they could never work at all.

GL84 While touring the Australian outback, a group of friends studying Aborigine cave art finds a site protected by a voracious predator that regresses those it comes into contact with into a primal state, forcing them to come together to kill their friends before it gets to them.There's really not a whole lot against it as this was an absolutely fantastic film here. What really gives this one a lot to enjoy comes from the absolutely amazing set-up to their camping trip in that location which gives this a really creepy feeling. With them being out in the remote part of the forest and being surrounded by the area around them from the pool to the claustrophobic cave, filled with it's cramped spaces and darkened surroundings to their overrun campsite, this all makes for a really creepy situation here to launch into the frenetic and vicious attack scenes that are so frequent here. Relying a lot more on the set-up of their being reduced to an altered and deformed state along the way to match it physically as the short pace never lets up providing this one with plenty of great scenes. From the opening attack on the wall-painter to their slowly-building realization of what's happening to her as she comes under the possession at the campsite, there's a great base of action in place before really turning it up with the later scenes throughout here. The first freak-out with the possessed friend where they get to see firsthand how much more powerful and vicious they've become with the enhanced agility and hunting prowess, the invulnerability and the physical deformities that come along here makes for a wholly impressive attack, the ambush in the jungle where they attempt to trap it turns into several intense, high- energy chase around the woods attempting to get away from the brutal creature as they're completely overwhelmed into barely getting away through a freak occurrence and the later scenes where they get chased through the underbrush, along the river and tunnels are all really exciting and thrilling action scenes makes for some good times. It's also pretty brutal and gets in some amazing gore gags that look really nasty and vicious, helping to sell it even more. There's even some decent comedic attempts that showcase an actual group of friends ragging on each other without going overboard and a great sense of suspense in the stalking in the jungle that all make this a highly enjoyable entry. There's really only one main flaw in here which is the finale in the cave as the film's biggest surprise waiting in the bowels of the location that doesn't match the tone and feel found elsewhere as it comes off way too fantastical against the more realistic and natural tone that runs through the rest of the film, and along with the ridiculously over-the-top CGI that looks unbelievably fake, that's all that's really wrong here as the positives really overwhelm this one.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and an attempted rape.

Coventry What's with all those horror movies where so-called "friends" insist on going camping together even though they clearly can't stand each other? The first thing that immediately shows when watching "Primal" is that the group of protagonists couldn't be more diverse. There's distrust, mockery and backstabbing from the very beginning when they're still in the car, so you already know they're all doomed when later on they'll have to depend on each other to survive. But who cares, right, as writer/director Josh Reed obviously didn't intend to make a groundbreaking or innovative horror masterpiece, but merely just an entertaining and blood-splattering monster flick. And from that point of view, he moderately succeeded, even though the movie won't leave an everlasting impression. "Primal" is fast-paced, full of nasty massacres and occasionally even manages to be suspenseful. Six people, some of which having severe emotional issues, travel to the deepest parts of the Australian jungle in search of prehistoric cave paintings that supposedly haven't been seen by anyone in over 150 years. One of them is an archeology student and wants to work on his thesis, but the others simply have a fun camping trip in mind and pass the day fornicating in tents and skinny dipping in the nearby lake. But when blond bimbo Mel comes out of the water, covered in leeches, she almost promptly undergoes a physical and mental transformation into a predator with primitive killing instincts. She prowls at the rest of the group, naturally, but they're too busy with arguing and putting themselves in mortal danger. The lead characters aren't just some of the most unlikable people you've ever seen; they're also incredibly stupid and ignore the most obvious foreboding warning signs. If you're in an area where ordinary bunny rabbits have razor sharp teeth and spontaneously launch aggressive attacks … get the hell out! If you notice there are minuscule insects devouring your tents and camping equipment … get the hell out! And, most importantly, if your former girlfriend doesn't show anymore signs of civilization and actually already ATE one of your buddies, do not try to soothe her with a fluffy animal! That particular sequence arguably qualifies as one of the most retarded things I ever witnessed. There's plenty of excitement for the gorehounds among us, including flesh eating and a lot of grisly dental horror. The film truly goes bonkers during the climax, with some sort of Tremors like creature popping up in a cave and trying to impregnate the last female survivor. Where did that suddenly come from? I guess this is just the type of horror flick where you have to switch of all brain functions, get comfortable and enjoy the pointless bloodshed.

wes-connors After a bloody attack on a 12,000-year-old wall painter, a budding group of young anthropologists arrive at the same site, in the present day. The six college-student types find some wall paintings, then have a few foreshadowing mishaps. Things heat up when sexy blonde Krew Boylan (as Mel) goes skinny-dipping in a pool of leeches. Well-built lover Lindsay Farris (as Chad) stands by while more stud-like Wil Traval (as Dace) tears the leeches from Ms. Boylan's quivering body...She's infected with something and starts spitting teeth and growling like a hungry animal...Of the six, watch for Zoe Tuckwell-Smith (as Anja) to overcome her claustrophobia and take charge. Two more minor monster bait are funny Damien Freeleagus (as Warren) and girly Rebekah Foord (as Kris). Interesting to note how the sex acts occur before anyone undresses; this could be "safe sex" for the monster set. "Primal" was written, directed and edited by Josh Reed. He knows how to edit his own work to best effect, and doesn't fall into self-indulgent traps; the result moves okay for this sort of gore.***** Primal (8/26/10) Josh Reed ~ Zoe Tuckwell-Smith, Krew Boylan, Wil Traval, Lindsay Farris