In a time where CGI and other digital technology reign as the kings of cinema special effects, Full Moon Features has released a film with old school SFX and a production timeline nearly half a century-long, spanning from conceptualization to release, with The Primevals.
And this timeline length is no exaggeration. The road to this film’s release began with plot elements used in the 1968 short film Raiders of the Stone Ring by writer-director David Allen (Puppet Master II and The Howling) that evolved into a full-length film script by 1975 and then produced by Charles Band in 1978. Alas, pre-production saw some funding issues surface that postponed the project until filming commenced again in 1994, before finally being completed and released in 2023.
After learning of the existence of Yeti when one is killed in Nepal, Dr. Claire Collier (Juliet Mills) and her student Matt Connor (Richard Joseph Paul) head to the Himalayas to investigate its origin. After forming a team-up with a veteran tracker Rondo Montana (Leon Russom), researcher Kathleen Reidel (Walker Brandt), and local Nepali Siku (Tai Thai), they avalanche-slide into a place where Yetis aren’t the most unusual thing they’ll find.
They discover a hidden world with Cha-Ka from Land of the Lost-looking primates and a governing reptilian-esque race of aliens. And not just any aliens, but “ancient” aliens! That’s right, Allen and company were WAY ahead of their time since this was written way before the Ancient Aliens show and its popularity got anywhere near to becoming a thing.
Known for his SFX talents due to his admiration for legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen (Clash of the Titans and the classic Jason and the Argonauts), Allen developed an ambitious script that lies deep in a sea of creativity with a heavy emphasis on being a special effects-heavy showcase. Which should not be surprising considering that the script was co-written by fellow effects artist Randall William Cook (Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Gate). By the time the project was resumed in the ’90s, CGI was all the rage and far from the Harryhausen-inspired effects Allen had in mind when the film’s idea was originally conceived. Allen then saw a new vision for his film—prove that stop-motion animation can still have a place in the new era of CGI.
Budget and using stop-motion effects took a backseat to health problems, when he was diagnosed with cancer. Even through bouts of chemotherapy treatment through the years, Allen’s dedication to completing his project did not waver as he still worked on the film’s effects. Let that last sentence hold water with you readers—never let anything hold you back from trying to reach your goals. Unfortunately in this case, Allen did not live to see his project finished as he sadly passed away in 1999. But in 2018, Chris Endicott (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Deadpool), an animator who previously worked on The Primevals, went on a mission to finish Allen’s project with Charles Band and Full Moon.
Now you’ve just heard a pretty in-depth and inspirational backstory on The Primevals, but how is the actual film? It’s definitely not the best film you will watch all year, but what do you expect? Expository dialogue should be considered a main character because you’ll hear it a lot, and Mills is mainly the head coach calling all the plays. She and the characters overly explain everything to us seemingly all the time. When you have a complex plot and lack of funding to properly and clearly project things on screen in order to move a film along, that needs and is going to happen. Another drawback is that the film feels incomplete because based on what you just read above, it pretty much is. Again, most of this should be expected yet should also be noted.
But let’s talk about the positives now, besides the miraculous circumstances for this film being finished in just enough shape to see the light of day. First and foremost, the stop-motion effects are on-point and are going to hit the nostalgic feels for those of you who loved old school effects from King Kong and films with effects from an older time. You don’t get a ton of them, but the ones you do get are homeruns. The scenery is also beautiful, with production done in Romania and Italy. Another good thing is that the script goes against the grain by abandoning the usual cinematic plot point norms. Some examples are a seemingly obvious love story between Matt and Kathleen that does not develop or is even explored and an out-of-nowhere death of a major character in a family-friendly affair like this one.
The acting is passable too, especially Mills. Our other lead Richard Joseph Paul is a good actor, but he always looks so angry, no matter what role he is playing. In Under the Boardwalk (1989) he looks mad, in Nerds II (1987) he looks upset, in Vampirella (1996) he looks disgruntled. In this film, he acts way pissed too. It could be argued that his character Matt had his PhD thesis supporting Yeti existence previously rejected by Claire, only for him to be proven right by her once the dead one pops up, thus causing him to be bitter. But Claire instantly chooses him to go with her on this once-in-a-lifetime expedition as an extreme make good for her not believing his theory in the first place, yet Matt seems mad as hell throughout the entire film—even in the sad and dramatic scenes. He’s always yelling and damn near growling with every spoken line like he’s cutting an in-ring promo during an episode of WWE Raw.
If you decide to watch The Primevals, you should keep your expectations at bay going in and you’ll be fine. Considering its unique backstory, this should be viewed as a tribute to a talented, dedicated filmmaker and the realization of his passion project. It is such a feel-good story overall that it even inspired Endicott to finish the project for his former mentor Allen.
Its story also inspired fans to donate towards funding the project’s completion through Full Moon’s crowdfunding campaign. All these years later, they’ve helped it finally see the light of day.
The Primevals is available to watch now on Amazon Prime or can be purchased at the Full Moon Features website.