"Eliminate the female and the male is incapable of continuing the species."
The plot: A geneticist, Dr. Jane Tiptree (Diane Ladd), manipulates DNA and creates a carnivorous dinosaur. The dinosaur escapes and runs all over the countryside killing people. The head of the research lab responsible for creating the monster has more insidious plans than trying to breed larger chickens. Her objective: to destroy humankind in favor of her new strain of prehistoric dinosaurs. The hero is a security guard called "Doc" Smith (Raphael Sbarge).
Produced by Roger Corman, “Carnosaur” is Roger’s first foray into the dinosaur genre. The movie has lofty aims of being deep with meaning and dark undertones but the dialogue and acting fall short. Still Diane Ladd has a way of making it all rather eerie. The music score adds a menacing touch to the tone of the movie.
Whether it falls short or not doesn’t really matter since we are all here for the dinosaurs. You should know by now that Roger Corman is the king of the “B” movie and the master of camp. This movie is no exception. It’s gross and bloody. And it’s dumb and cheezy with a touch of bizarre. Just the way is should be.
There’s a T-Rex held at the facility that the geneticist uses to dispatch her enemies and what is suppose to be a Deinonychus running free. The dinosaurs are rubber puppets or a guy in a rubber suit depending on what’s needed. If you are a dinosaur snob you won’t like it. If you love dinosaur movies and “B” movies and don’t care how cheezy they are, you’ll love it.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex effects were achieved by means of a miniature remote-controlled puppet, a man in a suit, and a full-sized, 16-foot-tall robot. However, only a handful of shots involved the full-size robot, which had too narrow a range of movements to be convincing. The man in the suit proved equally cumbersome and was scrapped. Thus, most F/X shots were accomplished with the remote-control miniature and even some hand puppets.