‘Monster Films’ forms another genre of the Hollywood films and perhaps this is the genre which has the maximum takers in India. From giant lizards like Godzilla, Dinosaurs to big reptiles like anaconda all have enjoyed big success at desi Box office.
A giant crocodile has after been used as the main antagonist in Hollywood though most of them have been B-grade films. ‘Lake placid’ starring Bill Pullman & Bridget Fonda is the most famous of the crocodile films, thanks to a well known cast. ‘Primeval’ is the latest film using crocodile but it is different in two manners. First of all it takes inspiration from real events & secondly it combines the political elements in it which gives the film a different & refreshing look.
Tim is a TV journalist who screws up a report he was working on. He is waiting to get suspended by his boss but instead he is ordered by him to go to Africa with a woman reporter who works on the cases related to animals. Aviva, the reporter tells Tim about a giant crocodile ‘Gustave’ who has killed hundreds of people in Africa and that she wants to capture it and make a report on it. To save his job Tom has to go with Aviva and his friend cum cameraman Steven to Africa.
After reaching Burundi they meet Harry, a local man who warns them not only about the crocodile but a local landlord too named ‘Little Gustave’. They also meet a wildlife expert and reach a village near which Gustave was seen a few days back. A cage is prepared to capture the crocodile and taken to a swamp where they set up the cage with a bait.
The group gets in danger when not only their attempts to capture Gustave fail but they also realize that they have been trapped in an area which comes under ‘Little Gustave’. Steven has captured a video of execution of a family on his camera which can be dangerous for ‘Little Gustave’ and so his men try to kill the group. On the other hand the crocodile ‘Gustave’ is waiting for its opportunity to devour them all. In this situation Tim must use his brain and will power to save himself as well his group.
‘Gustave’, the main antagonist of the film is modeled on a real life crocodile with the same name in living in the Nile River near Burundi in Africa. Although the size and shape of the crocodile in the film is much larger owing to the commercial purposes and gives the crocodile more monstrous look. The real length of ‘Gustave’ is around 20 feet. The crocodile is speculated to be around 65 years old which is rather unusual for a Nile river crocodile. It has never been caught and only a couple of snaps of it are available. Even the National Geographic team returned unsuccessfully after staying in Africa for two months to catch it. This beast is believed to have killed more than 300 people around Nile River though officials claim that the figure is inflated and the number of its victims is not more than 70-80.
The film captures the horror of the giant crocodile as well as the internal power struggle going on in Africa. The film doesn’t deliver any political message but use the scenario of civil war as the background for the film. The film falls in action-horror genre and is successful to a large extent.
One big factor that works in the favor of the film is its production values. Though the cast is relatively unknown but film doesn’t compromises on other aspects of the film. The crocodile doesn’t look like a robotic model, a problem often seen in the B-grade flicks. Cinematography too is good as it captures various parts of Africa very well.
The film has some good scary moments. One of them is a slow motion shot in which ‘Gustave’ runs behind Steven to devour him in an open filed. Acting is never of much importance in monster films so there is no use discussing it.
In the end I would like to say that ‘Primeval’ is a decent fare and gives you a good enjoyment for around 90 minutes. I would give this film 3 out of 5 stars.
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