A small charter plane has crashed on a banned and supposedly lifeless island, stranding the pilot, a real estate broker and a wealthy young woman. The rescue team put together to go in, unable to contract a professional advisor, as all believe the isle is cursed, are forced to hire the only guide available; a drunken ill tempered recluse, who's spent the last decade attempting to run from the memories of animal experimentation gone horribly wrong. Now, with the recovery crew, he will be going into his nightmare, and it is viciously wide awake. This is average paint-by-numbers TV movie quality; dialogue is generally uninspired, sieve-like plot, and characters are stock (the spoiled little rich girl, the chatty plotting business man, the doctor with a secret, the hard nosed tough guy, the haunted man). The acting runs from so-so to excellent. The camera angles and cuts are very frenetic, attempting to create a suspenseful atmosphere, and there are the obligatory stunt shots in slo-mo. Basically, it's a pizza and a movie evening TV fare. Ron Perlman has the lead; a broken man unable to have a life because he stayed alive when many others did not. He takes a generic, usually one note role; the haunted man, and imbues him with multiply layers of emotional depth (quakingly fearful yet strong, bravery in spite of moments of cowardice, morose but drily humorous, fatalistic yet willing to act, haunted but yet still able to hope, etc) turning in a well rounded, excellent performance. Favorite Line(s): (Matthews/Zal) "They're evolving at an incredible rate! They're almost neanderthal!" (Brodie/Perlman) "I'd like to get out of here before they get cable." Availability: VHS. Suggest: Amazon.com. I have used Amazon for years, for both new and used items, and have had no problems. Please remember to check that the VHS is compatible with your region/country. Also, I have heard that the Sci-Fi Channel http://www.scifi.com/ airs it about twice a year (so ready to record). Absolutely worth a buy for Ron Perlman fans, ie, everyone reading this. By Tressa Lee Breen.
There is no DVD available, and the video version is
very limited, although there does seem to be a French version available
at: It's worth keeping an eye out on Ebay, but reruns on TV are probably the best source for this movie. For the Perlman Pages section on "Primal Force" click HERE |
