Primeval
Tags: violence, murder, atmospheric

Plot synopsis:
In Burundi, a British forensic anthropologist is examining the corpses in a mass grave, claiming they were all killed in an identical manner. When the woman digs her shovel into what she believes is another grave, an unseen creature attacks, and violently drags her into the river. The UN soldiers accompanying her fire into the water, but only her partially devoured corpse floats to the surface, before being devoured.
In a New York City newsroom, television journalist Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) is assigned by his boss, Roger (Patrick Lyster), to travel to Burundi with Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton), a reporter who deals with animal stories and has become interested in Gustave, a gigantic, fierce crocodile known to have killed hundreds of people in Africa, over the years. With the killing of the anthropologist, Gustave is suddenly a story of interest to the world. Tim doesn't want to go, knowing that Burundi is a war zone, but he has little choice, since one of his stories turns out to have been based on falsified evidence. Tim and Aviva are accompanied to Burundi by Tim's cameraman and friend, Steven Johnson (Orlando Jones) and herpetologist Matt Collins (Gideon Emery), who is intent on capturing Gustave alive.
At the airport in Bujumbura they are met by a government official nicknamed Harry (Dumisani Mbebe), who tries to delay their departure by warning them of unrest in the bush, caused by a dangerous warlord who has nicknamed himself "Little Gustave." Tim manages to overrule Harry by faking a call to Roger, and the team departs the next day, accompanied by two soldiers. When the party reach the village where the last attack occurred, they meet their guide, a licensed hunter named Jacob (Jürgen Prochnow), and are blessed by the local shaman. The friendly villagers later, assemble a steel cage in order to capture the crocodile and take it to a nearby swamp. The first attempt to capture Gustave, by placing a goat as bait fails, but Matt manages to shoot a tracking dart on it.
In the next attempt, Jojo (Gabriel Malema), a teenage villager who helped set up the cage, uses himself as live bait to capture Gustave. The beast arrives, and tries to devour him, but disappears, as Tim, Matt, and Steven race to rescue him. Meanwhile, Avivia catches one of the soldier escorts stealing money from a tent. The soldier knocks her down, but Gustave arrives and kills him. Avivia escapes unharmed, and catches up with the others. The remaining guard relays over his radio that the Americans videotaped the shaman's execution. Just as the group realizes that the soldiers work for Little Gustave, the remaining guards, believing Jacob videotaped the evidence, wounds him; Jojo intervenes, and shoots them. While Jacob's wound is being treated, Gustave attacks the group. Jacob recalls the story of how his wife, Ona, was killed by Gustave, and that he swore revenge. Jacob produces a grenade, and detonates it as Gustave grabs him in his jaws, and devours him, but the explosion fails to kill the crocodile.
The next day, a helicopter arrives to airlift the survivors, but a truck arrives with two of Little Gustave's men, who fire a rocket at the helicopter. The group ducks, except for Matt, who runs after the helicopter to stop it from flying away. Matt is rammed by the truck and shot to death by the younger of the two militias, a teenager performing what is clearly his first execution. When the driver of the truck notices the rest of the group, Tim yells for them to split up. In the ensuing chase, both of Little Gustave's men are killed: when the truck crashes into the river, the teenager is thrown out and dies on impact, while the driver is shot by Aviva when he tries to strangle Tim to death.
Steven stumbles upon Gustave and struggles to escape. While Aviva stays with the injured Jojo, Tim goes to look for Steven, but finds only his camera. As they are waiting for help, Tim remarks to Aviva that he now understands the shaman's earlier words that "we make our own monsters." Matt had earlier told the group that crocodiles frequently feed on carrion, and there is no limit to how large they can grow, given enough sustenance; it is the bodies from the civil war, floating in the river, that have given Gustave a taste for human flesh, and allowed him to reach such a gargantuan size, as the years go by.
Harry arrives in a Range Rover, but Tim realizes that he is Little Gustave and wants the video evidence. Tim attempts to trick Harry by giving him the GPS tracker linked to the dart on Gustave, saying it will locate the computer with the video. Harry forces Tim and Aviva to lead them to the "computer." While Harry holds Aviva at gunpoint, Tim and one of Harry's men follow the tracking signal to Gustave's lair, where the crocodile is sleeping. Tim finds Steven's mutilated body, and a combat knife in the scattered human remains, and stabs the guard. At the same moment, Aviva splatters Harry with Matt's container of crocodile pheromones and runs. Gustave wakes up and ignores Tim and Aviva in favor of devouring Harry.
Tim, Jojo and Aviva climb into the Range Rover, but Gustave attacks through the rear window. Tim stabs the crocodile in the mouth with a machete. It then roars in defeat, as the others manage to escape. Tim, Aviva, Jojo and Wiley receive medical treatment and fly back home to America, watching leftover footage of Steven on his camera. The end credits state that the Burundian Civil War ended with a ceasefire in 2005, but Gustave is very much alive and still killing people in the rivers of Burundi.

Review: That being said, "Primeval" is no work of genius, and like most mainstream films, is loaded with clichéd moments that we've seen in better movies.
Of course, the actual story details an American news team (the brooding male leader, the hot female sidekick, and of course, the token black guy who serves mostly as comic relief) traveling to the war-torn Burundi to film and hopefully capture Gustave, an enormous crocodile who has eaten hundreds of people.
But there is another major problem that takes the story to a completely different place, where there is a huge war going on and starts to terrorize these reporters and one by one they are killed off before the crocodile gets to them.Primevil would have had good potential for a horror movie, but it just went in an intense turn where you had no idea where the film would take you.
The script was also in some ways done in poor taste and wasn't well thought out, like I'm not offended easily usually when it comes to racial jokes, but Orlando going on about slavery in Africa went a little too far and was ridiculous.
Primeval was geniusly marketed as a slasher film and attempted to get people to pay for a ticket expecting a slasher flick and sucker them outta cash with a crocodile movie.Based on the amount of pi$$ed off people reviewing this film in anger of being scammed i'm going to say they succeeded.Now on to Primeval as a movie yes it has the token black guy, and the sexy blonde wearing pretty much nothing, and the tough guy who takes charge but after seeing Stomp The Yard I wanted to see people die and Primeval did that oh so well.Even though it's not technically a slasher flick it is a gore fest though and an enjoyable one with some very innovative kills and very little to know cheesy scenes.They don't make it intentionally cheesy like Freddy vs Jason, or See No Evil this film is completely serious which makes it more believable and more fun to watch.Is it scary sure if blood scares you but other than that it's the pulse pounding chase scenes that keep you watching and enjoying Primeval.Visually Primeval is beautiful and ugly at the same time as the locations are gorgeous yet the mud or the water looks eerie and murky it really gives you the impression that something is living there and it's not expecting company.Is it clichéd?Please..what movie isn't nowadays and better yet what horror film isn't nowadays so the clichés are easy to ignore and don't hurt the overall excitement of the film.Primeval has disturbing full out gore scenes with all the blood you wanna see and more.It certainly doesn't let you down in that department.Primeval has taught us all a lesson research what movie you're going to see before you go see it because personally i thought it was funny that Primeval screwed most of you other critics outta your money i on the other hand knew what i was going to see and enjoyed every minute of it.Overall ignore the more than likely low IMDb average rating because most critics gave this film a 1 because they were pi$$ed that they didn't get what they wanted like a little kid in a toy store..
Now on to the movie: The script was extremely well written, managing to bring the broader issues of genocide and civil war to light while at the same time delivering plenty of action and scare sequences, as well as humor to lighten the mood between the thrill sequences.In addition to the writing, the actors only further contribute to the high quality of the script by consistently hitting their marks and clearly conveying the intended humor, horror, or whatever else is called for during the different scenes.I was also impressed by the directing and cinematography.
The combination of the two resulted in creating a movie that manages to involve the audience and provide footage that matches whatever mood is needed at the time; whether it be awe at the beauty of Africa or the fear when the characters are facing a dangerous situation.To be fair, I must admit that the movie did not have very good graphics and audiences will be able to easily tell that the crocodile is done through CGI.
However, between a little imagination and the actors believable performances, this does not detract from the thrills of the movie.Ultimately if you are a fan of action-adventure and enjoy a good thrill I would highly recommend this movie, but if you are looking for a slasher film don't bother..
When I realized about 10 minutes into the film that I had paid to see a crocodile movie and not one about a serial killer as advertised, I was mad as h*ll!.
No one wants to pay to see a run-of-the-mill crocodile movie when they can see an giant reptile, insect, or animal/human hybrid film on cable each weekend.
Dealing with their own problems, conflicts, and the fact they are in country torn part by civil war.The film starts as a typical monster flick with an intense death scene and a hint of political agenda.
Orlando Jones, who should have been banned from movie screens when Evolution came out, basically plays the same character he always plays: The Token Black Guy.PLOT: 0 FOR 10 Acting: 0 for 10.I cannot say anything nice about this film at all..
Television producer Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) leads a team down to the Burundi section of Africa to investigate and try to capture a large killer crocodile dubbed Gustave, who has been killing and eating hundreds of natives.After reading the plot synopsis, I was expecting something similar to Anaconda which was a cheesy, entertaining movie that didn't take itself too seriously.
Primeval's attempt to use a movie about a killer croc to show the genocide taking place in civil war ravaged Africa is not only shameful, but downright laughable.The acting is better by the stand-in African bushmen than it is by the American "actors." Dominic Purcell and Brooke Langton are only in this movie for their aesthetic appeal.
***MINOR SPOILER HERE***---->Knowing an alligator is a serial killer (which they technically are) is pretty scary...<----***MINOR SPOILER ENDS*** especially if the movie is based on a true story.Anyway, back to the real thing.
"Crocodile" from Tobe Hooper was super cheesy but entertaining as hell; an example of a "good" killer croc movie.
The night scenes combined with tons of blood made it look beautiful at times too, especially the kill at the bridge.Now, this is definitely a movie for moviegoers who love a good laugh and blood and gore.
3 votes are also for good camera work for initial 30-40 minutes of movie.Its bad movie,its really very bad movie.Don't waste your time as well as your mood and your next day by watching this movie.It starts on well,have some very spectacular visuals of Africa,but it disintegrates,disorients thereafter.Its very good example how you neglect most vital part(rather say it soul)of movie that is SCRIPT and ends up most boring movie ever made.Storyline simple,leave it nothing to say more about it.I usually watch horror flick for special effect ,but it is not the case here.It seems director avoids such situation where special effect needed,if its there though very few which looks really primitive as compared to other Hollywood movies.I think it could have been better,overall its bad in all aspects except photography..
Now the news crew, the animal activist and the hunter are now running from their lives from a group of killers and Gustave are in their way.Directed by Michael Katleman made an entertaining film that certainly has its moments.
What really bogs this movie down is that it lacks a sufficient amount of campy fun as it insanely takes itself seriously - too seriously, in fact - at some points, blending a B-monster movie with something along the likes of "Blood Diamond" or "Hotel Rwanda."Journalist Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) and his cameraman Steven (Orlando Jones) are sent into Burundi, along with female reporter Aviva (Brooke Langdon)to search and capture the legendary "Gustave", a 2000-pound crocodile reputed to have killed more than 300 people.
As a result, the film gets confused and fails to provide Gustave with a sense of menace as the croc is reduced to a marginal character in a film filled with awful one-liners that contributes more hypocritical preaching on African genocide than genuine suspense.If there's something good to be found here, it's that the cinematography is impressive at times and that the film is short enough.
(I found it interesting how one of the characters noted that it was the humans fault that this monster had been created, as the crocodile had gained a taste for human flesh after feeding on so many dead victims from all the war's massacres.)Some good tension, mostly good acting performances and directing (though I did think that some of the action scenes were shot too close for too long), interspersed with amusing comedic moments, left me feeling fairly satisfied.
As if Africa didn't have problems enough to deal with - now we can add a giant primordial crocodile to the mix.Laughingly based on a "true story," "Primeval" is a mediocre monster movie in which three American reporters, a trained crocodile expert and a surly German guide ("Das Boot"'s Jurgen Prochnow) travel through the wilds of Burundi to track down the legendary man-munching menace known to the local natives as "Gustave." In addition to the creature, the team has to deal with some vicious warlords who are waging an intense civil war in the region.Limited by its paltry budget, "Primeval" is marred by uneven acting, cheap-looking special effects and the all-too-common chauvinistic attitude that sees Africans as either malefactors intent on slaughtering their own people or incompetent victims just waiting for some knight-in-shining-armor Westerners to come riding in on their white horses to save them.
The early parts of the film, where the attempts to capture it result in some really big action scenes are rather fun with the opening attack inside the body-filled pit is really great, the group's first trap attempt is quite creepy and chilling and a chase through the jungle comes at the tail end of a huge gunfight with the warlord's henchmen isn't that bad either.
Although not a great film, it is an entertaining (enough) crocodile creature feature, with good effects and some fun gore.
Now, in 2013, as I am in the middle of re-watching every Alligator and Crocodile creature feature I can get my hands on, I watched it again and enjoyed it much more the second time.The big problem (without giving away any spoilers) any creature feature seeker needs to know (going into the film) is that "Primeval" has two main plots going on, and the croc is the one (plot point) with less time spent.
The first half the film revolves around our TV reporting crew getting to Africa to get footage of this giant murderous crocodile (dubbed Gustave), but once they get there and set a trap, the movie suddenly switch's gears and becomes about the crew dealing with the local cartel hostiles (maniacal boss dubbed Little Gustave) and Gustave (our killer croc) is no longer the big threat.
Of course he comes back in the end, but the film lost focus of what we wanted, a movie about a giant killer crocodile.With all that said, the giant 20+ foot Gustave looks great when we see him.
I am often disappointed in creature feature films lack of blood or amount of creature screen time, but I don't feel cheated from "Primeval", it supplies enough gore (although I wouldn't of minded more!) and good creature effects to entertain, just don't expect a new favorite Gator/Croc flick and you can have fun...For the record, my favorite all time Gator/Croc movies are Alligator (1980), Lake Placid (1999), Black Water (2007) and Rogue (2007)..
Gustave is a 30 foot crocodile who has killed hundreds of people in Africa.A news team is willing to help some people lure and capture the killer croc before it gets them.Basically, that's the movie's plot, and it didn't disappoint me.Many people didn't like this movie because they thought the movie was just about a killer and not a killer crocodile when they watched the trailer.If you get past the major differences between the trailers and the movie itself, you may actually enjoy this movie.There's also some pretty good special effects and a boatload of graphic violence and gore.Give this movie a shot if you can handle the brutality of the violence and the fact that the movie is not revolved around a human.It's revolved around a giant crocodile, so get used to it.Orlando Jones is also in this movie, and his character was quite pleasing..
Dominic Purcell leads an impressive cast (including Orlando Jones and Brooke Langton) in a "true" story of the search for a killer crocodile in war-torn Burundi, an African country besieged by warlords and destructive civil unrest.
the story is very interesting about a killer crocodile who feasts on bodies left at the river, when the Warlords committed all of that genocide over the years, so you see they actually created there own monster,, very unique i think, i really didn't expect a lot out of this movie,, and i'm happy to say that it exceeded my expectations by a bunch..
In the sub-genus of movies about giant monsters,there are two kind of them:one kind tries to take seriously the things and the other kind understand that the concept is ridiculous,so they put humor to the story.Of the second kind,I have seen very fun films like Eight Legged Freaks,Night of the Lepus or Anaconda.But,for the other sight,it's very difficult to make a good and serious movie about giant monsters and they are not too much.The ones I remember are Of Unknown Origin and King Kong(1933 and 2005).Primeval is a serious movie about a giant monster but the result is really bad.First of all,the combination of shaking a crocodile with the guerrillas in Africa does not work well.I mean it's uncomfortable and offensive to show the horrors of the civil war as a frame of a giant crocodile who attacks reporters.The combination of elements is really forced and it seems we are seeing two(bad)films.Also,the action sequences are not well done and that's an important fail.Primeval is a really bad film..
There are cheesy plot twists and cheesy lines.This film is not worth your money, unless you're like me and want to laugh.And to you poor dopes that saw it thinking you'd see a real killer, I'm sorry.
Most of the characters and the plot are just two dimensional monster movie cut-outs, but the film tries to make them seem better than that which only makes them more agonizing to watch.Long story short: the most reoccuring thought running through my head during the show was "Wow, this is a really bad movie.".
The story wasn't bad, a group of American journalists come to a war torn African country in search of a giant killer croc (Gustave) and subsequently witness and catch on film a brutal slaying of innocent villagers, and thus see and opportunity to expose the horrible acts of violence taking place at the hands of the countries sadistic leader.
I think that if the director had down played the crocodile aspect of the film and focused more on the genocide aspect.See, the problem is that this movie has too many things going on, and too many just plain unrealistic elements.
This movie actually had quite a bit of promise, but the extremely, over the top, just plain stupid-looking effects on the croc completely blew any illusions of this film reaching the same caliber as Ghost in the Darkness, even though it's also based on true events.
People looking for a serial killer film where mislead into watching an unwatchable trashy drama about some of the worst events in human history for something like 80 minutes only to end up finally watching a ridiculously over-sized croc, which runs as fast as a jaguar, for the last 10 minutes.This is by far one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
Yetit's actually kind of fun to watch.Inspired by true events, 'Primeval' takes us on a hunt for the most notorious "serial killer" in all of Africa, Gustave the crocodile.
"Primeval" doesn't really bring anything new to the man-eater genre that hasn't already been seen in movies such as "Crocodile" or "Alligator", or "Jaws" for that matter.The storyline is simple and straight forward; a group of people go looking for a massive crocodile named Gustave in Africa.
Primeval is a mega-crocodile on the rampage film with political overtures and insulting racial stereotyping.Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) is a disgraced journalist who along with Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton) and Steven Johnson (Orlando Jones) are sent to Burundi to hunt and film a legendary killer crocodile who has just killed a white forensic expert working with the UN who are investigating war crimes.The meet up with a crocodile expert Matt Collins (Gordon Emery) who has plans to capture it alive and grizzled tracker Jacob Krieg (Jurgen Prochnow) and attempt to capture the croc.The group try to bait the croc unsuccessfully but they are soon set upon by the local vicious warlord in the area and among the chaos the croc starts to attack.This is less of a horror film but more of a low rent Jaws rip off with a political message regarding the ongoing war in the Burundi/Rwanda region all undone with almost all the black Africans who are portrayed as savages, killers and rapists.The film actually feels slow as our ill equipped team bicker and seem dysfunctional as they head upon their quest.
The title hints it might be a new, somewhat original type of horror film but PRIMEVAL turns out to be that most invariably disappointing of B-movie specimens: the CGI animated killer crocodile flick.