It seems I'm one of the few people on earth who never saw JURASSIC PARK. As part of my ET-inspired Spielberg Boycott, I couldn't bring myself to plunk down $6 to line his pockets. Plus, with straight-to-video knockoffs like CARNOSAUR 2, I get twice the fun without any of the guilt!

CARNOSAUR was an okay Roger Corman-quickie that did have a few fun scenes -- the anti-technology tree-huggers becoming carnosaur food leaps to mind -- though it was an unsatisfying overall experience. On the other hand, C2 ups the ante and overloads the screen with so much machismo, grue, wanton destruction and government shenanigans that you can't help but love it!

After a carnofeast at a remove government facility, a crack team of...well, it's never quite explained what they're a team of. Nevertheless, let me assure you that they're crack. With a capital "C," maybe even a "K." That is how crack they are.

Anyway, this crack (or Crack/Krack) team -- saddled with government windbag Cliff DeYoung -- blows into town to reestablish communications and kick ass, if necessary. Once the token female and minority characters are dispensed with, we're left with DeYoung and our core group of macho team members: Kahane (Don Stroud, the captain so grizzled he has an eye patch; Monk (Rick Dean, outstanding devil guy in NAKED OBSESSION and back-alley abortionist in UNBORN), the anti-authority, take-no-shit bad-ass; Reed (John Savage), the tough, but tender, voice of reason; and Jesse (Ryan Thomas Johnson...what a name!), the sole survivor of the original attack. They band together and blah, blah, blah until the confrontation you'd want from something called CARNOSAUR 2.

Unlike lots of recent Corman efforts, C2 boasts decent production values (mainly its claustrophobic set), a welcome amount of gore (nice arm rips and carnodecapitations) to go with a competent cast. Hey, if I needed a Krack team for anything, these'd be the guys I'd want! Compared to most monster-on-the-loose flicks in JURASSIC's wake, C2 is downright upright! (And light years better than NBC's four-hour borefest, THE BEAST).

[Don't forget to check out our review of the entertaining, if not as remarkable, CARNOSAUR 3: PRIMAL SPECIES.]