Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Prehysteria! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 27, 2018

A couple of kind of interesting changes to network broadcast schedules and programming occurred in the 1970s, one of which may have presaged a similar strategy in the halcyon days of VHS and the growing popularity of home theater. Some older readers of this review may remember when the (three and three only) broadcast television networks had to “give back” a half hour of their network schedules courtesy of 1970’s Prime Time Access Rule, meaning that their nightly programming lost either the 6:30 to 7:00 or 7:30 to 8:00 half hour block, depending on when local markets aired evening network schedules (the first season to be impacted was the 1971-72 season). In 1975 another move which some may have felt was a kind of stricture, the so-called Family Viewing Hour, was also implemented, meaning that the first hour of evening network broadcast material (either 7:00 to 8:00 or 8:00 to 9:00, again depending on each local market) had to be “family friendly”. That whole “family friendly” strategy may have been noble in intent, but it was often a kind of murky line, with (to cite examples only from that first impacted season, 1971-72) more kid friendly offerings like Bewitched and edgier fare like All in the Family or Sanford and Son qualifying for “first hour” status. In that regard, it’s kind of interesting to look at a perhaps little remembered outfit called Moonbeam Entertainment, the brainchild of Charles Band. Band wanted to create a line of “family friendly” features that parents could enjoy renting at their local Blockbuster (remember those?) without fear of seeing any “dodgy” content. What makes this kind of ironically humorous, and something which plays into “who is to say what’s family friendly and what isn’t?”, is the fact that Band was also the mastermind behind Moonbeam’s parent company, Full Moon Features, another company that often dealt in straight to video outings, but with arguably less “family friendly” titles like Puppet Master and its many follow-ups its chief stock in trade.

While the back cover of this release kind of oddly states that Prehysteria! anticipated the success of Jurassic Park (odd since both came out in 1993), better analogs might be a bit more "backward" focused, namely the stop motion films of Ray Harryhausen (efforts Charles Band overtly references in the Videozone supplement detailed in the Supplements section below), as well as some then relatively recent outings like Gremlins. While the miniature dinosaurs in this film aren't really that menacing a la the nasty creatures in the Joe Dante film, the way they come into the possession of young Jerry Taylor (Austin O'Brien) may indeed evoke memories of that earlier enterprise.

The basic setup of the film is that an unscrupulous museum curator named Rico Sarno (Stephen Lee) finagles his way into a "top secret" ruin in the jungle where he manages to abscond with a bunch of mysterious eggs. The eggs mistakenly fall into the possession of Jerry and his sister Monica (Samantha Mills), and hatch under the unusual auspices of the family dog. Initially the Taylor kids' dad, farmer Frank Taylor (Brett Cullen), is (of course) unaware of what's going on at the homestead, but a tip off from Rico's assistant Vicki (Colleen Morris) necessitates the Taylors going into hero mode in order to keep the little beasts from Rico's nefarious clutches.

Prehysteria! never really delivers much in the way of real feeling danger, which is perhaps part and parcel of that “family friendly” strategy, but it also rarely really scales the heights of true hilarity, either. Instead, this is a sweet and often actually charming film that has some great “retro” looking stop motion animation. The film’s more cartoonish aspects (often stemming from Rico’s shenanigans) will probably delight the youngest viewers, but the film might have benefitted from a more visceral feeling threat, as well as some arguably sharper written comedy.

Prehysteria! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Prehysteria! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Full Moon Features with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Both the back cover and Charles Band's comments on the commentary track indicate this was sourced from the "original 35mm camera negative", and for the most part this is a really fantastic looking release. The palette is nicely suffused throughout, with generally excellent contrast and consistent densities. The grain field is just slightly variable, perhaps due at least in part to the vagaries of stop motion, and just a time or two can look a bit clumped or splotchy. Detail and fine detail is typically excellent, revealing the textures of the hides of the adorable (?) little dinosaurs, or more "mundane" items like human hair and facial pores. I probably would have graded this somewhat higher if it weren't for a few rather oddly ragged looking moments that just crop up and don't have any obvious causes like opticals (see screenshot 19 for just one example). On the whole, though, my hunch is any Prehysteria! fans out there will probably be thrilled with the appearance of this release. My score is 4.25.

Prehysteria! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While perfectly fine on their own merits, the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks on this release may leave some audiophiles wanting the increased "oomph" of lossless audio. This is especially true of the surround track, which some may feel lacks low end energy which might have helped propel a film that kind of cheekily refers to a bunch of iconic rock stars like Elvis and Madonna. That said, surround activity is noticeable with regard to the placement of ambient environmental effects, and dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly. Some of the goofy sound effects are on the hokey side, but are typically well placed and are obviously designed to be whimsical.

Note: Full Moon doesn't provide an Audio Menu on this release, and the disc defaults to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There is a second Dolby Digital 2.0 track accessible via the Audio button on your remote.

Prehysteria! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary features Austin O'Brien and Charles Band.


• The Moonbeam Videozone (480i; 21:13) may evoke as much nostalgia in some viewers as the actual main feature here, as this was one of the calling cards of Moonbeam's VHS heyday, when "bonus features" were something new and untried. Charles Band hosts the first ever Videozone in what amounts to a making of featurette for this film, replete with lots of fun behind the scenes footage. Band also discusses what he hoped Moonbeam would become, namely a haven for families looking for "safe" entertainment options.


• Trailers includes Prehysteria! (1080p; 1:46) along with trailers for several other Full Moon releases.

Prehysteria! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the wild and wooly world of cable television, quaint ideas like "Family Viewing Hour" seem like a throwback almost to the Dark Ages, and at least somewhat similarly, the glut of home entertainment options may make "family friendly" fare seem awfully old fashioned itself. That said, Prehysteria! does in fact offer "safe" viewing, even if some may feel that "safe" ends up being just a tad on the bland side. The best part of this film is the charming stop motion animation, which helps to bring the miniature dinosaurs sweetly to life. Full Moon offers a release with nice looking video, but they might want to up the high definition ante by providing lossless audio the next time. At least for families with younger children, Prehysteria! comes Recommended.