Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Primevals Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 5, 2025

Sit up and take note stop-motion enthusiasts. Though not quite as miraculous or exciting a release as Phil Tippet's long-gestating Mad God, The Primevals was nearly lost to time with the death of its director, FX wunderkind David Allen. It had already simmered in development hell for more than three decades, since 1960, before it was officially lifted out of the fire in 1994; for Allen, a dream at last come true. Sadly, he would not see it through to completion. Allen passed away in 1999 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the production was shuttered with a mere handful of stop-motion sequences unfinished and the final edit incomplete. Ah, but lest ye forget, the industry is filled with film fans too, three of whom -- Charles Band, Chris Endicott and Kent Burton -- joined forces with the help of a crowd-funding campaign and resurrected The Primevals some twenty-five years later. Which brings us to 2023, when Allen's vision was finally, perhaps fully realized via a limited theatrical release. And now with a bit of wind in its sails, it comes home for your viewing pleasure.

But hold on there, bucko. There isn't quite as much stop-motion glory to The Primevals as you might expect. First, the story. When Dr. Claire Collier (Juliet Mills) gets a hold of the corpse of a giant, ape-like creature killed in the Himalayas, she wonders if mankind has discovered the mythical yeti. And yet the beast seems to have been subjected to advanced procedures and genetic manipulation, none of which makes sense to the doctor or her team: hunter-with-the-best-name-of-all-time Rondo Montana (Leon Russom), fellow scientist Kathleen Reidel (Walker Brandt) and former student Matt Connor (Richard Joseph Paul). Hiring an experienced sherpa (Tai Thai), they venture out in search of another yeti, only to stumble across a civilization of villainous reptilians conducting bizarre experiments on captured animals. Written and directed by Allen and co-written by Randall William Cook, the film also stars Eric Steinberg, Robert Cornthwaite, Dolph Scott, Kevin Mangold, Jeffrey S. Farley and Billy Scudder.

The stop-motion goodness is largely reserved for the third act, not so much by choice but by the limitations of what the 21st century filmmakers were and were not able to accomplish. The David Allen Version of the film, included on Disc Two of this 3-disc release, offers a glimpse at what might have been, with a river sequence that would have allowed for more animation earlier in the movie. Otherwise, it takes a bit of patience to get to the shining gem of The Primevals: an off-the-rails foray into an underground civilization that is pure, dazzling, Harryhausen-inspired glee. Effort isn't really put into making things look realistic. That's hardly the point. The goal here is the joy of an era of stop-motion animation that hasn't been seen in some time. Tributes are made to King Kong, homages are made to dozens of other films, and the acting... well, the beasties have some nice bite and emotionality, so the performances of the actors aren't really something we need to get into, are they?

The Primevals Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Full Moon Features doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to AV presentations. Fortunately, The Primevals appears to be the exception to the rule with a crisp, vibrant 1080p/AVC-encoded beauty that presumably couldn't look much better. Yes, there are a few straggling shots that struggle with clarity and contrast, but they're gone almost as quickly as they appear. The film as a whole boasts warm, lovely colors backed by excellent saturation, vivid primaries, lifelike skin tones and deep, satisfying black levels. Stop-motion sequences are never a let-down either, faring as precisely and proficiently as live-action scenes. Things do get a touch ruddy when things move underground into the lair of the lizard creatures, but it's an intentional palette choice and hardly an issue with the image. Detail remains refined and sharp throughout -- above world or below -- with edges free of artificiality, revealing fine textures, solid delineation, and plenty of subtle touches to the stop-motion puppets and figures. Fur is matted and scales are rubbery but it's all an animated delight; precisely as it should be. I did catch sight of a few artifacts here and there, just nothing in the way of significant blocking or banding that might upend the otherwise strong video presentation. I'm desperately trying to avoid backhanded compliments but, again, I have to say it's quite a transfer considering it comes from Full Moon Features, whose track record is... spotty.

The Primevals Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the Australian Umbrella Entertainment release of The Primevals features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, the domestic Full Moon Features edition only offers lossy 5.1 and 2.0 audio. It's irritating to be sure -- Full Moon needs to invest in lossless for its releases asap -- but it's also not the end of the world. The tracks are decent in their own right, with clean, clear dialogue that's well-prioritized and always intelligible. Voices are occasionally thin and caged on set, but by and large the actors sound natural and grounded in their environments. Effects are bright and buoyant, with plenty of fun, gristly stop-motion violence to be had, and music fills the soundfield nicely. LFE output and rear speaker activity aren't exactly aggressive on the 5.1 mix but do add to the joy of the adventure and especially the animated sequences. All told, there's nothing wrong here per se. It just isn't the be-all, end-all version of the presentation.

The Primevals Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Full Moon Features delivers an impressive assortment of supplemental content. The only thing missing are three extras that are included with the Australian Umbrella Entertainment Collector's Edition release: "Howard S. Berger on The Primevals and Lost Films," "Dark Dreamers: Charles Band" and "Jaimie and Aspasia Leonader on Lost Monsters and Cryptozoology," which amounts to nearly 70-minutes of special features.

• The Primevals: The David Allen Version (HD, 98 minutes) - Less an extended edition of the film and more of a workprint cut, this version adds seven minutes to the feature's runtime but uses minimally animated storyboards and composited art/live-action footage for scenes that were scripted but never completed. The river sequence gets the most attention but it only serves as a tease as to the more exciting action scene that could've been. Still, it makes for a hefty extra and is most appreciated.

• Lost to Time: Unearthing The Primevals (HD, 46 minutes) - This fairly comprehensive documentary charts the course The Primevals took from genesis to production. It features interviews with key members of the cast and crew, chats with some of the industry's top visual effects artists, tracks the loooong gestation period of the film, and digs into things like David Allen's career trajectory, all with the added touch of being narrated by actor and B-movie demigod Jeffrey Combs.

• A Celebration of Tenacity (HD, 30 minutes) - Denis Muren hosts a screening of The Primevals with Phil Tippett and other notable guests. The group shares stories of their connections to Allen and watching The Primevals slowly come to fruition over the years.

• Promo Reels (HD, 18 minutes) - Three promo reels are included: a lengthy Raiders of the Stone Ring reel (pitching the original take on the film), along with subsequent reels from 1984 and 1997.

• A False Start (HD, 2 minutes) - A surviving reel from the 1978 attempt at the film.

• Time Lapse Animation (HD, 1 minutes) - Allen at work, in time-lapse.

• David Allen at the Moviola (HD/SD, 6 minutes) - Allen working again, this time in 1999.

• Randall William Cook Visits The Primevals (HD/SD, 3 minutes) - More of Allen, just prior to his death.

• Charles Band and David Allen on The Primevals (HD/SD, 2 minutes) - A quick interview segment.

• The Beginning and the End (HD, 3 minutes) - Animation comparisons.

• Feature Film Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

The Primevals Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Primevals isn't the greatest of adventure throwbacks, but once the stop-motion animation gets rolling, oh man, look out nostalgia, here we come! With beasties, creatures, monsters, reptilians and lovable frights, the back half of the movie is a good deal of fun... so long as you're willing to trudge along for an hour or so to get to the good stuff. Full Moon's 3-disc Blu-ray release is an easy one to recommend, despite its lack of lossless audio. With an excellent video presentation, an extended version of the film (utilizing storyboards and artwork when necessary), and a bevy of extras, there's plenty of value to be had.