Raptor

_‘B’ dino-horror is competent, but same-old, same-old_ Some kind of vicious animal escapes a bio-research installation in remote SoCal and grisly corpses start mounting up. The Sheriff and an animal expert try to figure out what’s going on (Eric Roberts and Melissa Brasselle), which leads them to the mysterious facility. Corbin Bernsen plays the proverbial mad doctor. "Raptor" (2001) is a ‘B’ creature feature that mixes “Jurassic Park” (1993), “Godzilla” (1998), “Aliens” (1986) and “Tremors” (1990). It was originally intended to be a sequel to the “Carnosaur” trilogy from 1993-1996 and therefore uses stock footage from those flicks for the creature effects. The footage is effectively edited into the new storyline so you can’t tell. You could view it as “Carnosaur 4.” Being produced by Roger Corman and directed by his prolific protégé Jim Wynorski, this is a capable ‘B’ flick with the cast obviously having a good time during shooting. The black ops sequences are surprisingly well done. It’s energetic, just too routine and familiar. You could say that Corman & sidekick Wynorski were acting as a cinematic Dr. Frankenstein & Igor—lifting pieces of other cinematic bodies and grafting them together with filmic connecting tissue. Even the quality score by James Horner was entirely lifted from prior works. Lorissa McComas with her big hair plays the Sheriff’s daughter and stands out on the female front, although she’s unfortunately absent from the second half. Meanwhile statuesque redhead Teresa DePriest is sharp. The film runs 1 hour, 21 minutes, and was shot at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, Agua Dulce, California. GRADE: C+