THE PRIMEVALS

The Yeti on the rampage!

THE PRIMEVALS (1994/2023). Director: David Allen. 

A team which includes Matt Connor (Richard Joseph Paul), guide Siku (Tai Thai), and Dr. Claire Collier (Juliet Mills) goes to the Himalayas to see if they can catch a living yeti (or abominable snowman) after a dead one is exhibited on a college campus. They eventually find themselves in a lush hidden valley where there is not only an alien spaceship, but a race of lizard men who try to pit intruders against the yeti in an arena. The yeti, who is the size of King Kong, seems to be controlled by the nasty lizards ... 

Juliet Mills and Richard Joseph Paul

Most of The Primevals was actually shot in 1994 but not completed for decades. The director, a stop-motion specialist named David Allen, died in 1999 and the rest of the animated footage was done years later. The problem with the movie is that despite all of the fantastic elements, it has no real atmosphere and comes off like a cheap made-for-cable production. The FX work is good, however, the performances are more than adequate, and Richard Band's musical score is a plus. 

Verdict: For fans of stop-motion animation who have always wanted to see this film. **1/2.

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS (1994). Written and directed by Michael Cohn.

Captain Swaggert (Martin Sheen) investigates when the severed hands of several children are found by police. Swaggert brings in Special Investigator Audrey Macleah (Ally Walker) to help with profiling the perpetrator, but the trail leads instead to a mute young man, Jordan (Tara Subkoff), who is in an institution and seems to have some connection to the hands. As the police follow different leads, Audrey discovers that Jordan has a twin, Jennifer (also played by Subkoff), and that things in the past -- and an old, seemingly abandoned house -- may unravel the answers that Audrey seeks, if she survives that long ... 

Ally Walker

When the Bough Breaks plays a bit like a TV show, but that may be because former Clairol girl Ally Walker also played a profiler, and the lead, in the series Profiler (1996 - 1999) -- she probably got the part because of her performance in this movie. While she is by no means terrible, and has some good moments, I'm not completely sold on her, either. Another problem is that some of the sequences between Audrey and Jordan border on the inappropriate and seem a mite ridiculous. Martin Sheen isn't given an especially interesting part in this although Ron Perlman makes more of an impression as the twins' father. There is a creepy and violent climactic confrontation in a basement, but otherwise this is just too ordinary to recommend. As I watched I kept thinking Dario Argento could have turned this plot into a very satisfying giallo film, but no such luck.   

Verdict: Just not good enough on any level. **1/2. 

BURKE'S LAW (1994 )

Gene Barry and Peter Barton

BURKE'S LAW (1994 CBS TV series). 

In this revival of the fun 1960's mystery series, Gene Barry is back as the wealthy Amos Burke, who drives around in a limo with a chauffeur, aide and cook named  Henry (now played by Danny Kamekona), and is now Chief of Police of Los Angeles. Widower Burke still goes to crime scenes with his detective son, Peter (Peter Barton), who never solves the crime the way his father does. Another cast member is Bever-Leigh [!] Banfield as all-in-one pathologist and crime scene investigator, Lily. At first Banfield didn't seem to have a clue as to how to play Lily, but eventually she settled in and became an asset to the series. A "guest star" on every episode was Dom DeLuise as the Burkes' friend, Vinnie, a restaurateur and jack of all trades who serves as comedy relief and is often quite amusing. 

Bever-Leigh Banfield

The tone of the revival is very similar to the original show, light-hearted in its approach but only occasionally veering into outright silliness. Barry and Barton are excellent in their roles and are quite good at exploring the loving father-son dynamics between the two men. Most of the episodes of the show were B+, but there were a few "A's" as well. "Who Killed the Host at the Roast" has a comedian electrocuted at his own comedy roast and features Milton Berle and an excellent Gavin McLeod. Amos turns down a proposal from Shirley Jones in "Who Killed the Gadget Man?" in which an infomercial specialist is murdered, and features an especially good guest-star turn from Vicki Lawrence. Robert Vaughn is great fun as an actor who plays vampires in "Who Killed the Movie Mogul?" and a handsome, womanizing lifeguard is murdered in his pool in "Who Killed the Lifeguard?" In "Who Killed Nick Hazard?" a private eye is murdered at a convention, and Anne Francis, who first appeared as Honey West on the original Burke's Law, essays the role of P.I. "Honey Best."

The revival lasted for two seasons for a total of 27 episodes, and was produced by Aaron Spelling. It is not a classic, but nevertheless it's a clever, well-acted and entertaining program that is recommended to fans of the original series. The new theme music seems pretty insipid at first, but it grows on you. The original show eventually metamorphosed into Amos Burke, Secret Agent, which lasted one interesting season. 

Verdict: No classic, perhaps, but a fun and smoothly scripted show. **3/4. 

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS

ATTACK OF THE MONSTER MOVIE MAKERS. Tom Weaver. McFarland; 1994.

This book collects interviews, some already published in such magazines as Fangoria, with a variety of people associated with the horror/sci fi genre. These include Hitchcock screenwriter, Charles Bennett, who is billed as the "oldest employed screenwriter;" producer Herman Cohen, who hired Joan Crawford for her last features Berserk and Trog; director Val Guest, of Creeping Unknown and The Day the Earth Caught Fire; actress Susan Hart of Dr. Goldfoot infamy; Candace Hilligoss of Carnival of Souls and The Curse of the Living Corpse, who provides lots of behind-the-scenes details on those pictures; veteran actress Rose Hobart [The Adventures of Smilin' Jack]; Roger Corman actress Betsy Jones-Moreland, who says of Corman, "I wanted to kill him sometimes, but I liked him;" veteran actors Cameron Mitchell and Vincent Price; and lesser- known folk such as actor William Phipps [Five] and screenwriter Harry Spalding [Spaceflight IC-1]; not to mention Kenneth Tobey, who confirms that Howard Hawks was the one and only director of The Thing from Another World; among others.

Verdict: Very readable and interesting series of interviews with lesser (but no less memorable) lights. ***.