Director: Josh Reed
Writer: Josh Reed (Screenplay) Josh Reed, Nigel Christensen (Story)
Starring: Zoe Tuckwell-Smith, Krew Boylan, Lindsay Farris, Rebekah Foord, Damien Freeleague, Wil Travel
Plot: A group of friends travel into the Australian wilds to view ancient cave paintings but soon find a horrible sickness gripping one of their own, which leaves them with nothing in their mind but a primal blood lust.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Easy To Watch Horror
Story: Primal starts as we see an ancient painter ruthlessly killed by something, fast forward to present day as we watch Anja (Tuckwell-Smith), Mel (Boylan), Chad (Farris), Kris (Foord), Warren (Freeleagus) and Dace (Traval) travelling to that site when one of the relatives discovers the paintings. Staying out in the Australian outback the group use this scientific discovery as a moment to enjoy the moment away from the world.
Everything is going smoothly until Mel decides to go skinny dipping leading to her getting covered in leeches, that night she starts getting a fever before getting worse through the night leading them to need to go for rescue. The friends find themselves stranded in this location needing to walk to safety after small bugs have been eating everything around.
It isn’t long before Mel turns ravenous attacking the friends leaving the final five friends trying to think of a way to solve the situation they find themselves in, but in a primal state can anyone survive what is waiting for them?
Primal is a horror film that takes the infected idea to a new level by making it turn the infected primal, but there is always a twist in these style of films which is leading up to something bigger. The story is very simple and the characters are painfully generic. I do feel like not enough questions are answered but I also think that comes off important in where the film goes because of the ancient evil involved. This is actually easy to watch for a horror fans and doesn’t take too long to get to the point but won’t live long in the memory.
Actor Review
Zoe Tuckwell-Smith: Anja is the leading lady with a tortured past, mostly comprising of bad boyfriends. This trip is a chance for her to get away from it all but she ends up being the voice of reason while trying to save her friend. Zoe makes for a strong lead but I think we needed that little extra for true horror leading lady.
Krew Boylan: Mel is what would be called the outward going of the group, she will take chances with her decision which does include skinny dipping in the local watering whole. This leads to her getting infected by something turning her ravenous against her friends. Krew goes through the most in this film which does gain her the most praise.
Lindsay Farris: Chad is the boyfriend of Mel, he seems like the complete opposite to her always coming off quite uptight. He can give her the cold shoulder at any time but deep down you can tell her loves her. Lindsay gives us a very basic but overly mood performance.
Rebekah Foord: Kris is the girlfriend of Dace who is on the trip to support him, she comes off though as one of the most random inclusion on the characters involved in this situation. Rebekah doesn’t do much wrong herself but I really don’t understand the point of her character’s decisions.
Support Cast: Primal only has a couple more cast members and both as good characters in their own right without being too involved in final outcome.
Director Review: Josh Reed – Josh does give us an almost fresh take on the infected genre instead of just mindless zombies we get to see them become primal, I do think with a little bit large budget we could have got something on the level of the Descent.
Horror: Primal has blood filled gore scenes and that one awkward scene in the cave.
Thriller: Primal tries to keep us on edge but the suspense never grows in this one because it is non-stop action horror.
Settings: Primal puts our characters in the Australian outback which helps the story create the isolation because no one has been to this location in years.
Special Effects: Primal has a mix of good and bad effects with the good coming with the gore and the bad with the creatures.
Suggestion: Primal is one for the horror fans to try, it is an easy watch. (Try It)
Best Part: Spinning the infected idea.
Worst Part: Part of the cave scene near the end, can’t say because spoilers and all.
Action Scene Of The Film: Chad v Dace.
Funniest Scene: Setting the trap like it is a Scooby Doo plot.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Overall: Easy to watch blood filled horror.
Rating
