Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

One of the best films i have seen

Better Late Then Never

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

An old-fashioned monster movie from the '50s, crossed with then-modern lashings of special effects and gore, sounds like a sure bet for this "killer baboon rampage" movie that failed to do much business at the box office when it was first released. The reason for this is that the movie is a strictly run-of-the-mill affair without much to get excited about, and in which the most exciting moments are those spent watching huge hordes of baboons charging through the African landscape. It's supposedly a true story, and the authentic Kenyan locations and supporting actors initially give it a feel of realism, but its not long before that feeling dissipates spectacularly.Things begin well. There's an excellent battle between rhinos and jeeps which actually takes place for real, without the aid of special effects. After this they quickly go downhill, with the script strictly adhering to the basic monster movie template. That is, a few nonentities get killed off initially until the body count rises dramatically and the rest of the cast realises that there's a problem. The dialogue is adequate but the action is sparse. Those looking for some serious baboon vs. human fight scenes may well feel short shrifted as there are only a couple of brief shots in the film (obviously the model baboons created for the movie weren't up to prolonged camera exposure). The two action "highlights" would be NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-style situations with the baboons replacing zombies and attempting to break into a house and then finally a hotel. Sadly, these are brief indeed, and ultimately disappointing.The cast seems to be an unusually straight one for what is a simple B-movie with A-movie aspirations. The underrated John Rhys Davies, one of my favourite actors, takes the lead as an unconventional action hero. Once again he gives strength to his character, making him a warm and likable person. This is unexpected as at the beginning of the film he is set up as one of those uncaring leader-type blokes who ends up putting lives in danger and getting killed as a result. Timothy Bottoms is the young(er) hero, who disturbingly shaves off his beard halfway through the film which is quite disconcerting, especially as this action is never mentioned! You just see him again with only a moustache and end up wondering who the guy is. Irene Miracle lends copious glamour as Bottom's ex-wife, who inevitably ends up being in peril.One good thing about this film are the special effects of the dead bodies - they're unusually graphic for a mainstream movie (check out Leonard Maltin's review, where he proclaims them as "disgusting"). We see corpses with severed limbs, blood pumping from throats and in the film's gruesome highlight, a body with half of its face ripped off. The gore is minimal but it gives the film that extra oomph for the horror fan, although being a mainstream movie you can guarantee that there'll be a sentimental happy ending in sight.Elsewhere, things try to be serious and scary and end up being comical. A supposedly horrific shot of a man on a telegraph pole getting his leg ripped off by baboons is roll-on-the-floor hilarious yet apparently played for the horror aspect. A baboon attacks the pilot of a plane, causing it to crash - excuse me? After saying that this film is based on a true story this individual scene is pretty hard to swallow. Somebody also decided to shoot some of the action scenes in slow-motion, and they just look dumb and sap the film of its life. The use of a Steadicam leads to some inevitable EVIL DEAD-style 'chase' moments. The only thing I would recommend about this film is the good performance from John Rhys Davies - otherwise it's a missed opportunity and only suitable for those who really like baboons, or a monster fan stuck for something to watch.

Having spent a large part of my life in Kenya, this film made me afraid to set out into the Tsavo for years. Based on Events that I remember the old people talking aboutthe film integrates those stories with just the right amountof fright!! The fear that the drought brought was displayed truthfully in this film. It captures the rugged beauty of the Kenyan countryside and people such as no other films made in Kenya have. If you have a fear of animals, this heightens it!

A ridiculous story of a drought in Africa which results in 90,000 baboons deciding to attack humans as their only way of getting food. Yes, that's right, 90,000 red-assed baboons munch their way through the cast during this silly 97 minute horror flick. There's a fair bit of needless gore, which doesn't help, and lots of build ups which peter out without delivering an exciting or frightening pay-off. The only decent thing about this movie is John Rhys-Davies (who was so great in Raiders of the Lost Ark), who injects a bit of interest in a somewhat underwritten role.

This movie had a lot of potential. A fairly popular cast, good acting, and a whole lot of baboons. But this movie failed to deliver what most action/horror film fans want: action and horror. The baboons are never shown killing anyone, just the scared look of the person, the baboon, and then it cuts to a different scene. In fact, the only reason that this movie is rated R is because of the bloody bodies people find. That's it, not even bad language. There is way too much pointless dialogue, which takes up probably 3/4 of the movie. The actual killer baboons are shown at a total time of 1/10 of the movie. So if you're looking for an awesome adventure in Africa where the heroes are blasting away killer animals, DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE. It is extremely boring and a waste of time. Overall rating: 2/10.