Review of When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) by Jonathan B — 28 Sep 2011

Looking decidedly creaky these days this was a Hammer exploitation of their earlier world-wide smash 1 Million Years B.C. I do have a huge soft spot for this type of monster flick and actually, some of the stop-motion creations that menace a variety of fur-clad extras are rather good. There's just not enough of them.

The plot is a bit of a mess to be honest with some sort of astronomical catastrophe threatening the lives of a couple of dinosaur dodging tribes.....at least, there seems to be a great deal of pointing up at the sky and frantic chasing around which makes it a bit hard to fathom what exactly is going on.

As with 1 Million Years B.C. the script is made up of a random collection of tribal sounding nonsense backed up with gesticulations and puzzled looks but, unlike the earlier film, a lot of the meaning attempting to be conveyed, is utterly baffling.

These films have to be seen now really for their camp and kitsch appeal. Victoria Vetri, with her perfect skin and peroxide hair is about as far removed from a Neanderthal as it is possible to be and, whether fighting off the advances of a man-eating plant or wrestling in the surf with love rival Imogen Hassall, seems to have an air of bewilderment about her. Sadly, I think that only Raquel Welch really managed to pull off the fur bikini look with anything approaching conviction.

This is a bit of a silly film and as long as you view it as such, you won't be too disappointed.