GALAXY OF THE DINOSAURS

Produced by J.R. Bookwalter
Directed by Lance Randas
Written by Jon Killough
Directors of Photograpy - Lance Randas and Todd Hone
Edited by Darryl Squatmpump

Kronik - James Black
Graft - James L. Edwards
Morda - Christine Morrison
Benj - Tom Hoover
Professor Getting - Bill Morrison

I'm not sure which is funnier, that Tempe had the nerve to dig this one out of the vaults for DVD treatment, or that star James Black has repressed every memory he ever had of making it.

This was part of a series of films Tempe Video produced for David DeCoteau's defunct Cinema Home Video line. The purpose was to crank out some ultra-cheap productions and pass them all off to the rental stores before any of the shopowners knew what hit them.

For every KINGDOM OF THE VAMPIRE, you have a GALAXY OF THE DINOSAURS. In other words, for every production that took itself way too seriously, you have one that had the good sense not to.

This was actually the first Tempe title I saw back in the Spring of 1995. Alternative Cinema had been out for a few issues and it rekindled a fire within me towards filmmaking that I lost after a disastrous attempt at cashing in on the Walt Disney market was incinerated in a Hiroshima-sized fireball. After choking on the crap-sandwich that was DIGGING HOLES, I was left hacking up every diggleberry of filmmaking desire that was nurtured in the cesspool known as Wright State University.

Reading about those camcorder epics in AC showed me a market that was ripe for the pickings. Only problem was that there was no way in hell I was shelling out $30 bucks for a movie I had never seen. At the time I was only a lowly video scanner on the Viacom foodchain and couldn't even raise the scratch for some low-grade Ramen.

Thank God for Weasel!

To this day I have no idea what his real name was. Weasel was my Assistant Producer on DIGGING HOLES. With a few phone calls, the guy could make it snow in August. The Silver that lined his tongue would ring with a sound so sweet that an Ethiopian would give up his last grain of rice, and do so smiling. If ever there was a born huckster, it was Weasel.

During production of DIGGING HOLES, Weasel saw a copy of AC sitting on my coffee table.

"Dude, Bookwalter sucks! I can't believe you read his rag."

"You know him?"

"No, but I know a guy who knows a guy that has some of his movies."

"You know a guy… who knows a guy?"

"F*cking A!"

A week later GALAXY OF THE DINOSAURS was sitting on my coffee table along with HUMANOIDS FROM ATLANTIS. You didn't even have to ask and Weasel would come through. Taste in magazines aside, that guy was the best damned production assistant to ever find his way out of Canton, OH.

As for the movie itself, I found it cute and charming. It wasn't great, not even mediocre. Just a zero-budget sci-fi flick staring a group of friends in bad get-ups. The film worked because even the cast knew there was no saving this one. They jumped in, swam, and made the best of it.

For years GALAXY OF THE DINOSAURS has been out of print, but you can find it as an added bonus, complete with commentary, on THE VAULT DVD under the Director's Spotlight section. Even with DVD treatment, this movie isn't winning any prizes, but you owe it to yourself to listen to the commentary by Bookwalter and James Black. James can barely remember making the movie, while Bookwalter painfully and regretfully remembers ever detail. A true highlight comes when James tells a story about showing the movie to a date. 8 minutes into it she asks to use the bathroom. James never saw her again.

J.R. has even gone so far as to go back and remaster the movie with new credits, editing, and sound mix that give the movie a watchability it never had before. Even James Black was able to make it all the way through for the first time. I found it just as charmingly bad as ever…and watched it twice.

For what it's worth, Dave Decoteau has had his name taken off the movie. Weasel's whereabouts are a mystery to all his loved ones. I never did finish that abomination DIGGING HOLES.

Tempe Video
Full Moon Pictures
The Vault

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