A rampaging dinosaur, rogue science, and Nevada’s weirdest environmental standoff.
CARNOSAUR
Driven to extinction. Back for revenge.
A genetically manipulated and very hungry dinosaur escapes from a bioengineering company and wreaks havoc on the local desert town. A security guard and a girl environmentalist try to stop both it and the company's doomsday bioweapon.
Carnosaur is a 1993 American horror and science fiction film directed by Adam Simon about a genetically engineered dinosaur unleashed on a small Nevada town after bioengineering experiments go awry.
Themes & Keywords
Synopsis
At a neighboring Eunice-owned quarry, watchman Doc Smith protects excavation equipment from environmentalists. He reports a trespasser, Ann Thrush, but Sheriff Fowler is investigating a series of gruesome killings, perpetrated by Tiptree's missing creature, a Deinonychus. Among the victims is the daughter of Eunice employee Jesse Paloma, but before he raises any suspicion to her research, Tiptree lures him into a laser-protected dinosaur pen where a fully grown Tyrannosaurus rex devours him.
Despite the deaths, Thrush and a group of activists handcuff themselves to excavation equipment in a form of protest. They are encountered by the Deinonychus and everyone except Thrush is slaughtered. Still in shock, Thrush is brought back by Doc to his trailer, where she survives another attack by the creature. Doc discovers a truck with two corpses belonging to Eunice and contacts Tiptree on the vehicle's radio, deducing the creature originated from her facility. As he approaches the lab, Fowler discovers a dinosaur embryo in a carton of eggs and takes it for investigation.
Doc infiltrates Tiptree's laboratory and, at gunpoint, she reveals her experiment subjects to him. The town's mysterious illness is caused by infected chicken eggs, which contain a lethal airborne virus and impregnate women with dinosaur embryos. Her objective is to exterminate the human race, which Tiptree faults as disastrous, and enable dinosaurs to repopulate the Earth. News of the town's deaths reach Eunice sponsors who trace it to Tiptree. In response, the government places the community under quarantine and resolves to kill all civilians — infected or not — on sight.
With the illness rapidly spreading, Fowler responds to a disturbance at a kennel. He confronts the Deinonychus, but both he and the creature suffer fatal wounds in the exchange. Top governmental officials, in a secure underground bunker, also begin plotting the repopulation of the human race in response to the virus; they envision a new social order prograted by strict fertilization policies and artificial wombs. At the laboratory, Doc attempts to escape with a cure to the illness and mistakenly enters the dinosaur pen. Tiptree releases the T. rex which pursues Doc out of the facility. Infected herself, Tiptree births a dinosaur and succumbs to the illness.
Doc returns to Thrush, who has been exposed to the illness. The T. rex enters the quarry where Doc battles the creature using a backhoe loader, impaling and killing the creature with Thrush's assistance. After injecting her with the serum, Doc is killed by government soldiers alerted to his presence, and both his and Thrush's bodies are burned.
After being driven to extinction, great bloodthirsty dinosaurs come back to life with the assistance of a demented genetic scientist. She plans to replace the human race with a super-race of dinosaurs who will not pollute the planet.
- Director
- Adam Simon
- Writers
- John Brosnan, Adam Simon
- Release
- 1993
- Runtime
- 1h 23m
- Country
- United States of America
- Language
- English
- Genres
- Horror, Science Fiction
- Also Known As
- Carnosaurus 1, 雷克斯暴龍
Why Cult
This is pure B-movie spectacle with genetically engineered dinosaurs running wild and tearing up the Nevada desert.
Diane Ladd’s Dr. Jane Tiptree brings rare villainy as a reclusive scientist whose experiments with bio-weapons unleash prehistoric terror.
The film revels in biotech sci-fi chaos, from viral outbreaks to weaponized chickens and doomsday genetic projects.
A security guard, a passionate environmentalist, and a sheriff tangle with both corporate intrigue and prehistoric predators.
Trailer
Questions from the Vault
What is Carnosaur about? +
Carnosaur is about a genetically manipulated dinosaur that escapes from a bioengineering company and terrorizes a Nevada town, while a security guard and an environmentalist try to stop it and the company’s doomsday bioweapon.
When was Carnosaur released? +
Carnosaur was released in 1993.
Who directed Carnosaur? +
Carnosaur was directed by Adam Simon.
How long is Carnosaur? +
Carnosaur has a runtime of 83 minutes.
What genre is Carnosaur? +
Carnosaur is a horror and science fiction film.
Where can I watch Carnosaur? +
You can watch Carnosaur on SassyFlix.
Collection Spotlight
Terror From Beyond!
Why settle for a clean getaway when you can watch the whole thing explode? High-speed pursuits, blown escapes, and metal-crunching wreckage.
Explore Collection →