Some movies are so bad that they almost make you angry. Dinogeist fortunately belongs to a slightly more entertaining category: movies that are so bad that they eventually become funny. Not because the filmmakers deliberately set out to make a bad movie, but because almost every aspect of this production falls short in a rather remarkable way. From the story and characters to the acting, sound and special effects, Dinogeist feels more like an ambitious amateur project than a conventional feature film.
And perhaps that is a good thing. Because if you tried to take this movie completely seriously, you probably wouldn't make it through the full ninety minutes.
A Story That Barely Qualifies as a Story
The biggest problem with Dinogeist is perhaps that it barely manages to tell a coherent story. The movie introduces a whole collection of characters, but there are hardly any real protagonists. As a result, there is no clear central character to anchor the story around.
That lack of focus carries over into the entire structure of the movie. Dinogeist mostly feels like a collection of individual scenes that just happen to have been edited together. Various things happen, different characters appear and then disappear again, but there is very little sense of a strong connection between all these events.
A movie can, of course, be mysterious, but Dinogeist regularly feels as though it simply forgot that the audience is supposed to understand what is actually happening.
No Effort to Explain Anything
The movie also makes very little effort to explain its own concept in a clear or believable way. Exactly what is going on with the dinosaurs, the ghosts and the events unfolding around them remains largely unclear.
Normally, an unclear concept can actually be part of the charm of a horror movie. Here, however, it mostly feels as though nobody ever really thought about how everything was supposed to fit together.
As a result, you don't really feel like you're trying to unravel a mystery. Instead, you simply sit there waiting to see what the movie is going to pull out of its hat next.
Dinogeist Is Almost Unwatchable
That may sound harsh, but Dinogeist is at times almost impossible to watch. Not because the movie is particularly scary or disturbing, but simply because the quality is incredibly low on almost every technical level.
The movie feels much more like an amateur production than a conventional feature film. The cinematography, editing, acting and especially the sound constantly reinforce that impression. The dialogue often sounds as though it was recorded somewhere in someone's living room, while the actors don't always seem to know what to do with their characters.
And then, of course, there are the special effects.
Dinosaurs That Barely Look Like Dinosaurs
The dinosaurs in Dinogeist deserve a chapter of their own. Their design is downright bizarre. Not only do these creatures look completely unrealistic, they are also anything but scary or threatening.
That is rather problematic for a movie whose concept revolves around ghostly manifestations of dinosaurs. When you introduce supernatural dinosaur apparitions, you would hope the audience immediately thinks: that's a dinosaur. With Dinogeist, that certainty isn't always there.
The effects are also so primitive that they are far more likely to make you smile than feel frightened. And honestly, that is probably one of the few ways to get any enjoyment out of this movie.
Thankfully, Dinogeist Doesn't Take Itself Too Seriously
The good thing is that Dinogeist fortunately doesn't constantly try to present itself as a completely serious movie. That is actually the right approach for a film with a concept and budget like this.
There is something almost endearing about the production. You never really get the impression that the filmmakers deliberately wanted to create a so-called so bad it's good movie. In certain respects, they are clearly trying to make a genuine film and convince the audience that their story works.
They just don't succeed very often.
And that is precisely what makes Dinogeist unintentionally funny at times. Not because of brilliant humor or clever satire, but because the movie is clearly trying to sell itself while almost every element practically begs the audience to smile.
Why Is Dinogeist Nearly 90 Minutes Long?
Perhaps the biggest question left after watching Dinogeist is why it had to be nearly ninety minutes long.
This movie simply doesn't have enough story or ideas to justify that running time. There are scenes that go on far too long, while other scenes could have been removed entirely without anyone noticing. It feels as though the editing process was guided by the thought: we filmed it, so it has to be in the movie.
A runtime of around an hour would probably have made the movie considerably more bearable. Instead, every weakness becomes even more obvious because you then have to spend several additional minutes watching it.
A Dinosaur Movie Without Any Clear Direction
Ultimately, Dinogeist is a remarkably strange movie. The concept itself perhaps has some charm on paper: supernatural dinosaurs, horror and a healthy dose of B-movie energy. With the right execution, there could have been something entertaining here.
But simply too much is missing.
There are hardly any clear protagonists, the story consists largely of disconnected scenes, the explanations are absent, the acting is inconsistent, the sound is problematic and the special effects belong to the category that makes you wonder whether you have accidentally stumbled upon an unfinished fan project.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that the movie doesn't even really make you angry. You are better off trying to laugh at it. Because once you try to judge Dinogeist as a conventional feature film, there is very, very little left.
Conclusion
Dinogeist is a movie that gets almost everything wrong that a movie can get wrong. The story has very little cohesion, the characters provide little to hold on to, and the film makes virtually no effort to explain its own concept in a clear or believable way. Technically, the production feels more like an amateur film, with the acting, sound and special effects making the limited budget painfully obvious.
The fact that the movie thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously prevents the whole experience from becoming even more frustrating. There are even moments that are unintentionally funny. But ultimately, that is about the only entertainment Dinogeist has to offer.
Because, let's be honest: nearly ninety minutes of this story is simply ridiculous.
And those dinosaurs? They probably would have been better off remaining ghosts.
Rating: 2/10
