‘The Invisible Raptor’ Is A Loving And Delightfully Absurd Homage To ‘Jurassic Park’ [FrightFest 2024 Review]
Fans of the Jurassic Park franchise are in for a real treat with The Invisible Raptor, a loving homage to the popular dinosaur franchise. Instead of being a direct parody, director Mike Hermosa, known for Dutch Hollow and Wildflower, and writers Mike Capes and Johnny Wickham manage to conceive a respectful and delightfully absurd comedy that’s both respectful and ridiculous at the same time. However, since it was produced for a fraction of the budget of the Jurassic Park films, the titular dinosaur remains invisible for the most part, which allowed the filmmakers to massively save on costs. Everyone involved clearly loves Jurassic Park, and regardless of the limited budget, this is evident throughout every moment of The Invisible Raptor.
Capes stars as Dr. Grant Walker, a paleontologist who works in an amusement park called Dinoworld, which is located in the aptly named Spielberg County. Grant would rather be recognized for his scientific achievements instead of toiling away in a second-rate amusement park, but life has clearly dealt him an unfortunate hand. However, things get more interesting for Grant when he begins to suspect that an invisible velociraptor might be the culprit behind a recent killing spree. And if you were somehow still not convinced of this being a homage to Jurassic Park, the score by Mihai Ciolca was also highly reminiscent of John Williams’ iconic theme for the blockbuster dinosaur franchise, sounding just about distinct enough for Universal not to consider calling its lawyers.
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Despite being a comedy, The Invisible Raptor never becomes too silly or absurd, and most of the cast members play their roles with a level of no-nonsense dedication, despite the absurd premise. Therefore, Capes really does sell his role as a knowledgeable paleontologist who wants the world to acknowledge his expertise when it comes to dinosaurs. At the same time, Grant is often ridiculed for his job as an entertainer at Dinoworld. He reluctantly takes the initiative and becomes the unwilling hero as the film progresses, in a way that seems admirable, if not a little foolish.
Capes clearly wrote the role of Grant with himself in mind, and he plays the character with such bravado and dedication that you really will want to see Grant succeed. Caitlin McHugh-Stamos also appears as Amber, Grant’s ex-partner, and the talented McHugh-Stamos expertly conveys the pain Amber feels as she begins to realize that she still has feelings for Grant.
However, David Shackelford delivers a memorable comedic performance as Deniel ‘Denny’ Denielson, a security guard at Dinoworld who joins forces with Grant to stop the raptor. Deniel serves as the perfect comedic foil to the straight-faced Grant, as the security guard refuses to take the situation seriously. Although they bicker at first, Grant and Deniel quickly become friends as they track their quarry, and Deniel even reveals some heartbreaking details about his life. Therefore, the recent killing spree has a positive impact on Deniel’s life, as it causes him to bond with Grant in a way in which he had clearly never bonded with anyone else. This is very much a film about friendship in addition to the titular invisible monster, because, by the end, Grant and Deniel will clearly do anything to protect one another.
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The supporting cast all add extra levels of humor to what was already a very comedic film. Sandy Martin appears as Henrietta McCluckskey, a conspiratorial chicken farmer who believes that her birds are the best that money can buy. Needless to say, the lengths to which McCluckskey goes in order to protect and promote her livestock will leave you in stitches. Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin also appears as William ‘Willie’ Walsh, a scientist who played a role in the raptor’s creation. Despite his limited screen time, Astin still manages to make his role and his character’s death hilarious, and he was no doubt one of the highlights of the film.
The absurd practical gore effects are an absolute delight as the raptor decapitates and dismembers its human prey with reckless abandon. And the beast manages to rake up an impressive body count by the end of the picture. There’s even a brilliantly memorable sequence in which the raptor crashes a party and slaughters most of the drunk and stoned partygoers, too drunk and high to escape. Because the dinosaur is invisible, the limbs appear to be falling off on their own accord before disappearing into thin air as they’re eaten, which certainly made for an interesting visual spectacle. Since the Jurassic Park movies are given lower age ratings in order to appeal to younger viewers, The Invisible Raptor deserves praise for exploiting the one weakness of the franchise it lampoons by giving viewers the gore they so desperately crave.
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On the other hand, the surprisingly hefty runtime of almost two hours won’t bother viewers who are completely sold on the farcical premise. Other viewers with less investment might find The Invisible Raptor too long. Some of the jokes are also stretched thin, including a running gag involving chickens which is funny at first, but quickly becomes tiresome. But this is still a film that’ll leave you grinning from ear-to-ear, with some of the standout visual gags including Grant and Deniel examining a gigantic pile of raptor droppings and arguing about its origins, and Deniel reluctantly covering himself with urine to attract the raptor.
It might be too silly for some, but The Invisible Raptor proved to be a delightfully absurd homage to Jurassic Park which might just be remembered as one of the best monster movies in recent years. Instead of leaning too heavily into silliness, this was a surprisingly thoughtful story of an invisible dinosaur going on a rampage, with the strong performances, heavy levels of practical gore, and laugh-out-loud moments all culminating in something that both Jurassic Park fans and fans of dinosaur movies, in general, will highly appreciate.
Summary
Despite its absurd premise, The Invisible Raptor still proved to be a highly emotional and gratifying viewing experience, with plenty of delightfully strong gore and hilarious visual gags thrown in across the way.
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