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1 year agoon
‘The Primevals’, the brainchild of visual effects magician David Allen, was previously shelved after he sadly passed away from cancer on August 16, 1999 at age 54.
Allen’s concept for the film dated all the way back to the late ’60s and actually first began production with producer Charles Band in 1978.
Unfortunately, production for the movie was shutdown back then… Only to be revived twice before being shutdown again during Allen’s life time. But he would never give up on it.
Now Charles Band and Chris Endicott (Spider-Man: Homecoming), (who currently leads Allen’s production company), have resurrected the stop-motion film into completion.
Check out never before released photo stills for ‘The Primevals’ below:
‘THE PRIMEVALS’ PLOT SYNOPSIS: “Deep in the Himalayas, a group of Sherpas subdue and kill a towering humanoid creature.
Its remains — including a brain that appears to have undergone some kind of surgery — wind up under the supervision of Dr. Claire Collier (Juliet Mills), who believes it to be one of the legendary Yeti.
Joined by her former student Matt Connor (Richard Joseph Paul), a longtime believer in the creatures’ existence, big-game hunter Rondo Montana (Leon Russom), and others, Dr. Collier leads an expedition into the mountains to track down more of the abominable snowmen.
Their trek results in an encounter with a tribe of primitive hominids — which in turn leads to the far more frightening discovery of beings they never could have expected or imagined.”
DIRECTOR: David Allen
WRITER: Randall William Cook
CAST: Juliet Mills, Leon Russom, Robert Cornthwaite
STUDIO: Full Moon Features
“Full Moon Features’ world premiere of THE PRIMEVALS at Fantasia Film Festival represents the culmination of a longtime dream harbored by visual effects wizard David Allen, whose career stretched from 1970’s EQUINOX through Oscar-nominated work on YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES and beyond.
Allen first conceived THE PRIMEVALS as a vehicle for his stop-motion talents in the 1970s. He finally began directing the movie, which he scripted with fellow effects artist Randy Cook (THE GATE), in the 1990s under producer Charles Band, CEO and Founder of Full Moon Features, for whom he’d brought all manner of beasties to life in LASERBLAST, PUPPET MASTER and many others.
Sadly, the film’s completion was scuttled by Allen’s death from cancer in 1999 at just 54 years old.
Now, at last, Band and longtime Allen associate Chris Endicott (Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Homecoming) have seen the film to completion, and it emerges as a glorious tribute to the classic films of Ray Harryhausen, with a true sense of adventure and eye-popping, remarkably fluid dimensional animation. “
– ‘The Primevals’ will screen at the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival on Sunday, July 23 at 5:00 PM and Monday, July 24 at 4:35 PM. Both screenings will take place at the Salle J.A. De Sève movie theater. The fantasy film combines live action with stop-motion animation.
If you’re a fan of stop-motion effects even on a technical level, you have to check this movie out.
Visit Fantasia to purchase tickets to attend the world premiere screening.
Be sure to read:
– Anime Films to watch at Fantasia Film Festival 2023
Visit the Fantasia International Film Festival section for the latest festival news, reviews, exclusive interviews, previews and much more!
Nir Regev is the founder of The Natural Aristocrat. You can directly contact him at [email protected] for coverage consideration, interview opportunities, or general comments.
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