After 56 years under production SciFi and Fantasy “The Primevals” will premiere at the Fantasia Festival

For one reason or another, some movies take a long time from the day the project is green-lit until it can finally be screened. Recently, we have seen the release of George A. Romero’s lost film The Amusement Park (1975), John Liu’s New York Ninja (2021) [read our review here] in production since the 1980s, or the astonishing animation horror Mad God (2021), by Phil Tippett, that took 30 years to be completed. This year we will witness a new release that has been lost in the muddy waters of filmmaking for 56 years. Give a warm welcome to the adventures and fantasy science-fiction The Primevals (2023).

Filled with astonishing classic stop-motion techniques, The Primevals (2023) tells the story of a civilization lost in time and invaded one million years ago.

The abominable snowman… The Yeti. For centuries his presence has been speculation, but now his existence may be a reality. High in the Himalayas a specimen has been found and he’s been sent back to the United States for research. Leading the investigation is noted anthropologist Doctor Claire Collier, who has been studying the controversy of the Yeti for years. The autopsy reveals that the extraordinary creature, whose ancestors date back perhaps millions of years, underwent some sort of cranial surgery prior to its death. How is the mystery to be solved, an expedition is the only way to find the answers. Collier teams up with Mat Connor, her former student and famous writer, Rondo Montana, an ex-big game hunter, and Kathleen Reidel, another one of Collier’s former students and the guide for their journey. After several days of travel, the team is surprised by an avalanche. The ground caves are dropping them into ice caverns hundreds of feet beneath the ice. The four explorers find a way out of the cavern and, surprisingly, into a warm and lush isolated valley inhabited by unusual primeval species. An occasional heat-emanating metal dome can be seen emerging from the soil. The aberration in the environment is obviously the work of some highly intelligent lifeform, which the researchers dare to find. Their suspicions are justified when the team finds a remote cave with a hydroelectric system hidden inside, as well as the remains of an abandoned spaceship. The explorers are suddenly captured by the strange beings – half reptile, half man – brought about by years of mutation. The creatures have deadly plans for the humans… unless they can find a way out.

David Allen, one of the most popular special effects and animation artists of the 1980s and 1990s having worked in iconic films like The Howling (1981), The Hunger (1983), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), The Dungeonmaster (1984), The Stuff (1985), Dolls (1986), Ghoulies II (1987), Willow (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), the Puppet Master saga, and the Academy Award nominee for Best Effects, Visual Effects for Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), first began pitching the project to the British Hammer Films studio in the late 1960s. In 1978, Allen, along with producer Charles Band, began production on the film. However, the finances for the movie fell through, and the project started and stopped several times before an indefinite halt. In 1994, new funding was gained and production restarted. Principal filming of the live-action scenes was completed in Romania with a new cast, and Allen continued to work on the post-production and stop-motion effects until his untimely death from cancer in 1999, which effectively left the film canceled.

In 2018, an Indiegogo campaign was set up by Charles Band‘s production and distribution company Full Moon Features in order to complete the film and release it on home media in Allen‘s honour.

The Primevals (2023) is starring Juliet Mills, Leon Russom, Robert Cornthwaite, Walker Brandt, Richard Joseph Paul, and Tai Thai.

The completed version of the film has been continually working since 2018 and will finally get a world release at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 20th, 2023.

Watch the official trailer for The Primevals (2023).