Tammy And The T-Rex (1994) ***1/2
Describing the plot of Tammy And The T-Rex (1994) is sort of like telling a bad joke. Per IMDb: An evil scientist implants the brain of Michael, a high school student, into an animatronic Tyrannosaurus. He escapes, wreaks vengeance on his high school tormentors, and is reunited with his sweetheart Tammy.
The film plays like a joke too but one that is so absurdly fun that you can't help but enjoy its campiness (if you're like me, anyway). It has a lot of the same energy as another cult film/play that I love, Psycho Beach Party (2000) (my review here), with a touch of Frankenhooker (1990) too (minus the nudity).
Terry Kiser, of Weekend At Bernie's (1989) fame, plays the evil scientist, Paul Walker is Michael, and the titular (sorry not sorry) character is…um, brought to life by Denise Richards (who is actually pretty charming at times). John Franklin (Isaac from Children Of The Corn (1984)) is also on board and George 'Buck' Flower (man, I love that guy's name)—frequent bit player in John Carpenter films and many b-movies—gets a bunch of terrible (hence terribly good) one-liners. Actor Theo Forsett plays Byron—Tammy's best bud—a gross stereotype of a gay Black man, but I have to imagine that this was done intentionally, given how ridiculous the rest of the film is.
Stewart Raffill—of Mac And Me (1988) infamy (a film I have yet to submit myself to)—is responsible for co-writing and directing the monstrosity (sorry not sorry) that is T&TT. He made another film that I was exposed to late but also ended up loving, 1984's The Ice Pirates. That film is low budget and tongue-in-cheek as well, however the production values are miles above Tammy, which is so haphazardly shot and acted, that you simply can't assess it in the same way as most films.
Originally filmed as an R-rated horror comedy, Tammy's gore scenes (which are silly and plentiful) were removed from its initial American release in order to appeal to a family audience, where it was released with a PG-13 rating (I can't even imagine how poorly that cut plays). Purveyors of cult trash Vinegar Syndrome restored and theatrically released the "gore cut" of the film in 2019 and then brought both cuts to home video at the beginning of this year. I watched T&TT via my free trial on Shudder but I enjoyed it so much that I'm planning on picking up the 4K UHD from VS eventually.
Tammy And The T-Rex is not a "good" film but it is really funny and it has a lot of heart (and a really entertaining soundtrack). This is one dumb Frankenstein-cum-dinosaur love story that I can't resist.
The film plays like a joke too but one that is so absurdly fun that you can't help but enjoy its campiness (if you're like me, anyway). It has a lot of the same energy as another cult film/play that I love, Psycho Beach Party (2000) (my review here), with a touch of Frankenhooker (1990) too (minus the nudity).
Terry Kiser, of Weekend At Bernie's (1989) fame, plays the evil scientist, Paul Walker is Michael, and the titular (sorry not sorry) character is…um, brought to life by Denise Richards (who is actually pretty charming at times). John Franklin (Isaac from Children Of The Corn (1984)) is also on board and George 'Buck' Flower (man, I love that guy's name)—frequent bit player in John Carpenter films and many b-movies—gets a bunch of terrible (hence terribly good) one-liners. Actor Theo Forsett plays Byron—Tammy's best bud—a gross stereotype of a gay Black man, but I have to imagine that this was done intentionally, given how ridiculous the rest of the film is.
Stewart Raffill—of Mac And Me (1988) infamy (a film I have yet to submit myself to)—is responsible for co-writing and directing the monstrosity (sorry not sorry) that is T&TT. He made another film that I was exposed to late but also ended up loving, 1984's The Ice Pirates. That film is low budget and tongue-in-cheek as well, however the production values are miles above Tammy, which is so haphazardly shot and acted, that you simply can't assess it in the same way as most films.
Originally filmed as an R-rated horror comedy, Tammy's gore scenes (which are silly and plentiful) were removed from its initial American release in order to appeal to a family audience, where it was released with a PG-13 rating (I can't even imagine how poorly that cut plays). Purveyors of cult trash Vinegar Syndrome restored and theatrically released the "gore cut" of the film in 2019 and then brought both cuts to home video at the beginning of this year. I watched T&TT via my free trial on Shudder but I enjoyed it so much that I'm planning on picking up the 4K UHD from VS eventually.
Tammy And The T-Rex is not a "good" film but it is really funny and it has a lot of heart (and a really entertaining soundtrack). This is one dumb Frankenstein-cum-dinosaur love story that I can't resist.
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