The Monarch Home Entertainment DVD, which hit real and virtual shelves on March 22 2016, of the 2015 tongue firmly in cheek minimal-budget "horror" film "Cowboys Vs. Dinosaurs" provides a good chance to see this awesome variation on the "Tremors" franchise. This future cheesy classic is a perfect example of the policy of the Best Brains" behind the '90s basic-cable series "Mystery Science Theater 300." Knowing that your movie is low-budget and poorly acted spares you from the brutal riffing that other films endure.
The following YouTube clip of the award-worthy "Cowboys" trailer provides a good sense of the awesomely off-kilter sensibility of the film.
Disgraced former local hero Val Walker, who aptly has the same first name as the Kevin Bacon character who engages in desert battles with a giant worm in "Tremors," stereotypically returns to his former community just as the mother of all mining disasters allows the titular colony of terrible lizards to run rampant. Stating that Walker Texas Roamer becomes the hero and wins back the woman whom he previously wronged is too minimal of a spoiler to warrant an alert.
The element of the dinosaurs finding a route from their reality into ours introduces a nice element of the awesome modern British scifi series "Primeval" and the less-awesome Syfy channel version of this series about different groups of prehistoric creatures using a shifting time portal in each episode. One actual spoiler is that the effects in both series is far better than those in "Cowboys."
"Cowboys" follows the pattern of starting with small-scale attacks in remote areas of the rural Southwest setting of the film. The most gratuitous of these involve a chomping of slutty post-adolescent women who tease horny teen boy viewers by asserting that they will skinny dip only to merely strip to fairly substantial bras and panties.
Other stereotypical developments include the powers-that-be initially disregarding the possibility of dinosaur attacks despite the strong evidence of such occurrences, the greedy mining executive disregarding the certainty of releasing more dinosaurs from their containment, and the dinosaurs using excellent judgment regarding whom they chomp. One highly entertaining surprise involves a triceratops. Another memorable scene that involves the mine manager is straight out of "Jurassic Park."
All of this amounts to 90-minutes of well-paced escapist entertainment. This enjoyment most likely equals the pleasure by those behind and in front of the cameras in the film.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Cowboys" is encouraged to either email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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