Rating: **
Review Date: 4/3/26
Director: Kevin Connor
Cast: Patrick Wayne, Sarah Douglas, Dana Gillespie, Thorley Walters,
Shane Rimmer, Richard LeParmentier, Doug McClure, Milton Reid, David Prowse
Shockingly awful. Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne) mounts an expedition to Caprona in an attempt to rescue his friend Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure), who has been stranded there since "The Land That Time Forgot" (1974). The rescue party consists of Ben, his mechanic friend Hogan (Shane Rimmer), his paleontologist friend Norfolk (Thorley Walters), and a plucky newspaper reporter named Charly (Sarah Douglas), whose father is financing the operation. When their plane crashes after an encounter with a pterodactyl, they continue on foot and run into prehistoric cavemen, dinosaurs, and... Samurai warriors? They also meet a luscious cavewoman named Ajor (Dana Gillespie) who speaks English and is a friend of Tyler's. Convenient. Even if they do find Tyler, how do they plan to escape the island with a broken plane that barely seats four people? The whole operation feels like it was planned by Donald Trump: all bluster, ill-conceived, woefully unprepared, hopelessly uninformed, and not a clue how to proceed.
Apart from the gorgeous location scenery of Santa Cruz de La Palma, the film is a complete wreck. The dinosaur puppets are crude, the miniature effects are disappointing, and the matte paintings are downright embarrassing. The dialog is appallingly bad and much of the film makes absolutely no sense. Patrick Wayne's character is instantly dislikable as the brash and annoying American, and remains that way throughout the picture. In fact, the only two bright spots in the film are the female characters. A young and surprisingly pretty Sarah Douglas is utterly delightful with her Princess Leia hair buns as the smart, sassy, and headstrong Charly, who is constantly challenging Ben's offensively chauvinistic swagger. And then there's Dana Gillespie as Ajor, who was honestly the main reason I watched this film. Her heaving bosom stole the show in "The Lost Continent" (1968) and her amazing breasts save this film from being a total waste of time. Naturally, prehistoric cavewomen are scantily clad, hairless, have flawless skin, and are meticulously groomed and made up to perfection like Playboy models, but I'm not complaining.
Despite the low budget, sluggish pacing, tacky visual effects, and sheer absurdity of the story, it's fun to see so many familiar faces from the 70s. There's Sarah Douglas ("Superman II" (1980) ), Thorley Walters (numerous Dracula and Frankenstein movies from Hammer Studios), Shane Rimmer and Milton Reid ("The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) ), and Richard LeParmentier and David Prowse ("Star Wars" (1977) ). Prowse only has a brief cameo as an executioner, but it's super annoying that he holds his sword the wrong way. Come on, you have one job, which is cutting off peoples' heads. You could at least use the sharp edge of the sword instead of the blunt side.
Overall, it's a serious misfire, and if you're looking for Edgar Rice Burroughs dinosaur action, you're better off sticking with "The Land That Time Forgot." But if you want to see Ms. Gillespie's barely contained bounty and a fresh-faced Sarah Douglas NOT playing a comic book villain, then it might be worth a glance.