WFG RATING: B+

Well Go USA presents a Showbiz Baby production. Directed by Mike Hermosa. Produced by Mike Capes, Mike Hermosa, Nic Neary, William Ramsay, and Johnny Wickham. Written by Mike Capes and Johnny Wickham. Cinematography by Bryan Koss.

Stars Mike Capes, David Shackleford, Caitin McHugh-Stamos, Sandy Martin, Bobby Gilchrist, Sean Astin, Richard Riehle, Larry Hankin, JJ Nolan, and Luke Speakman.

In this horror-comedy, the titular creature wreaks havoc in a small town and it becomes a chance for one hero to redeem himself.

Dr. Grant Walker was once a renowned paleontologist. However, after his business partner took the credit and left him in the dirt after a major discovery, he resorted to working at Dinoworld, an amusement park. His expertise is the velociraptor and gives the guests an insight on the dinosaur before being forced to do a song and dance number with the mascot, who is actually security guard Denny. This day will soon be a day never to be forgotten.

A mysterious creature has arrived and begins a killing spree first at Dinoworld before going to town. When a young kid falls prey to the monster, Grant discovers the shocking truth. The creature is a raptor, as his expertise leads him to discover a connection between fossilized fecal matter and the fresh pile in the kid’s bedroom. Denny, seeking revenge for the death of his dog, joins Grant and they soon discover one little thing about the raptor. It is invisible. The two must find a way to stop the creature before it’s too late.

Let’s face it. These days, we have plenty of indie horror-comedies that are just being manufactured like crazy but we also have to realize one thing. They are fun and exciting to watch, even if they have the hokiest effects imaginable. Look at Sharknado, Catnado, Piranhaconda, and Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus just to name a few. Now comes this film, from the crazy minds of Mike Capes and Johnny Wickham with Mike Hermosa directing and like the others, this is a wild adventure that has both pretty good visual effects and practical gore effect courtesy of the iconic Steve Johnson (Ghostbusters, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4).

The film has a buddy action dynamic, with Capes’ Grant Walker as the straight-laced paleontologist turned amusement park guide hoping to find some sort of redemption with the arrival of the titular monster with David Shackleford’s Denny being the outbursting security guard who seeks to avenge the death of his beloved dog. Shackleford’s Denny is a child at heart at times with his perfect reactions and endures quite a bit throughout the film. As for Caitlin McHugh-Stamos, she makes the most of her screen time as Allie, Grant’s ex from college who has since divorced and hopes to rekindle her romance with the doc. The other highlight is Sandy Martin, whose chicken farmer McClusky is a foul-mouthed ticked off farmer whose chickens have been violated by the menace. 

As mentioned, Steve Johnson is the SFX supervisor and does a fantastic job combined with visual effects of showing some craziness. Paying homage to the likes of Predator and Jurassic Park, the film has a scene with one of the scientists responsible for creating the creature attempting to see him through thermal vision only to fall prey. Another great scene involves the creature wreaking havoc at a local house rave, which brings Johnson’s SFX to amazing use. 

The Invisible Raptor is a great creature feature horror-comedy that has it all: a hero on the verge of redemption, a crazy security guard out for revenge, a foul-mouthed chicken farmer, and some pretty wicked FX from a legend. If this is your thing, then you have to see this film! 

The film is being released in select theaters and on Digital on December 6. You can pre-order the film on Apple TV+ right now.