A prehistoric carnivorous predatory creature(which resembles a large-sized rodent of some kind, with a huge possum tail)feasts on the buried dead of cemeteries, creating underground tunnels to travel. A leather-jacketed widowed scientist, Hunter Henderson(Stephen McHattie)is in pursuit of that creature, moving from graveyard to graveyard until he can find it. But, also on it's trail is an unstable, rather homicidal, discharged FBI agent, Paul Buckner(Brion James, just recycling his old menace, but, as always, it works well for his character making him just as monstrous, if not more so, than the creature itself), after it for murdering his partner and especially monetary benefits for it's capture..dead or alive, but preferably dead. The creature secretes a sludge that can regenerate the cells of flesh wounds. Along the way, Hunter encounters a nasty threesome of bikers who threatened the life of a diner waitress, Tracy(Cynthia Belliveau), which ends in a minor shootout with a cook suffering the most of this unfortunate display of violence. With an APB out for them, Hunter and Tracy head on the road as they fall in love. In a nearby graveyard, cemetery groundskeepers portly Jake(Dennis O'Conner)and his young assistant Ed(Jaimz Woolvett of "Unforgiven" fame)encounter an entrance to the monster's tunnel hole and call in police deputies Gabe(Christopher Bondy)and lovely female partner Jesse(a young, pre-Scream Neve Campbell). After Gabe is eaten because of his attempts to see what was inside the tunnel, Jake, Ed & Jesse meet up with Hunter and Tracy..as a collective, the group will try to take the creature alive, under sedation from a special needle-gun Hunter has in his medical bag. But, Paul will certainly make that task especially difficult.
The monster looks like something out of the Jim Henson monster factory..the filmmakers try hard to shade it as much as possible. As I mentioned already, Brion James is the real villain causing much strife towards the others in his goal to kill and capture the monster. Stephen McHattie, a very recognizable face in television often portraying villains, is the laconic, brooding hero in this particular film. Might be interesting for those seeking out Neve's resume..the stuff she was in before "Scream" and "Wild Things". I think creature feature fans might get more out of this flick than most others. The characters aren't really developed overwhelmingly, just little glances into their lives through momentary lines of dialogue..the filmmakers focus more on the monster, it's lair and those pursuing it.
The monster looks like something out of the Jim Henson monster factory..the filmmakers try hard to shade it as much as possible. As I mentioned already, Brion James is the real villain causing much strife towards the others in his goal to kill and capture the monster. Stephen McHattie, a very recognizable face in television often portraying villains, is the laconic, brooding hero in this particular film. Might be interesting for those seeking out Neve's resume..the stuff she was in before "Scream" and "Wild Things". I think creature feature fans might get more out of this flick than most others. The characters aren't really developed overwhelmingly, just little glances into their lives through momentary lines of dialogue..the filmmakers focus more on the monster, it's lair and those pursuing it.