Primeval

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Primeval

R

2007

1h 34m

Mystery & Thriller

Adventure

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

19%

Tomatometer

54 Reviews

32%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Veteran reporter Tim Manfrey lands possibly the worst assignment of his life: Travel to the African country of Burundi to locate and capture the world's largest crocodile. Dubbed "Gustave" by the villagers, the croc is said to have dined on hundreds of humans over the years. Complicating matters is an African warlord who is even more bloodthirsty than the giant reptile.

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Critics Consensus

Primeval is a low-quality horror film, which due to the inane political messages does not even qualify as campy fun.

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Brian Tallerico

UGO

Mar 24, 2007

Primeval is bad, but it's never boring, and you can't say that about many of its peers.

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Scott Tobias

AV Club

Jan 17, 2007

D+

The sub-sub-Anaconda bottom-feeder Primeval makes the mistake of taking itself far too seriously; with its exploitative images of civil war and genocide, it's the Blood Diamond of 25-foot-killer-crocodile movies.

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Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Jan 16, 2007

Essentially Jaws moved to Africa.

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Paul Lê

Bloody Disgusting

Jan 12, 2024

3/5

Primeval does too much for a movie of this caliber; it feels stuck between two genres. As a counterpoint, its flawed and messy ambition is still preferable to all the more routine crocsploitation movies currently swimming in existence.

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Mark H. Harris

Black Horror Movies

Jan 10, 2020

2.8/5

It's this sort of social insight that elevates Primeval above typical marauding animal fare.

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Steve Newton

Georgia Straight

Jul 6, 2010

1/5

Primeval is one of crummiest killer-beast flicks of all time. It actually makes the B.C.-shot giant-croc debacle Lake Placid look half-decent, but it sure the hell wasn't.

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Farah R

@Farah Sep 20, 2026

Primeval is not the movie you think it’s going to be. I went in expecting a campy creature feature, but the political storyline ends up overshadowing much of the monster stuff, making the whole thing feel strangely unfocused. There’s comedy, action, drama, politics, and a creature feature all mixed together, but none of it really comes together. The movie often feels like it doesn’t know what it wants to be.

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Jesper T

@RT31913497 Apr 29, 2026

To much Nike product placement. A shitty american movie!

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Tim M

@tgmacman Jun 26, 2025

Primeval bares plenty of teeth but not nearly enough filmmaking prowess to stand out amid a crowded field of creature features.

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Sarah C

@RT20396112 Sep 17, 2024

Acting is okay at best, logic is basically non-existent and the plot is good enough. It's a good movie to have as background noise if you're talking or on your phone. It's lame that Orlando Jones' character dies but Brooke Langton's character, who does one dumb thing right after the other, lives. Only positive is that the dog survives and that's why this is getting 1 star instead of half.

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Steve D

@RT35616104 Oct 6, 2023

A weird mix of ideas that never work. I wish Langton and Jones got better material than this.

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Michael M

@RT40697146 Dec 2, 2022

What a film! Despite the movie playing off as weird or unusual, this is an absolute must-see for people who are fans of killer animal movies. The story is so good that it makes up for all the weird moments and scenes. 10/10, and an accurate representation of a true story.

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Michael Katleman

Director

Dominic Purcell

Tim Manfrey

Orlando Jones

Steven Johnson

Brooke Langton

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Jürgen Prochnow

Jacob Krieg

Gideon Emery

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Synopsis

Veteran reporter Tim Manfrey lands possibly the worst assignment of his life: Travel to the African country of Burundi to locate and capture the world's largest crocodile. Dubbed "Gustave" by the villagers, the croc is said to have dined on hundreds of humans over the years. Complicating matters is an African warlord who is even more bloodthirsty than the giant reptile.

Director: Michael Katleman
Producer: Gavin Polone
Screenwriter: John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris
Distributor: Buena Vista
Production Co: Pariah Films
Rating: R (Language|Brutality|Strong Graphic Violence|Terror)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Adventure, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 12, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.6M
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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