The Daily Dig: Tammy and the T-Rex (1994)

Like a mythological creature as elusive as The Missing Link, this type of absurdity must be seen to be believed.

A mad scientist implants the brain of a high schooler into an animatronic dinosaur, but he didn’t count on love bridging species. Let’s dig into 1994’s TAMMY AND THE T-REX, directed by Stewart Raffill!

As I See It

This film was written (and directed) by the same guy who wrote Mac and Me. Do you understand what train you’re on now? It’s the express train to lowbrow.

First off, the cast is a who’s who of nineties mainstream stars. Oh yeah, and the dead guy from Weekend at Bernie’s (Terry Kiser – Dr. Wachenstein). It’s insane that this is an actual film.

Stewart Raffill has admitted how little he cared about the quality of the product and was just taking advantage of having a robot dinosaur at his disposal and his ability to cast young, up-and-coming talent.

There is an impressive amount of gore that does not play well with the tone of the film.

Even when Billy, the badass high school bully, throws out a tirade of expletives, it feels not to fit, which is probably why they cut the film so much to make it “family-friendly”.

The climax is dull (probably because the antagonist they spent the film building up dies halfway through, and the real villain, Kiser, is played too comically). Then we end with a brain in a pan hooked up to a home camcorder, drinking scotch and watching his high school girlfriend strip until they can find him a suitable body.

If this doesn’t make you believe even YOU could make a film, then nothing will.

Famous Faces

Denise Richards (Tammy) was on fire in 1997-98. She went from the love interest — and arguably the real protagonist of Paul Verhoeven-directed film of a Robert Heinlein book,  Starship Troopers — right into the steamy Wild Things alongside Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, and Neve Campbell.

The late Paul Walker (Michael) looks like he could have been wearing the same wardrobe he wore in Varsity Blues. Walker, of course, rose to superstardom in the Fast and Furious “films” before a tragically ironic fate saw him perish in a car accident.

Sean Whalen (Weasel) made his big break playing the endearing mute Roach in Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs but also did an excellent job in a guilty pleasure (I feel no guilt) Pauly Shore film as a killer on trial in Jury Duty.

George “Buck” Flower (Norville) played Mr. Wallace in the brilliant Stan Winston directorial debut Pumpkinhead, but he had quite a prolific career in genre films. They Live, Back to the Future 2, Village of the Damned, Waxwork 2, and Puppet Master II, just to name a few.

John Franklin (Bobby) iconically played Isaac in Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, but you may not know he also played Cousin It in the nineties Addams Family movies.

We also get a tiny cameo from Efren Ramirez as the pizza guy. He was, of course, the breakthrough star of Napoleon Dynamite as Pedro.

Of Gratuitous Nature

There are way too many scenes to choose from. I do see why they cut the gore. It’s over the top and surprisingly dark in an otherwise whimsical film.

I would have to go with the “staged” lion attack. I can not believe they made a stuntman do that. It made me squirm in my seat, and apparently, a stuntman was, in fact, bitten by a jaguar during the sequence. Not worth it, especially for a film of this caliber.

Heartthrob

For about five years in the nineties, Denise Richards was really hot shit. Honestly, she was never my thing, but it was awesome to see someone that looked different than typical stars take center stage.

Ripe for a Remake

Something about the revival of this film and its long-lost gore version makes me feel like it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to revive a “franchise” that no one cared to see. It would have to be either contrarian or a flourish of nostalgic cheese.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Vinegar Syndrome released a Blu-Ray in 2020, which restored the gore that you can see on the streaming version. You can stream it on Shudder, Tubi, and AMC+.