Tammy and the T-Rex Blu-ray Review

Tammy and Michael are high-school sweethearts, deeply in love and happy together. Michael plays football and Tammy is a cheerleader. Tammy’s jealous ex, Billy, is a bad boy, always causing trouble and starting fights. One night Billy and his goon squad beat up Michael and leave him stranded in a wildlife reserve where he is mauled by a lion. The nefarious Dr. Wachenstein and his buxom assistant Nurse Helga steal Michael’s comatose body from the hospital and surgically implant his brain into the body of a giant robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex. Michael the dinosaur escapes the lab and plays charades with Tammy, informing her of what has happened. Together with her best friend Byron, they begin looking for suitable replacement bodies for Michael’s brain. As a T-Rex, he is eager to settle scores with Billy and company while eluding the pursuit of Dr. Wachenstein. Tammy sees past his violent tendencies and knows that through true love she and Michael will be reunited and live happily ever after.

In 1994, director Stewart Raffill (Mac & Me) was approached with an offer to use a giant mechanical T-Rex prop for a movie if he could come up with a script in two weeks. Raffill accepted the challenge and, along with co-writer Gary Brockette, developed the story described above for their low-budget vehicle Tammy and the T-Rex. This light-hearted love story takes a goofy premise and fills it with humorous dialogue, silly characters and some amusing sight gags. Raffill knows exactly what kind of movie he is making and has fun with it, playing everything straight. The picture has the good fortune of starting the careers of Denise Richards (Valentine) and Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious franchise) in the starring roles of Tammy and Michael.

The supporting cast features additional familiar faces, most notably character actor Terry Kiser (From a Whisper to a Scream), who steals many a scene as the evil Dr. Wachenstein. Theo Forsett (M.A.N.T.I.S.) co-stars as Byron and displays a great sense of comic timing. George Pilgrim (Timemaster) is suitably menacing as Billy, and Ellen Dubin (Napoleon Dynamite) is good for a laugh as Nurse Helga. Genre fans will recognize John Franklin (Children of the Corn) as lab assistant Bobby, Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs) as Weasel and the always-welcome George “Buck” Flower (They Live) as Deputy Norville.

Tammy and the T-Rex was released as a kid-friendly comedy and did fairly well on home video before disappearing into relative obscurity. Twenty-five years later, the picture returns in a surprising new version that contains previously unseen R-rated material that totally changes the tone of the viewing experience. The movie was originally more of a horror/comedy loaded with adult language and over-the-top graphic violence. Before its VHS debut, producers (without the director’s consent) removed all the bloody content and sanitized the language in an attempt to reach a broader audience. Bearing the truncated title Tanny [sic] and the Teenage T-Rex, the newly discovered uncensored “Gore Cut” is making its long-awaited debut courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome.

Featuring an additional ten minutes of decidedly non-kid-friendly material, this new version adds another dimension to the madness, elevating the film to a new level of entertainment. The most notable additions include the lengthy brain transplant surgery scene followed by the teen party sequence where the dinosaur goes on a rampage. Special make-up effects are provided by the late John Carl Buechler (Ghoulies) and the picture benefits tremendously from his efforts. If you remember seeing this movie as a kid, you’re in for a surprise and if you’re new to the audience you’re in for one hell of a ride.