Sabretooth is set in the remote Californian mountain wilderness where Senior camp counsellor Casey Ballenger (Jenna Gering) has the task of training up some Junior camp counsellors in readiness for a big camping trip, Casey takes them deep up into the mountain terrain to give them hands on experience & training. Meanwhile a flatbed truck crashes nearby on a mountain road & the container it was carrying breaks open releasing a five foot high genetically created Sabretooth Tiger into the mountain wilderness, hungry for food the unlucky Casey & her charges end up at the top of it's menu. Genetic scientist Catherine Viciy (Vanessa Angel) who created the Sabretooth, her boss Anthony (John Rhys-Davis) & big game hunter Bob Thatcher (David Keith) are on the Sabretooth's trail but will they find it in time & even if they do can they take it down?
Directed by James D.R. Hickox who also has a cameo in the film as 'Silent Bob' whoever that is Sabretooth is yet another genetic experiments gone wrong 'Creature Feature' of the sort that the Sci-Fi Channel play all the time & to be blunt it's absolutely terrible in every way, shape & form. Sabretooth is nothing more than the usual collection of 'Creature Feature' clichés strung together around the (very) basic central concept of a Sabretooth Tiger on the loose, there's the genetic experiments gone wrong, there's the cold scientist who doesn't care about anything but the experiment, there's a big game hunter brought in to track & capture the beast, there's the cardboard cutout collection of teenage victims who constantly find obscure reasons to split up including a macho hero, a strong female, a black dude, a good looking but shallow chick & some annoying comedy relief nerd, there's plenty of running around doing nothing in particular & the storyline here is really poor. There's no background given to the experiments at all, there isn't even a token explanation about how the Sabretooth Tiger was created (other than it was a genetic experiment) or why (why not clone a friendly animal?) & the constant wandering around a forest with noting in particular happening gets very boring very fast. Although Sabretooth only lasts around 90 odd minutes it feels a lot longer as the plot really does drag, virtually nothing happens apart from some Sabretooth Tiger stalking some teens in a forest & even that is done in the most tedious way possible with no pace or flair or humour or surprises & it's just a terrible film that I don't even want to think about anymore.
Usually these low budget 'Creature Features' have terrible CGI computer effects & Sabretooth doesn't buck the trend at all, when the Sabretooth is finally seen in all it's CGI glory you'll probably laugh out loud at how bad it looks & how badly it's animated. It just looks terrible from the colour to it's movements to it's interaction with it's live action surroundings. There are a few shots of a Sabretooth puppet animatronic head which looks better than the CGI effect but still doesn't impress & doesn't really match up with the CGI effects either. So the CGI special effects are terrible but is there any gore or nudity? Well no there isn't which makes Sabretooth even more of a chore to sit through, there's no pay-off as any of the (awful) character's are killed & there's no nudity either so what is the point of this awful, awful film? Anwers on a postcard please because I can't think of one.
Production wise remove the awful CGI effects & Sabretooth is competent yet forgettable, filmed on location in Big Bear Valley National Park in California the stunning forest mountain locations are totally wasted & Sabretooth looks as if it could have been shot in my local woods. The cast features once respected actors David Keith & John Rhy-Davis slumming it & the ever awful Vanessa Angel who as expected is awful.
Sabretooth is a terrible 'Creature Feature' that encompasses everything that is awful about the genre, terrible CGI effects, a lame predictable by-the-numbers plot, clichéd character's, no nudity or gore whatsoever despite an 'R' rating & awful logic & plot holes galore. Sabretooth is terrible in every way & that's all I can really say about it.
Directed by James D.R. Hickox who also has a cameo in the film as 'Silent Bob' whoever that is Sabretooth is yet another genetic experiments gone wrong 'Creature Feature' of the sort that the Sci-Fi Channel play all the time & to be blunt it's absolutely terrible in every way, shape & form. Sabretooth is nothing more than the usual collection of 'Creature Feature' clichés strung together around the (very) basic central concept of a Sabretooth Tiger on the loose, there's the genetic experiments gone wrong, there's the cold scientist who doesn't care about anything but the experiment, there's a big game hunter brought in to track & capture the beast, there's the cardboard cutout collection of teenage victims who constantly find obscure reasons to split up including a macho hero, a strong female, a black dude, a good looking but shallow chick & some annoying comedy relief nerd, there's plenty of running around doing nothing in particular & the storyline here is really poor. There's no background given to the experiments at all, there isn't even a token explanation about how the Sabretooth Tiger was created (other than it was a genetic experiment) or why (why not clone a friendly animal?) & the constant wandering around a forest with noting in particular happening gets very boring very fast. Although Sabretooth only lasts around 90 odd minutes it feels a lot longer as the plot really does drag, virtually nothing happens apart from some Sabretooth Tiger stalking some teens in a forest & even that is done in the most tedious way possible with no pace or flair or humour or surprises & it's just a terrible film that I don't even want to think about anymore.
Usually these low budget 'Creature Features' have terrible CGI computer effects & Sabretooth doesn't buck the trend at all, when the Sabretooth is finally seen in all it's CGI glory you'll probably laugh out loud at how bad it looks & how badly it's animated. It just looks terrible from the colour to it's movements to it's interaction with it's live action surroundings. There are a few shots of a Sabretooth puppet animatronic head which looks better than the CGI effect but still doesn't impress & doesn't really match up with the CGI effects either. So the CGI special effects are terrible but is there any gore or nudity? Well no there isn't which makes Sabretooth even more of a chore to sit through, there's no pay-off as any of the (awful) character's are killed & there's no nudity either so what is the point of this awful, awful film? Anwers on a postcard please because I can't think of one.
Production wise remove the awful CGI effects & Sabretooth is competent yet forgettable, filmed on location in Big Bear Valley National Park in California the stunning forest mountain locations are totally wasted & Sabretooth looks as if it could have been shot in my local woods. The cast features once respected actors David Keith & John Rhy-Davis slumming it & the ever awful Vanessa Angel who as expected is awful.
Sabretooth is a terrible 'Creature Feature' that encompasses everything that is awful about the genre, terrible CGI effects, a lame predictable by-the-numbers plot, clichéd character's, no nudity or gore whatsoever despite an 'R' rating & awful logic & plot holes galore. Sabretooth is terrible in every way & that's all I can really say about it.