I saw this movie quite often when I was a young child, unfortunately I have not seen it since the 1980's so forgive me if I can not remember all the details of this flick. The title is rather funny though, as from the title I get the image of Gimli from the Lord of the Rings films and other drawfs doing the river dance or something. However, that is not the case as this movie is about some sort of creature from what I remember, and this creature is virtually unseen throughout the movie as it is confined to a rather monster infested finale. There is also a scene in which one guy is running from the unseen monsters and ends up somehow in really hot boiling water where part of his face gets burned away. However, a lot of the film is very forgettable as I am having the hardest time trying to recall plot points and stuff of that nature as most of what I remember is the monsters final attack at the end rather than any of the other scenes aside from the aforementioned guy above. So as much as I liked this movie as a kid I, that may be just a case of really enjoying cheesy monsters so I will give this movie a five and remember it for what it was unless I happen to catch it on television or something.
6 Reviews
A horror movie that frightens you with its waste of talent
karkinos14 December 1998
This was pretty much a character driven movie. I watched the entire movie only because I found the characters interesting. The acting by the main characters was fine given the constraints of a low budget horror flick. I would recommend watching this movie only if you want to see another good examine of the uncouth man uncivilizing the resistant and cultured woman. Otherwise, try to ignore the weak "special effects".
Bad movie, but better than the book
kamas71628 May 2008
I liked watching Deborah Raffin. And Peter Fonda gave a decent performance as the drunken pilot. But, overall, the movie sucked. However, it was better than the book, which is usually pretty rare thing to say.
Deborah Raffin is always good looking. But this didn't really give her much breadth or depth of performance. Peter Fonda was decent. He provided the comic relief as the continually drunk helicopter pilot.
I read the book in high school as it was suggested by my literature teacher as similar to Jurassic Park in concept (which I had just finished reading). It wasn't really. And the writing was vastly inferior. The movie improves on the story, but not by much.
If you've got nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon but contemplate your navel lint, it might do for a couple hours of entertainment. Otherwise, avoid it like a root canal.
Deborah Raffin is always good looking. But this didn't really give her much breadth or depth of performance. Peter Fonda was decent. He provided the comic relief as the continually drunk helicopter pilot.
I read the book in high school as it was suggested by my literature teacher as similar to Jurassic Park in concept (which I had just finished reading). It wasn't really. And the writing was vastly inferior. The movie improves on the story, but not by much.
If you've got nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon but contemplate your navel lint, it might do for a couple hours of entertainment. Otherwise, avoid it like a root canal.
"Romancing the Stone" it's not.
alansmithee0417 October 2009
In fact, this puddle of cinematic up-chuck came in a full year before Zemeckis' adventure/romance. But whereas Douglas and Turner were able to generate a few sparks, Fonda and Raffin's relationship just kind of sits there, forlorn and pathetic, like a wet lump of used Kleenex.
Fonda is the only helicopter pilot in the entire South American country of Whereeverania. Raffin is the US anthropologist who hires him to fly out into the jungle so she can visit a colleague about a mysterious tribe of pygmies he's discovered. Along the way insults get flung, tables get turned, and the dad from "Good Times" shows up as an African witchdoctor who has inexplicably decided to take a holiday trip to the amazon.
If that last bit sounds stupid, well, it only gets worse.
The entire production is about as exciting as an NPR pledge drive and by the time this thing finally drags to a climax it makes "A Prairie Home Companion" seem like Bullitt by comparison. Unless you're the hardest of hard core bad movie fans, avoid this one like you would a rabid dog.
Fonda is the only helicopter pilot in the entire South American country of Whereeverania. Raffin is the US anthropologist who hires him to fly out into the jungle so she can visit a colleague about a mysterious tribe of pygmies he's discovered. Along the way insults get flung, tables get turned, and the dad from "Good Times" shows up as an African witchdoctor who has inexplicably decided to take a holiday trip to the amazon.
If that last bit sounds stupid, well, it only gets worse.
The entire production is about as exciting as an NPR pledge drive and by the time this thing finally drags to a climax it makes "A Prairie Home Companion" seem like Bullitt by comparison. Unless you're the hardest of hard core bad movie fans, avoid this one like you would a rabid dog.
A cruel atrocity against a mediocre novel.
Whovian22 April 2000
Last summer I picked up a copy of Geoffrey Household's novel, DANCE OF THE DWARFS. I had recently taped the film on late-night TV and figured someday it would be interesting to compare the two versions of the work. I have now read the book and watched the film, and I must say that a comparison is difficult; if I hadn't known from the credits that the book had inspired the movie, I'd have thought the few vague similarities between the works were pure coincidence! The novel is written in the form of an agricultural researcher's journal and, while it has its flaws, manages to be suspenseful and to introduce some interesting ideas. The film, on the other hand, is a painfully unthrilling adventure movie reminiscent in many ways of the unfortunate 1985 remake of KING SOLOMON'S MINES. The most tragic difference between the book and the film is that the interesting and graceful creatures of the novel have been replaced here by guys jumping around in rubber suits. The novel wasn't that great, but it didn't deserve this horrible treatment.
When you go looking for the unknown, the unknown will find you.
mark.waltz11 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
In this case, the unknown can stay hidden, the supposed Devil's children, half reptilian, half human, hidden in the jungle of the Philippines and attacking out of the blue, leaving horror in its wake for the victims before they find their fate. Doctor Deborah Raffin comes to the jungle to research them, having hired pilot Peter Fonda, and learning quickly that he is a boozy, lazy, sarcastic man, reneging on his deal before they even meet, and this sets a rivalry in motion when they finally hook up. She pulls a Katherine Hepburn to his Humphrey Bogart, destroying all of his booze, and like Hepburn and Bogart and Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in a popular film made about the same time, a camaraderie begins that results in possible romance even though they are quite the opposite. But this is a movie, and reality in romantic relationships in the movies was never quite realistic.
Like happens in many movies of this nature, there's a wise cracking native kid, grasping on to Raffin in the beginning of the film, briefly stealing the film from the stars. But he disappears once the adventure begins, and it's all about the two leads and their adventure and a little bit of Horror and a lot of Indiana Jones like action. When she encounters a witch doctor like character played by John Amos, he makes her drink a true serum like potion which actually gets her drunk, and she likes it. But the mission that they are on has put them in great danger with both supernatural and God made phenomena through the local weather standing in their way. This film is often silly but never boring, and when you see the creature, you can't help but giggle at what it looks like, a reminder of those classic 50's bad sci-fi/monster movies that have gained a massive cult following.
Like some of the characters who tried to get the better of Indiana Jones, there are some supporting roles here where they face some pretty grizzly conclusions, and a game of Russian Roulette that comes out of nowhere leads to two of them. I found this quirky and fun, and rooted for the two characters just to get through this adventure and hopefully come out of it just as friends so the romantic elements wouldn't ruin the outcome. The two leads obviously had a great time making this, their enjoyment coming through in their performances, but it's easy to pick out elements from other blockbusters of different eras being combined to develop the block here. It's less of a horror movie (which the title indicates) and more of a serial like action film, the type that popcorn was invented for. Therefore, I give the film a higher number than what it probably deserves simply because I just had a good time watching it.
Like happens in many movies of this nature, there's a wise cracking native kid, grasping on to Raffin in the beginning of the film, briefly stealing the film from the stars. But he disappears once the adventure begins, and it's all about the two leads and their adventure and a little bit of Horror and a lot of Indiana Jones like action. When she encounters a witch doctor like character played by John Amos, he makes her drink a true serum like potion which actually gets her drunk, and she likes it. But the mission that they are on has put them in great danger with both supernatural and God made phenomena through the local weather standing in their way. This film is often silly but never boring, and when you see the creature, you can't help but giggle at what it looks like, a reminder of those classic 50's bad sci-fi/monster movies that have gained a massive cult following.
Like some of the characters who tried to get the better of Indiana Jones, there are some supporting roles here where they face some pretty grizzly conclusions, and a game of Russian Roulette that comes out of nowhere leads to two of them. I found this quirky and fun, and rooted for the two characters just to get through this adventure and hopefully come out of it just as friends so the romantic elements wouldn't ruin the outcome. The two leads obviously had a great time making this, their enjoyment coming through in their performances, but it's easy to pick out elements from other blockbusters of different eras being combined to develop the block here. It's less of a horror movie (which the title indicates) and more of a serial like action film, the type that popcorn was invented for. Therefore, I give the film a higher number than what it probably deserves simply because I just had a good time watching it.
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