The run-down, isolated Romero house is now home to one of those standard-issue, nefarious government experiments to create a bio-weapon. The scientist in charge underestimates his creature; it kills him, gets out of the lab, and thereafter has the run of the house. A quartet of obnoxious, party-hearty young people (what low budget horror film isn't complete without these kinds of characters?) intend to have some fun in the house, which of course makes them perfect prey for the monster. Meanwhile, a team consisting of a no-nonsense female scientist (Jill Adcock) and a moronic, trigger-happy jerk (Steven W. Cromie) arrives to try to deal with the problem.

In a sense, this viewer can respect the efforts of this filmmaking team to get their little picture finished, if not really care for the end result. It started life in the late 80s and early 90s, but jacks-of-all-trades Kenneth Mader and F. Joseph Kurtz had to spend the next seven years trying to obtain needed funding. "Carnivore" wasn't completed until 2000, when it then received a less than stellar home video release.

They tried, they really did, but the plot is so routine and the characters so predictably inane that the whole thing reeks of deja vu. (Still, Adcock gives an admirably dead-serious performance under the circumstances.). A shame, since the creature receives a fairly amusing design, and the atmosphere is undeniable: all night-time scenes in this house ARE indeed spooky, with a decent music score and good use of sound. There is also gore & some nudity for those who crave these elements in their horror films.

Admittedly, the movie does get a little better as it goes along (the pacing is DEFINITELY off for a while),and Mader & Kurtz even go the route of allowing the audience to feel some sympathy for this creature, which is not devoid of intelligence. If only they hadn't given their proceedings such an open ending; it leaves the viewer less than completely satisfied.

Four out of 10.

A savage and predatory hairy humanoid creature that's the result of a government experiment gone awry escapes from a lab located in the basement of an old dilapidated house. Naturally, two teenage couples decide to check out said rundown abode. Guess what happens next? Boy, does this dreadful bilge strike out something rotten in every possible way: Clumsy (mis)direction that allows the dull, uneventful, and meandering narrative to unfold at a painfully sluggish pace and fails to generate any much-needed tension, momentum, and creepy atmosphere, infrequent and poorly staged monster attack scenes, a drab and talky script that gets bogged down in way too much tedious chitchat, tacky gore, plain cinematography(the cheesy monster POV shots in particular are pretty sad),groan-inducing attempts at dumb humor (the two inept comic relief federal agents are especially pathetic),obnoxious and unlikable characters, a generic hum'n'shiver synthesizer score, a laughably lousy rubbery-looking beast, uniformly cruddy acting from a lame no-name cast (top thespic dishonors go to Jill Adcock as the bitchy Dana Anderson and Randy Craig as the doltish Sheriff Marty Holt),and, worst of all, a dismal and dissatisfying "it ain't over yet!" sequel set-up non-ending. On the plus side, Pamela Anderson shows some decent boobage and at a mere 80 minutes it's mercifully short, but that's about it. A real dud.

Although listed as a 2000 movie on IMDb, Carnivore began life in the late '80s/early '90s: you can tell from all the mullets and stonewashed denim. The film was finally completed in 2000 once funds were secured. One is tempted to say that they should have cut their losses, but even though the film ain't great, it's not nearly as bad as many of the user reviews here suggest.

The plot is extremely basic: a classified government experiment to create a ravenous bio-weapon goes horribly wrong when the toothy creature escapes its lab, which is located in an old, deserted mansion. Meanwhile, a group of four teens arrive at the dilapidated building for a spot of fun, unaware of the danger that awaits.

Admittedly, the acting is pretty bad, the monster design is fairly laughable, and the pacing is off (there's far too much uneventful wandering around the old house),but the cinematography and lighting is occasionally impressive given the inexperience of directors Joseph Kurtz and Kenneth Mader. The guys also manage to deliver a spot of gore and some topless female nudity, which automatically prevents me from rating this film 1/10 like so many others.

The first kill is great fun: lovers Marc (Jeff Swan) and Dee (Pamela Thompson, who provides the T&A) are interrupted by the monster, which slashes open Marc's stomach and proceeds to chuck his organs all around the room. Another enjoyable moment comes when a cop is attacked by the creature, and has his face chewed off. A couple more juicy kills like those and I'd actually be recommending this one.

Still, if dumb '80s monster movies are your thing, then I reckon there's probably enough 'good stuff' to warrant a one-time watch. That said, I'm not at all surprised or particularly bothered that the clearly intended sequel was never made.