Tammy and the T-Rex is a wild ride through the past. Watching a film like this really makes you wonder how these careers weren’t extinct before they started.
Michael is in love with Tammy, it is very clear to see. The problem is that Tammy is still involved with her current/ex-boyfriend Billy… in some way. Even though Michael wants so badly to be with Tammy, and clearly Tammy does as well, she knows that Billy will kill Michael if he ever tried to date her. One day after school Michael is walking with Tammy when Billy rolls up with his gang and doesn’t like what he sees. Billy and Michael get into a fight and try to tear each other’s balls off(?). Billy threatens Michael and Tammy runs off wildly screaming. Later on that evening Tammy calls up Michael and invites him over to her house to apologize. When he shows up, a couple of Billy’s friends catch him and immediately call in Billy for a confrontation. Billy drags off Michael to an apparent zoo(?) and they leave him to be mauled in the big cat exhibit. Which… happens and Michael is taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Dr. Wachenstein and his assistant Helga along with their computer scientist Bobby have created a giant robotic T-Rex in a lab. The good doctor wants to replace the computer processor/brain of the beast with a human one so that the T-Rex can serve him. They stumble upon the case of Michael’s body in the hospital and upon faking his death they cart him away to their lab. Once there, Dr. Wachenstein transplants the brain from Michael’s body into the mechanized robot/computer body of the T-Rex. Moments later “Michael” awakens to realize what has been done to him and goes on a murderous rampage to avenge his … body.
This movie is a weird glimpse into the careers of two (or more) actors that honestly makes their success even more amazing. This movie was originally shot/released in 1994 back when Denise Richards and Paul Walker were known for really only ever doing TV shows. It would only be a few years later that Walker would star in The Fast and the Furious and Richards would be in Starship Troopers. They look like kids in this movie. Maybe that’s because I have seen them in so many other productions released later than this, but they are so damn young here. It’s kinda baffling that they were able to make it out of this and continue to not only make movies but go on to be pretty prolific and sought-after actors.
Tammy and the T-Rex feels like a movie produced by Troma that was given a better than decent budget. The T-Rex was on “loan” to the movie for a short period of time. However, it looks great, and the fact that they have an in-movie conceit of it being an actual computer-controlled thing allows it to move awkwardly and look… well… like a robot. I would imagine the budget went to the actors and the blood effects. Where you can see the budget was trimmed is the absolutely abysmal green-screen work. Just hilariously bad stuff. However, speaking of hilarious, the puppet work with the T-Rex and whoever was the stand-in for the arms is masterful. On a level that would put Velocipastor to shame, honestly. At one point the T-Rex makes a phone call at a payphone and I kinda lost it.
Is this movie worth owning? Maybe. Is it worth seeing at least once for all the wonderfully terrible production value found all throughout the movie? Most definitely. According to the director the story was written in a week and the movie was shot basically in two weeks. I don’t know if I will ever watch it again, but it doesn’t matter because the scene where poke around in Paul Walkers brain will be seared into my one brain forever.
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