Cinematic dinosaurs have had a rough reputation in recent years, with the mixed reception to the Jurassic World films and limp efforts like 65 and Primitive War. The End of Oak Street brings the prehistoric creatures back into the limelight – and makes them as scary as they have been since the original Jurassic Park.
There are no cutesy critters leaping playfully around or raptors bonding with humans here; just a wide range of antsy animals looking for their next meal. That is little surprise given It Follows helmer David Robert Mitchell is the writer-director – this is a man who knows how to terrorise an audience.
A family transported to prehistoric times
Anne Hathaway (Denise), Ewan McGregor (Greg), Maisy Stella (Audrey) and Christian Convery (Brian) star as the Platt family, who have to work together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban neighbourhood to the time of dinosaurs.
With its 80s setting, troubled family dynamics and suburbs bustling with life, including a cranky neighbour and young love interest, this is classic early Spielberg. Throw in dinosaurs hunting down people evading them on foot and in vehicles, and Mitchell’s movie owes much to the legendary bearded director.
Scares and spectacle
The Platts feel like a real, flawed family, and the story takes some time to establish their characters, making us care what happens to them later. For all the dinosaurs munching down on residents we see in the background of Mitchell’s many terrific tracking shots, and tense moments like an Allosaurus attack with a shock ending, the most horrifying scene comes courtesy of a giant snake slowly and quietly making its way through a house.
What prevents The End of Oak Street from being an all-timer of a hard-edged blockbuster, though, is its rather throwaway explanation for what is going on, as well as an abrupt, convenient climax.
But anyone looking for diabolical dinosaurs, sharp scares that aren’t too unsuitable for family viewing and a good old-fashioned time at the flicks could do much worse than take a trip down Oak Street.
The End of Oak Street is showing in cinemas now.
