Pterodactyl (film)

Pterodactyl

DVD cover
Written by Mark Sevi
Directed by Mark L. Lester
Starring Cameron Daddo
Coolio
Amy Sloan
George Calil
Mircea Monroe
Steve Braun
Todd Kramer
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) Dana Dubovsky
Mark L. Lester
Running time 89 mins.
Broadcast
Original channel Syfy
Original airing August 27, 2005

Pterodactyl is a 2005 horror film that premiered on the Sci Fi Channel. The film is directed by Mark L. Lester.

Plot

A team of American scientists and students of science (led by Cameron Daddo) are exploring the Turkish/Armenian border. Meanwhile, a group of American soldiers (led by Coolio) are on a mission to capture a terrorist leader.

But a far more deadly threat than terrorists are hidden in the woods, man-eating Pteranodon. The two very different camps have to join forces in order to escape this new terror.

Michael and Kate are leading a group of teenagers through a science expedition. The students are Gwen, Jason, Willis and Angie. They discover mounds of pterodactyl feces. While the others examine the spore, Angie wanders off and decides to go for a swim. When she jumps into the water a pterodactyl attacks her. She barely escapes and runs into Jason, who goes to investigate. When he finds the lake, the pterodactyl kills him. Angie tells the others and Michael goes to find Clarke.

That night, Captain Bergen and his squad capture the terrorist and find Michael and his group camping, so they decide to follow them. The next morning, Michael's jeep is ambushed by a group of Russian terrorists. When the pterodactyls attack, Captain Bergen and his squad rescue some of the group but cannot save Gwen. During the attack Angie is wounded and dies. Several soldiers also die gruesome deaths. After the attack, Captain Bergen and his two remaining soldiers find a shelter. Bergan and Serling kill a pterodactyl and Kate is abducted by several pterodactyls. When the others regroup in the shelter, a pterodactyl bites Willis' ankle. Michael kills the reptile by shooting it through the eyes. Some of the group stays at the shelter, while the rest continue to the pterodactyl nest. Zelasny dies from her wounds and Willis is killed by pterodactyls. In the nest, Kate finds Jason being eaten alive. She grabs his walkie-talkie and calls Bergen. While Bergen tries to distract a pterodactyl, the terrorist steals a gun and points it at Michael's neck, but his head is sliced off. When the rescue line for Kate snaps, Serling grabs Kate to swing to Michael. Serling slips off the rope, falling to the rocks below. Bergen salutes his soldier and runs off as Serling dies. As they get off the mountain, the last pterodactyl attacks. Bergen fires a missile but is killed sadly. Michael keeps the missile on target and kills the Flying Reptile. As Kate and Michael walk away, a baby Tyrannosaurus emerges from the volcano's crater.

Cast

Many of the characters are named after famous science-fiction and fantasy writers - Burroughs (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Clarke (Sir Arthur C. Clarke), Donaldson (Steven Donaldson), Heinlein (Robert A. Heinlein), Herbert (Frank Herbert), Lem (Stanislaw Lem), Lovecraft (H.P. Lovecraft), Serling (Rod Serling), Yolen (Jane Yolen) and Zelazny (Roger Zelazny).

Location

Despite the dialog indicating that the events are taking place on the Turkish-Armenian border (a dry, rocky, mountainous area), the landscape in the film is wooded forestland with open grassy knolls.

External links