Director – David Ryan Keith (Ghosts of Darkness, The Redwood Massacre)
Starring – John Love (The Droving, No Ambition), Hannaj Bang Bendz (Wrath of Dracula, Ship of the Damned), and Gary Kasper (Redwood Massacre: Annihilation, Bigfoot)
Release Date – 2025
Rating – 3.5/5
I’ve been following the career of filmmaker David Ryan Keith for sometime now. I first befriended him when he was promoting his slasher The Redwood Massacre about a decade ago now and since then I’ve reviewed several of his films. He’s a very talented filmmaker and his body of work speaks for itself.
A few weeks back David reached out to me to review his newest film Primal Games. This sci-fi action flick looked like a fun time so I agreed to check it out. Like always, I want to thank David for sending this one my way to check out!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Ben (Love) and Sarah (Bendz) as they travel through the woods. However, on their way they cross paths with a man who seems to be having car troubles. Ben offers to give him a lift but Sarah has her own reserves about the man. Things take a deadly twist when he shoots Ben and starts killing Sarah. Ben is able to get the upper hand on the sadistic man but not before Sarah dies. During his escape, Ben is able to seize the man’s cellphone and while looking through it he discovers that he is the paying customer of the ultimate hunt revealing that Ben and Sarah are clones. People pay to hunt the clones and their bodies are used to harvest organs for medical emergencies. Ben then uses the device to increase his intelligence and fighting prowess to stop the other hunters in the park. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into Primal Games blind and found myself really enjoying it. Hell, I honestly loved it for the most part. The story did have me scratching my head fairly early on but as the film progressed I realized that it was going to be something a bit different especially for an indie production.
The acting in this one is fantastic. John Love and Hannaj Bang Bendz made the film for me. I love their on screen chemistry and the characters they portrayed. They both carry the entire film on their backs and do one hell of a job with their roles. The same can be said about Gary Kasper. While he may not make the film for me as the other two do, his performance is nothing short of brilliant. He does an amazing job as well. The supporting cast is solid but it’s these three that shine.
The story for this one is is not what I was expecting. Hell, I thought I had the film figured out before the big reveal which I did not see coming. It’s a well written film that reminded me a lot of the direct to video sci-fi action flicks of the late 90s. I wasn’t a fan of these films growing up but the library on Tubi of these lost classics has really opened my mind up to these type of films. I loved this story and how it left itself open to possible sequels further down the line.
Finally, the film has a lot of violent deaths with plenty of blood. We do get a few gruesome scenes with solid effects but they are not that memorable or original. Most of the deaths are done by gun or knife so we don’t have a lot of room for creativity here. They work for the film but don’t stand out. With that being said, I wasn’t a fan of the visual effects used. It does cheapen the film and takes away from the overall presentation. Overall, Primal Games may not be a straight forward horror flick. In fact, it’s not really a horror film at all. It’s a sci-fi action flick that is just clever and violent enough to appeal to horror fans. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
