William Marshall is an actor who played two iconic roles in his career. He spent most of the ’60s and early ’70s guesting on major TV shows including Star Trek and Mannix. In 1973, Marshall was given the leading role in Blacula. He was an African prince who Dracula turned into a vampire and ended up in modern day Los Angeles. The film was such a hit, AIP produced the sequel Scream Blacula Scream that teamed him up with Pam Grier. In the ’80s, a younger generation recognized him as The King of Cartoons on Pee-wee’s Playhouse. What about the ’90s? For fans of low budget cinema, Marshall was the paleontologist Dr. Benjamin Michaels in Dinosaur Valley Girls in his last movie appearance.
Famous Actor Tony Markham (Trumped‘s Jeff Rector) keeps having visions of hot cave girl Hea-Thor (The Last Boy Scout‘s Denise Ames) and dinosaurs as he preps for his next big movie. One afternoon, he visits the local museum to take in the dinosaur display. He meets paleontologist Dr. Benjamin Michaels (Blacula‘s William Marshall) who takes him on the VIP tour. They go in the back and Tony sees the stuff that isn’t on display. He sees an ancient drawing of the dinosaur he’s dreamed of. Before he can question what’s happening, Tony passes out and wakes up in a valley. He meets Hea-Thor in her fur bikini. While this seems like a dream come true, Tony has to deal with massive dinosaurs. It’s like he’s trapped in a real-life Flintstones. He also has to deal with other cave people including hot cave girls that are curious about this man who is still wearing clothes from the ’90s. A few cave men aren’t happy at his arrival. Things are going to get medieval in a prehistoric time.
Dinosaur Valley Girls is goofy ’90s fun that doesn’t have any scientific truth to it. While certain religious vacation scams will declare that man existed during the time of dinosaurs, it’s not true. And the uncut version of this film won’t be shown at those places because there’s a lot of scenes with cave women forgetting to put on their tops. There’s even a dance sequence involving the topless cave girls which might not be historically accurate. But the “Jurassic Punk” song is catchy. Besides William Marshall, there’s two other notable appearances in the film. Karen Black (Trilogy of Terror) appears as an older cave woman. She doesn’t strip down for the dance number. If you’re a fan of Svengoolie, you’ve experienced Blacula and Trilogy of Terror over the last few months. I doubt that Svengoolie will be running this film so best to get your own copy. There’s a cameo from Forrest J. Ackerman, the legendary editor of Famous Monsters magazine. Dinosaur Valley Girls is the kind of movie that was perfect for late night cable TV or VHS rental at the end of the ’90s. There are a couple big name actors, not quite cutting-edge special effects and a lack of wardrobe that makes Dinosaur Valley Girls a fun evening.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. Turns out the movie was shot on 16mm. The transfer looks good. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. They film sounds good for something shot with the dinosaurs lurking around. The movie is subtitled in English.
New 2023 Audio Commentary by director Don Glut and C. Courtney Joyner has him explain how this film was supposed to be done as a Playboy video. The deal didn’t happen because he didn’t want to lose control of the film to Playboy. It would have vanished instead of receiving a Blu-ray release.
Archival Commentary with director Don Glut has him give tales from the set from a previous release.
Dinosaur Valley Guy (54:42) gives us insight into Don Glut. He became a filmmaker because his family owned a 16mm projector, but he couldn’t get a copy of a film he saw so he made his version when he was 9. His childhood productions got him noticed in Famous Monsters magazine. He came out to California in 1962 and screened them for Bert I. Gordon. He explains how he landed William Marshall for the Dinosaur Valley Girls. Glut knew Marshall from the Dracula Society. He also describes working with Karen Black.
Don Glut: The Collection (8:52) is a visit to Don’s home museum filled with dinosaur stuff. He has a very impressive collection that includes dino bones, drawings by famous comic book artists and other cool pop items. He even wrote a legit book on dinosaurs.
The Making of Dinosaur Valley Girls (23:49) seems to be from the original release. Don Glut goes into making the various songs. The film was shot in the Spring of 1994 (if the date on the behind-the-scenes tape is set right). We get a bit of an interview with William Marshall and he takes over as the narrator. They show off how the dinosaur effects were achieved.
Deleted Scenes (7:01) proves they did edit the film. They did snip a dino scene.
Original Promotional Trailer (4:50) is the long form trailer from 1999. The producers want you to know there’s a lack of wardrobe in the movie.
Dinosaur Valley Girls – alternate PG-13 Cut (94:23) cuts away all the good stuff so you can watch the film with your parents.
Actress Audition Reel (24:52) show us how you land the role of a cave girl in this production. The women don’t have to run the usual lines.
Dinosaur Tracks – Music Video Reel (27:35) has an MTV-like show hosted by a talking dinosaur. The dino songs have videos.
Jurassic Punk – Music and Lyrics (3:52) has the song with the lyrics scrolling so you can sing along.
Dinosaur Velley Girls – Music and Lyrics (4:47) has the theme song with the lyrics scrolling.
Mu Wang in Mu-Seum (3:32) has the actress dancing in Don Glut’s home museum.
Mu Wang in Danse Prehistoric (3:04) has the actress showing off her moves in a fur bikini around the backyard dinosaur statues.
Storyboards are really well done.
Image Gallery includes production stills, cutting-cave floor, localities, reconstructing dinosaurs, site visitors, in the lab, character references, a scrapebook and in the theaters. The film played the New Beverly Cinema.
Visual Vengeance Trailer (1:13) gives us the hot clips from the films.
Mini Poster that’s suitable for framing.
Sticker for the movie.
Stickers for the video case to look like you rented the film from Videorama.
Visual Vengeance and Wild Eye Releasing presents Dinosaur Valley Girls. Directed by Don Glut. Screenplay by Don Glut. Starring Jeff Rector, William Marshall, Griffin Drew, Harrison Ray, Elizabeth Landau, Carrie Vanston, Shirlee Jean Brown, Tony Clay, Joan Gregory, Yvonne Green, Susan Jay, Dawanda Pesicka, Bill Warren, Forrest J. Ackerman and Karen Black. Running Time: 95 minutes. Release Date: February 25, 2025.
