FANTASIA FEST 2022: ‘The Blood of the Dinosaurs’ Is a Mesmerazing Descent Into Insanity

The first film I watched at Fantasia Fest 2022 was Joe Badon’s The Blood of the Dinosaurs and I can’t think of a better way to get in the festival’s mood. This is a hodgepodge of insanity with a devilish sacrilegious touch that might not always make sense but it’s so damn fun to watch and quite mesmerizing too.

The very first sequence encompasses the mood of the film: using plastic dinosaurs, fireworks, and cheesy animation, Badon recreates the extinction of the gigantic reptiles at the hand of an asteroid. It’s whimsical but it’s also slightly disturbing given the amount of focus the director gives to the suffering of the plastic dinosaurs. This mix of wackiness and unease is all over the film.

The real framing device of The Blood of the Dinosaurs is a hellish version of a children’s TV show ala Mr. Rogers, where the host Uncle Bobbo (Vincent Stalba) explains the origin of oil. This little scientific nugget is, of course, delivered in the most unsettling of ways. Vincent Alba is incredibly creepy as Bobbo: the man performs like a psychopath on ayahuasca. The hint of danger in his eyes is mixed with eerie honesty and kindness. His line delivery will make your skin crawl.

And the weirdness keeps escalating. Puppets, a video titled ‘Gratuitous Pollination Deflowering’, old-school 3D glasses, erotic drilling, a demonic event, and more unhinged stuff take place here. It’s astonishing how much Badon managed to pack in just 18 minutes.

Is it too much? Maybe. Is it all over the place? Yes, a bit… But, who cares? This is fresh, bold, interesting, and most importantly: it makes you think. Not everything is clear and I doubt anybody could make 100% sense of this, however, I found the central idea quite powerful. The suffering and annihilation of an entire species millions of years ago are now indirectly aiding in the destruction of our species; fossil fuel is an important factor in the environmental collapse of the planet. But in this case, the cause isn’t an unexpected and unavoidable meteor disaster. It’s insatiable capitalism fueled by man itself. The way Badon makes this million-year-old connection of cataclysm is fascinating. 

The Blood of the Dinosaur is a fearless absurdist descent into drug-induced madness that, besides a unique script, has remarkable technical qualities that range from cool possession make-up to effective cinematography. Oh, by the way, this is just a prequel to Badon’s next short film project The Wheel of Heaven. I can’t wait to experience that. 

The Blood of the Dinosaurs is screening at Fantasia Fest 2022 as part of the ‘Cavalcade of Perversions: A Lewdly Religious Glare’ short films program.