Full Moon to complete stop-motion epic The Primevals after 20 years

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Visual effects artist David Allen earned an Oscar nomination for his work on the 1985 film YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES, but it was his work on the early Full Moon movies and other Charles Band productions that truly made me a fan of his. Allen was responsible for the stop-motion effects that brought the tiny terrors of the PUPPET MASTER movies to life in such an amazing way, and he also contributed to films like LASERBLAST, DOLLS, ROBOT JOX, DEMONIC TOYS, the SUBSPECIES series, and the sci-fi Western OBLIVION duology. Outside of the Full Moon world, he also worked on such films as THE HOWLING, GHOSTBUSTERS II, BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, and HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS.

In the midst of all that work, Allen's passion project was the sci-fi fantasy film THE PRIMEVALS, a film that would combine live action with stop-motion animation to tell a story of 

time travel, Eskimos, yetis, robots, and giant lizards. 

Allen worked on THE PRIMEVALS off and on for more than twenty years. Filming of the live action scenes were completed in 1994, and he was working on the special effects right up until he passed away from cancer at the age of 54 in 1999.

For almost twenty years, THE PRIMEVALS has been sitting on a shelf, Allen's death having brought a very sad ending to the complicated production… But now Full Moon has announced that they will be completing the unfinished effects work so THE PRIMEVALS will be ready for release sometime in 2019. Forty-one years after Allen and Band first started collaborating on the project.

Leading the completion effort is Allen’s protégé Chris Endecott, who worked on classic Full Moon films alongside Allen and whose recent credits include DEADPOOL and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. So clearly he has the ability to finish the efforts work in a suitable way and help get Allen's film out into the world. Finally. 

It's sad that Allen didn't get to see his film to completion himself, but it's a great tribute to him that it's going to be finished and released now.