The "Velociraptor Horror" bar is pretty low outside Universal’s Jurassic franchise. All Mike Hermosa's The Invisible Raptor had to outperform are titles like Area 407, Jim Wynorski's Raptor, or The VelociPastor. On that scale, The Invisible Raptor proves more competent than other prehysterical B-movies that you might find on the SYFY channel after midnight. It's selling what's on the tin — a goofy creature feature with an unseen raptor and more Jurassic Park references than Comic Con. If that sounds like brainless fun, you're (mostly) in luck!
Mike Capes stars as Dr. Grant Walker (red bandana and all), a disgraced paleontologist who now works for a dinosaur amusement park. He's down on his luck, but Dr. Walker jumps into action when an invisible velociraptor escapes its top-secret facility cage. With the help of DinoWorld's redneck security guard Deniel 'Denny' Denielson (David Shackelford) and his former lover Amber (Caitlin McHugh), Dr. Walker starts tracking Tylercorp's rampaging translucent beast. It'll take heroism, micropenis distractions, and a stomach for raptor droppings to save the day — cue Dr. Walker's bloody redemption tour.
The Invisible Raptor is as silly as it is overlong (The Invisible Raptor should not be a stone's throw from two hours). As if Sean Astin's Tylercorp tech being a Dennis Nedry doppelganger or Dr. Grant's countless Dr. Grant-isms weren't blatant enough, Hermosa beats us senseless with Jurassic Park references until the final credits. That and callouts to Jaws, Predator, Weekend at Bernie's, Rambo, and countless other genre touchstones that have been remixed for decades. The raptor — known henceforth as Chance The Raptor, its lab-given name — puppets a dead body seemingly after putting sunglasses on the corpse or roars in front of a falling banner. Subtlety is for cowards, and Hermosa is fearless.
Surprisingly, I fell for The Invisible Raptor because the cast and crew play into inherent wackiness. A lane is picked, and we're on cruise control. "What if movies you know, but an invisible raptor?" Dr. Grant acts as an audience proxy by calling out every asinine happenstance, from everyone's favorite It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia mother (Sandy Martin) performing a mating ritual while dressed as a human-sized chicken, to Amber's narratively unimportant child (an A+ joke). Heck, The Lost World: Jurassic Park actress Vanessa Chester has a cameo as "DJ Malcolm" — the deep cuts are alive and well. Capes and co-writer Johnny Wickham aren't forcing B-movie laughs like so many ill-fated scripts; humor comes organically and with an understanding of what makes audacious concepts thrive. The Invisible Raptor finds a throughline of cleverness that's strong enough to support hornet-up, doodie-first, fossilized butthole humor.
While character work can be earnest, arcs run too long. Denny and Dr. Grant's friendship follies are adorable for a spell but too rudimentary at the film's marathon duration. It's a "will they, won't they" broship that we've seen in goofball comedies a thousand times. Hokiness only gets you so far in a movie titled The Invisible Raptor, and there's gristle left on the bone. Hermosa pushes into Hallmark territory as a spoof at points, whether that's Amber's reemergence as Dr. Grant's love interest or Denny's simpleton showings of affection, yet raptorless stretches begin to nosedive. Credit to Capes, Shackelford, and others for keeping a straight face despite claws-out buffoonery abound, but sentimentality — even as a ruse — isn't a strong selling point.
What DOES flex is the ridiculous gore as Chance gnaws, tears, and slashes through bodies. Hermosa avoids janky creature effects because you'll barely spot Chance outside a thermal vision sequence or when he gets … uhh … "wet," we'll say. That leaves plenty of budget for violent attacks whether hands are lopped off, heads are chewed off, or entrails are spilled like Dr. Alan Grant warns at the beginning of Jurassic Park. Hermosa's effects department understands the assignment, and while some digital goop isn't pristine, the majority of carnage remains enjoyably twisted. You'll get your murders and mayhem, as well as some nifty visual effects that recreate the presence of a see-through dinosaur in suburban locations.
Frankly, The Invisible Raptor overachieves with a surprising polish. I mean this as a compliment: it's the dumbest not-dumb movie I've seen this year. Don't get me wrong; total duration is an issue, and it's a better raptor slasher than anything else — but that doesn't destroy valid entertainment value. My expectations were in the gutter after The VelociPastor, but Hermosa delivers more than gimmicky wordplay. What can I say? The Invisible Raptor, like life, finds a way.
Movie Score: 3/5
Matt Donato is a Los Angeles-based film critic currently published on SlashFilm, Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, and anywhere else he’s allowed to spread the gospel of Demon Wind. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. Definitely don’t feed him after midnight.
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