History YMMV / Carnosaur

** The novel discusses atavistic fear a few times. The concept being that because primitive mammals learned end instinctively evolved to stay away from giant reptiles, the smells and sounds they make reawaken survival instincts in humans and other modern mammals. Similar theories are put forth in RealLife about why nails on a chalk board or sirens causes unease (i.e. that they sound like the calls of predators that hunted our ancestors while they were still small.)

!!YMMV Tropes for the book:

* GeniusBonus:
** The novel discusses atavistic fear a few times. The concept being that because primitive mammals learned end instinctively evolved to stay away from giant reptiles, the smells and sounds they make reawaken survival instincts in humans and other modern mammals. Similar theories are put forth in RealLife about why nails on a chalk board or sirens causes unease (i.e. that they sound like the calls of predators that hunted our ancestors while they were still small.)
** One subtle way the ''Deinonychus'' demonstrates its bird-like qualities is when it spots someone through a glass display case, and it crashes straight through it rather than walk around. Like modern birds that fly into windows, it failed to recognize the glass was there.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** In the book, the characters outside of Penward routinely mistake the ''Tarbosaurus'' for a ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. When ''Tarbosaurus bataar'' was originally discovered, it was actually considered a second species of the ''Tyrannosaurus'' genus and there still are researchers like Dr. Gregory Paul and Dr. Thomas Carr who lump it and ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' into the same genus as ''Tyrannosaurus bataar''. If it turns out they're right, the characters in the book were right after all.
** At one point in the novel, Sir Penward suggests that ''Deinocheirus'' was a much larger relative of ''Deinonychus'' [[note]]At the time the book was written, ''Deinocheirus'' was only known from its claws and forelimbs [[/note]]and muses that he'd love to clone one just to see if his hypothesis is correct. One can only imagine how disappointed he probably would have been upon seeing what it really [[https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/ce6e3954c003d5b87cbc72669752797b366bdbd7/2022/05/24/ea86d97c-8e2a-4613-a33e-a8a1669921e2/prehistoric-planet-photo-010302.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=675&width=1200 looked]] like.
* JerkassWoobie: You eventually get to feeling sorry for Jane Penward, despite her many character flaws, due to her loneliness and agonizing death.
* JustHereForGodzilla: The escaped dinosaurs attacking people and eventually battling the military takes up less 40% of the book, but is the main draw for many readers.
* OlderThanTheyThink: This book had some key elements that ''Film/JurassicPark'' would later bring to the public conciousness several years before it came out. Namely, dinosaurs are portrayed as bird-like, quick, and intelligent instead of lumbering cold blooded brutes. The tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs even pin their prey with a foot as they bite into them, a behavior that would be reflected by ''JP'''s ''Tyrannosaurus'' and ''Velociraptor''.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0_AylAfq_s Leaping T-Rex]]. No more need be said.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: With a budget of only 50,000 dollars, you don't really expect much. But even for a Corman flick it's pretty rough.

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

** In the raptors' case, you can immediately tell they are "men-in-rubber-suits". In the T-rex's case, it often appears to be stop-motion animation of someone playing with a T-rex toy. Even though it isn't. [[note]]it's actually two animatronic models with [[OffModel slightly different scale patterns]][[/note]].
** The Deinonychus effects in the first film were done with a mix of antimatronics and a hand puppet of all things. It looks less like a dinosaur attacking people and more like [[Franchise/TheMuppets Kermit the Frog]] going on a homicidal rampage.

* HilariousInHindsight: One of the cast members is Clint Howard, uncle to Creator/BryceDallasHoward, who herself would eventually star in the ''Film/JurassicWorld'' trilogy which also deals with resurrected and genetically modified dinosaurs wreaking havoc, to boot ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'' also stars Bryce Dallas and follows a similar plot to this film in its last two acts (both involving dinosaurs breaking loose in a public area, while a raptor stalking the protagonists through a mansion).

* HilariousInHindsight: One of the cast members is Clint Howard, uncle to Creator/BryceDallasHoward, who herself would eventually star in the ''Film/JurassicWorld'' trilogy which also deals with resurrected and genetically modified dinosaurs wreaking havoc, to boot ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'' also stars Bryce Dallas and follows a similar plot to this film in its last two acts (both involving dinosaurs breaking loose in a public area with a raptorial creature stalking the protagonists).

** The ending of the first movie; Want an easy way to take out the impact of the hazmats killing the protagonists and burning everything to cover up their mistake? Have the last thing shown being burned a [[Magazine/{{Mad}} framed Alfred E. Newman picture]].

%%* EnsembleDarkhorse: Polcheck in ''Carnosaur 3''.

* JerkassWoobie: You eventually get to feeling sorry for Jane Penward, despite her many character flaws.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: In 3 the music that plays when the ship is being piloted out to sea sounds very much like the main theme music from Predator.