Primeval is a 2007 American action-adventure horror film directed by Michael Katleman and starring Dominic Purcell, Orlando Jones, and Brooke Langton.

In a New York City newsroom, television journalist Tim Manfrey is assigned by his boss, Roger Sharpe, to travel to Burundi with Aviva Masters, a reporter who deals with animal stories and has become interested in Gustave, a gigantic, fierce Nile crocodile known to have killed hundreds of people in Africa over the years.

At the airport in Bujumbura they are met by a government official Hahutu Mkwesa who goes by Harry, who tries to delay their departure by warning them of unrest in the bush, caused by a dangerous warlord who has nicknamed himself "Little Gustave."

While the others debate airing the footage, "Jojo", a teenage villager who helped set up the cage, uses himself as live bait to capture Gustave.

Just as the group realizes that the soldiers work for Little Gustave, the remaining guard, believing Jacob videotaped the evidence, wounds him; Jojo intervenes, and shoots him.

In the ensuing chase, both of Little Gustave's men are killed: when the truck crashes into the river, the teenager is thrown out and dies on impact, while the driver is shot by Aviva when he tries to strangle Tim.

Matt had earlier told the group that crocodiles frequently feed on carrion, and there is no limit to how large they can grow, given enough sustenance; it is the bodies from the civil war, floating in the river, that have given Gustave a taste for human flesh, and allowed him to reach such a gargantuan size as the years go by.

Weeks later, Tim, Aviva, Jojo, and Wiley receive medical treatment and fly back home to America, watching leftover footage of Steven on his camera.

Its consensus reads, "Primeval is a low-quality horror film, which due to the inane political messages does not even qualify as campy fun.

[6] Luke Y. Thompson of The Village Voice gave the film a negative review, writing, "With a little camp this could have been fun, but director Michael Katleman doesn’t play it that way, and even Jürgen Prochnow’s crazed Ahab wannabe is unfortunately understated.

"[7] Peter Hartlaub from The San Francisco Chronicle stated that the film "almost works as an intentionally stupid action movie", but noted "for every guilty pleasure moment, a failed attempt to inject importance to the plot will shock you back into having a bad time again.

[9] Jon Condit from Dread Central awarded the film a score of 1/5, calling it "a really poor man’s Blood Diamond that just happens to also feature an enormous man-eating crocodile".

Anderson notes that he finds the film lacking in the fun and intensity of similar creature features and portrays it as "grim, dull, and ugly.

[13] Dennis Harvey's review of the film for Variety applauded its creative blend of genres, describing it as a "55% giant-crocodile "Jaws" and 45% fact-inspired, "Blood Diamond"-esque civil-war-violence thriller."

He states that despite its unconventional combination, the film is seen as decently handled genre fare with a handsome widescreen production and acknowledges that "it's not exactly good, but it’s not bad, and far from boring."