Karl Gottlieb
Il Cavernicolo

In 1981, a group of lunatics conceived "Caveman", a film that follows the nonsense genre of that time but definitely offers us something more, earning a place in trash history. The cast is delirious in itself: a host of character actors, Barbara Bach, and a very young Dennis Quaid accompany none other than Ringo Starr (yes, the "fourth Beatle") who proves to have a truly exceptional comic talent.

The plot is obviously quite simple: in the prehistoric era, the unfortunate Atouk (Starr) falls in love with the beauty of the tribe, Lana, who, however, belongs to the gigantic and overbearing chief Tonda (played by a former football player). Once Tonda discovers the intentions of the poor rival, he expels him from the clan. Atouk wanders through the desert, gradually surrounding himself with new and eccentric friends (including Quaid), struggling to survive against unlikely and hilarious, not to mention anachronistic and utterly fake, dinosaurs (created on a shoestring budget), and organizing revenge against the wicked Tonda.

The film thrives on very successful gags, although time takes its toll on this type of comedy, and it is interesting to observe that dialogues are practically absent, hence the type of humor inevitably resembles that of silent cinema. Noteworthy are the scenes featuring dinosaurs, the pterodactyl egg hunt, Atouk's attempts to woo Lana, and especially the invention of music around the fire (the soundtrack is composed by none other than Lalo Schifrin!). Among the characters to be noted is the Tyrannosaurus, a frighteningly ridiculous creature that chases our heroes throughout the film.

"Caveman" is worth watching because it is fun, light, and rhythmic, has a perfectly cast, and original ideas, it is never vulgar, and above all, it reveals the "real" talent of Ringo Starr. A DVD version was released a few years ago.