Sabretooth (film) explained

Director:	James D.R. Hickox
Producer:	Phil Botana
Starring:	David Keith Jenna Gering Josh Holloway
Music:	Igor
Cinematography:	Anthony B. Richmond
Editor:	Dan Rae
Network:	Sci Fi Channel
Runtime:	90 minutes
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Sabretooth is a 2002 made for television science-fiction-horror film directed by James D.R. Hickox. When a genetically-engineered saber-toothed cat escapes from containment into a forest and starts killing a group of campers, a billionaire and the scientist that created the creature hire a big-game hunter to find it. It premiered as a Sci Fi Pictures TV-movie on the Sci Fi Channel on November 16, 2002.

Plot

Using fossilized DNA, a scientist clones a prehistoric sabretooth cat. However, one night as a janitor prepares to clean the sabretooth's residential quarters, he is subsequently killed after recklessly locking himself in the cage with it. As the fearsome creature is being transported, it breaks free and kills the driver before stalling human prey. Taking its spree into the forested mountains in the Pacific Northwest, the beast kills a vacationing couple, before later continuing to stalk a group of trainee guides learning the area of seniors.

Catherine Viciy (Vanessa Angel), the scientist who created it, and her colleague Anthony Bricklin (John Rhys-Davies), call in Robert Thatcher (David Keith), a big game hunter and tracker, to find the animal, tricking him into believing that it is an African lion, and will offer to pay him $50,000. They go into the mountains to find the cat and come across the cabin where the vacationers were killed. At this point, Thatcher states that "your kitty has an attitude problem." Catherine throws away Thatcher's satellite phone, knowing that he had planned to notify the police and Animal Control. As they continue through the woods, the sabretooth kills Kara, a zoologist working for Catherine, and Thatcher declares that he will kill the sabretooth no matter what.

The next day, Thatcher starts seeing signs of the trainees and sabretooth's tracks corresponding. One night, he hears a camper scream and leaves camp to investigate. He finds the camper's remains and later relates his fate to Casey, the leader of the group, who was searching for him. After they return to the group's camp, Trent, another senior guide, comes in screaming about the death of another trainee and about seeing a sabretooth, to much shock and disbelief. Instructing Casey and the others to a nearby mine to wait for him, Thatcher goes after it, but before he can kill it, Catherine attempts to tranquilize it and misses, scaring it off. Thatcher is fired for trying to kill it instead of catching it, because of all the scientific progress the creature was going to bring, but the sabretooth reappears and slowly kills Anthony, allowing Thatcher and Catherine time to escape.

Though Catherine steals his revolver, Thatcher recovers his rifle and they head for the mine, where only Casey and Trent remain alive, and where the sabretooth has Trent trapped. Thatcher hands Catherine his rifle and tells her to shoot the sabretooth in case it gets past him, then he heads to an opening at the top of the mine. He and Casey tranquilize the sabretooth and Trent escapes. After they are all outside, Thatcher sends them on and tries to kill the sabretooth, but finds that Catherine has unloaded his rifle. As he runs away, he falls and catches his foot in a bear trap. Casey and Trent see him and, after they make spears from saplings, they return to a lake where they find Catherine.

After striking Catherine down for nearly getting him killed, Thatcher prepares to go after the sabretooth once more, but Catherine draws his revolver on him, telling him that she does not want to see her creation destroyed. Before she can kill him, Trent kicks the gun out of her hand but is shot. The revolver slides down the cliff and the sabretooth reappears. Catherine tries to warn the beast off but is killed by her own creation. Thatcher tricks the sabretooth into jumping on his spear and throws it down a ledge, killing it. Later Thatcher, Casey, and Trent head back to the summer camp where Casey works.

Cast

• David Keith as Robert Thatcher, a professional big-game hunter and tracker who is hired to catch the sabretooth and ultimately kills it with a spear after its creator, Catherine, unloads his rifle.
• Jenna Gering as Casey Ballenger, the leader of the group of campers in Sierra Nevada who had a relationship with Trent in the past, whom she gets back together with towards the end of the film, and one of the two campers who survives the sabretooth rampage.
• Josh Holloway as Trent Parks, an experienced camper who had a relationship with Casey in the past, which he resumes towards the end of the film, having come back only to do so, but showed interest in Lola Rodriguez, even being brought to tears when she died. He, along with Casey, is one of the two campers to survive the sabretooth rampage.
• Vanessa Angel as Catherine Viciy, an ambitious, but cold-hearted scientist who had a relationship with Thatcher in the past and who created the sabretooth and was willing to sacrifice anyone necessary to keep it alive, only to be the final victim of her own creation.
• John Rhys-Davies as Anthony Bricklin, Catherine's partner, a greedy, but cowardly man who only wanted the sabretooth to be left alive for monetary and glory purposes, but was killed by it after having his eyes gouged out.
• Lahmard Tate as Leon Tingle, the final camper killed by the sabretooth, as well as the bravest, who faced the sabretooth in physical combat and tried to kill it with knives, but was stabbed in the chest by its claws.
• Nicole Tubiola as Lola Rodriguez, a camper, the only other female camper besides Casey whose death confirmed the existence of the sabretooth. She was romantically involved with Trent throughout the film and screamed to him for help when she was killed. He seemed to share her feelings as he cried when he couldn't save her.
• Phillip Glasser as Jason Kimble, a camper, the first camper killed by the sabretooth after getting lost at night.
• Stefanie Thomas as Kara Harmon, a zoologist on Catherine's team who at first goes along with Catherine's lie about the sabretooth, but ultimately chooses to tell Thatcher the truth, only to be killed by the sabretooth before she could.
• Todd Jensen as Sean, he and his girlfriend Amanda are spending time at a cabin in the woods. Until they are both attacked by the sabertooth.
• Allie Moss as Amanda, her and her boyfriend Sean are vacationing in a cabin in the woods. They are both killed by the sabretooth.
• Scott Vandiver as Nathan, a janitor at the laboratory where the sabretooth was created. He was the first victim killed by the sabretooth after carelessly locking himself in with it after its cage doesn't close.
• Kelly Nelson as Billy, he is the truck driver transporting the sabertooth to Anthony and Catherine. He crashes the truck and the metal crate holding the sabertooth is ripped open. The sabertooth quickly kills him.
• James D.R. Hickox as Bob "Silent Bob", he is the mute brother of the gas station attendant. He hears the sabertooth inside the metal crate in the back of the truck it is being transported in.

Reception

On the film-critics aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Sabretooth scored 20% positive reviews, out of 5 reviews.^[1]

External links

• Web site: Sabretooth . Official site (Sci Fi Channel) . https://web.archive.org/web/20021209221924/http://www.scifi.com/onair/scifipictures/sabretooth/ . December 9, 2002.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sabretooth (2002) . rottentomatoes.com . . 6 October 2012.