The "coolest pet in town" turns deadly in the long lost R-rated cut of the direct-to-video comedy TAMMY AND THE T-REX, on Blu-ray/DVD combo (and 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo) from Vinegar Syndrome.

Tammy (Denise Richards, STARSHIP TROOPERS) is a pretty and popular high school cheerleader, but all is not as it seems. Although she should have the world at her feet, she is the victim of abuse from possessive ex-boyfriend Billy (George Pilgrim, TIMEMASTER) that prevents her from even imagining happiness with handsome and kind Michael (Paul Walker, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) in spite of encouragement from flamingly gay best friend Byron (Theo Forsett, STREET KNIGHT). When Tammy one night asks Michael to come over and keep her company, jealous Wendy (Shevonne Durkin, LEPRECHAUN 2) squeals to Billy who barges into Tammy's house with his gang (including THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS' Sean Whalen). They chase Michael down and brutally beat him, leaving him for dead in a wildlife park where he is then mauled by a lion. Michael is left in a coma and easy prey for mad Dr. Wachenstein (Terry Kiser, WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S) who is searching for a brain to give life to his robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex to give it autonomy from its computer programming. Wachenstein fakes Michael's death and makes off with his body with the help of dominatrix assistant Helga (Ellen Dubin, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) and transplants Michael's brain into the beast with plans to lobotomize it later for complete control; however, Michael's conscience remains in the brain and he kills Wachenstein's assistants (CHILDREN OF THE CORN's John Franklin and John Edmondson) before escaping the mad doctor's lab. After running amuck and crashing a teenage party with much bloodshed, Michael reconnects with Tammy who becomes determined to find a way to get his brain back in his body, unaware that Wachenstein and Helga have realized that she is the key to getting the dinosaur back. Meanwhile, Byron tries to convince his sheriff father (J. Jay Saunders, HOUSE PARTY) and bumbling deputies (THEY LIVE's George "Buck" Flower and HELLRAISER III: HELL ON EARTH's Ken Carpenter) just whose side they should be on.

An oddity that could only have come from the nineties, TAMMY AND THE T-REX is impossible to pigeonhole, and it is difficult to determine how it would have been sold had it been more successful and widely seen. The performances are mostly over-the-top with the exception of Richards and Walker who surprisingly manage to anchor the film emotionally, much of the proceedings are played for laughs but the abusive ex element and Michael's beating are far from family friendly. Although even the R-rated version of the film cuts away from some of the violence, the torso-squishing, disemboweling, and head-ripping on display – courtesy of John Carl Buechler (TROLL) – may not have been enough to engage older audiences theatrically. In more recently years, the film has acquired a bit of a cult following that is perhaps more suited to it than its initial reception. Former Hollywood animal trainer turned director Stewart Raffill had previously helmed bigger budget fare like THE ICE PIRATES, THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT, and MANNEQUIN: ON THE MOVE.

Released direct to video in a cut-down PG-13 rated edition from Imperial Entertainment, TAMMY AND THE T-REX, the film's rights ended up with Moonstone Entertainment like previous Vinegar Syndrome release PSYCHO COP RETURNS which had been released on video in a cut down version only for the uncut film elements to turn up; the difference being that fewer were aware that TAMMY was a film that had an uncut version. The film's R-rated "director's cut" (90:51) is derived from a 4K scan of the original camera negative and looks surprisingly stunning from the bright sunny California settings and nineties wardrobe to the close-ups of the dinosaur. The prosthetics fare worse although the commentary reveals that not all of that is the fault of Buechler. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo soundtrack boasts clear dialogue throughout and some directional rumblings and roars of the monster while the atmosphere calls attention to how little there is of the background sound design. Optional English SDH subtitles are included although they scuttle one of the film's in-jokes when the hospital intercom pages a "Dr. Sarlouis" which should be Sarlui in reference to producer Etka Sarlui, wife of former Trans World Entertainment president Eduard Sarlui. The film's PG-13 cut (82:36) is also included as an extra, sourced from standard definition video and revealing the sometimes blunt cutting needed to pare down not only the violence but some bits of language. It should be noted that the director's cut is actually titled TANNY AND THE TEENAGE T-REX (with Richards' onscreen credit as "Tanny") while the PG-13 version has the TAMMY card and adjusts Richards' credit as such.

The feature is accompanied by an audio commentary by director Raffill and his producer wife Diane Kirman, moderated by Brt Berg of The American Film Genre Archive. Raffill reveals that the project originated with the proposal by a producer who had a million dollars and a week's access to an animatronic dinosaur that was due to be shipped to a Texas amusement park. With only three weeks of preparation before the availability of the dinosaur, Raffill and Kirman discuss planning out the shoot with locations within a twenty mile radius of the sound stage and their own home neighborhood (where the suburban homes of the characters were filmed), Raffill's feelings as a farm boy from England and an animal trainer about the film's graphic gore, working with Richards and the late Walker and their later fame, and shooting with the dinosaur, particularly during the period where the Santa Ana winds were stirring up forest fires on the locations where they were shooting.