Films: King of the Lost World (2005)

Alias: Giant spiders, giant scorpions, Amazonian dragons, giant ape

Type: Ancient

Location: Jungle/Cave/Civilized Area

Height/Weight: Ranges from that of average humans to that of a small building.

Affiliation: Neutral

Summary: King Kong's domain is, as of 2005, perhaps the most messed up source of natural beauty and savagery you can possibly find. So let's see how its Asylum-made rip-off fares. The spoiler answer is "barely even close".

History: One day, a bunch of regular folk ended up surviving a plane crash straight into the Amazon. No, this is not a slightly more comprehensible reboot of "Lost", it is a venture into the Lost World, a primeval domain full of prehistoric monsters and crazed natives looking to sacrifice the visitors to a horde of dragons that just so happen to attract the ire of a gigantic ape. It's a Kong rip-off with barely any Kong in it. It's all gone Kong.

Notable Kills: Nothing special.

Final Fate: In the end, the dragons and the ape get into a big fight in the middle of the plane wreckage after the former is done aggravating some jets. One guy detonates the debris the ape is holding, taking most of the horde and it with it. The survivors are still stranded, and at least one dragon survived.

Powers/Abilities: None.

Weakness: The scorpions are very adverse to bright lights. Everything else can be taken out conventionally.

Scariness Factor: 2-Oh, how these creatures would like to be feared. But the CGI is a new low even for Syfy. Seeing the ape flail around like the rig just spiraled out of control is guaranteed to incite more laughter than fright. At least the scorpions tried harder, if only because they had darkness on their side.

Trivia: -The closest thing to a traditional western dragon in South American mythology is the Amaru of Incan folklore. It is said to be a two-headed chimera of several animals including birds and jaguars, and has the power to travel between both the spirit realm and ours while underground.

-This film was released precisely one day before Peter Jackson's film took off. It still didn't work.