The original “Jurassic Park” left audiences gasping as T-Rex’s jaws snapped shut, Velociraptors hunted down children and a lifelike Brachiosaurus munched on leaves.

In 1993, Steven Spielberg brought dinosaurs back to life in “Jurassic Park,” making the most successful film of all time – a title it held for several years” until “Titanic” hit cinemas.

We enjoyed two “Jurassic Park” sequels, then three “Jurassic World” films which were less frankly terrifying, being more suited to families.

“Jurassic World: Rebirth,” directed by Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) ramps up the tension in what feels like a return to those scary 1993 roots.

“Jurassic Park was already a kind of horror film. It pretended to be a family film, but it scared children a lot,” Edwards told dpa, recalling the original.

But because the fans from back then are now grown up, the seventh film in the series deliberately wanted to add more horror, he says.

“It’s harder to scare adults. That’s why we wanted to go the extra mile. And I was actually waiting for the studio to say no, because it’s a family film after all,” says Edwards. “But they saw it the same way. They also wanted to bring back the horror. And that’s why we had a lot of free rein with our ideas.”

That is clear, especially when you see some of the mutant dinosaurs bred by researchers on a secret island that were deemed too dangerous for amusement parks.

Some of these dinosaurs are truly degenerate beasts, so gruesome that you wonder whether the makers are less interested in the billion-dollar merchandising business this time around.

After all, such hideous giant mutant dinosaurs in toy form don’t seem like the ideal choice for a child’s bedroom.

“Well, when I was four years old, I always bought monsters and bad guys as toys. I think the merchandising will work out fine,” says Edwards.

Three new top stars

The seventh film takes another step back towards the original with its cast of several strong characters. Scarlett Johansson (“Black Widow”) plays tough mercenary Zora Bennett, with Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) as Zora’s old friend plus Jonathan Bailey (“Bridgerton”) is a museum palaeontologist.

These three are not just eye candy or dinosaur fodder, but have emotional backstories and develop in the course of their deadly mission.

Edwards did not initially want to direct the film, he has said in past interviews. But he was particularly impressed by the characters in the script.

“One of the hardest things about being a filmmaker is that no matter how much you pack into a film visually, if the audience doesn’t care about the characters or the story is too confusing, then everything else is for nothing. And I read the script and immediately liked the characters and their interactions. I knew I just had to bring them to life and then the film would work.”

The stars’ acting quality also pays off – with Ali, a two-time Oscar winner (“Moonlight,” “Green Book”), and Johansson, a two-time Oscar nominee (including for “Marriage Story”).

Johansson says she fulfilled a childhood dream with “Jurassic World Rebirth” as she also caught dinosaur fever back in 1993, she has said in several interviews.

But the filming was more exhausting than she had expected, she told dpa. “I was totally shocked and thrilled when I was cast. And then you get to the film set and do the actual work. Some days are really hard,” she said of shooting in Thailand and Malta.

Her colleague Jonathan Bailey also drew strength from the knowledge that he was part of a unique film series during the gruelling shoot.

“There aren’t many franchises that have spanned so many generations,” Bailey told dpa. “It’s been 32 years since the original film. And everyone who worked on this film – from us actors on set to the people behind the camera to the post-production team – was inspired by the first film, by the nostalgia of a unique cinema experience.”

The island where it all started

The dinosaur action is just as exciting, but what about the most important ingredient – the dinosaur scenes?

They also benefit from a further way “Jurassic World Rebirth” returns to its roots.

The plot does not range around the globe but is again focused on an island. The hunt is on for three particularly dangerous dinosaurs, on land, in the water and in the air.

“The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind,” says Universal, which may seem a little far-fetched. But it fuels the action and entertainment factor enormously.

The limited setting means some intense scenes work well even if they don’t quite achieve the masterful thrills that Spielberg managed to create when directing action in confined spaces.

But at least in terms of special effects, “Jurassic World Rebirth” certainly makes Spielberg’s 1993 original look old with scenes from a T-Rex hunting underwater or Pterosaurs attacking people scaling a steep rock face.

Scarlett Johansson in Berlin for a premiere of “Jurassic World Rebirth.” She loved the 1993 original, she says, and is proud of this standalone sequel. Annette Riedl/dpa