To its credit, National Lampoon’s Homo Erectus does manage to keep the gay jokes to a relative minimum considering its title. Unfortunately, that’s among the best things that can be said about this mess of a comedy.

The film follows writer-director-star Adam Rifkin as “Ishbo,” a caveman who is basically a modern guy trapped in a time that can’t acknowledge his intellectual feats. Ishbo’s idiot jock brother gets the girl of Ishbo’s dreams, the tribe repeatedly makes bad choices based on fear and superstition and, whenever Ishbo tries to stand up for reason, he’s hit in the face with a rock.

While this might work for a five-minute cartoon short, it gets old really quickly. Even the random nudity and cameos from actors like David Carradine, Ron Jeremy and Gary Busey are overpowered by the lame, stale jokes and the predictable storyline. Ultimately, this one is best left buried.

Grade: D

Homo Erectus is currently in select theaters.