Monster Movie of the Week: Alligator (1980)

ALLIGATOR (1980)
Directed by Lewis Teague
Genre: Horror, Monster-on-the-loose

THE MOVIE

An enduring urban legend from the 1970's and 1980's was that in the sewers below several major American cities, lived alligators which were purchased as pets but later flushed down the toilet when they became too large. These stories are based on infrequent sightings but have persisted over most of the Twentieth Century, probably because they are so cool and something must be keeping the C.H.U.D. and Ninja Turtle population in check. Recently, an episode of one of my favorite shows/exercises in futility, Monster Quest, mounted an expedition into the New York sewers in search of alligators but found only a fat salamander. And my dreams died.

The 1980 horror movie, Alligator, is based on this sewer gator premise and is the big daddy of all the other crocsploitation movies that came after. SyFy pretty much owes their original movie line up to Alligator. While not a great movie by any means, Alligator is a fun-enough riff on the Jaws formula. It's worth watching if only for its very auteuristic Carter-era approach to the material and that great gritty, late '70's/early '80's exploitation movie feel. Supposedly, it is set in Chicago but, sadly, filmed in LA. At least Robert Forster manages to sound like he wouldn't be out of place ordering an Italian beef and a pop at a Chicago hot dog stand.


Forster stars as beleaguered and mistrusted police detective David Madison (not to be confused with Bruce Willis' character on Moonlighting) who teams up with a herpetologist to investigate a series of grisly murders in the sewer system. Add to the mix a shady pharmaceutical company experimenting on stray pets with a growth hormone (every movie from this era needs an evil corporation), a tabloid reporter, and a big game hunter. Needless to say, the beast finally busts out into the city (and apparently onto the set of the Beat It video) and wreaks havoc.


THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

The Alligator-Ramon-is quite a big puppy at about 36 feet long. Otherwise he's a regular gator. I imagine a lot of the shots were done with a real gator scaled to a slightly miniaturized set.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

In another very '70's moment, Ramon terrorizes a bunch of fat cats at fancy party and goes all T-rex on a limosine.



Throw a Hawaiian shirt on him and you have a scene from just about any Rodney Dangerfield movie. Minus the killing.


SEQUELS

This movie did have one sequel. In 1991, Alligator II: The Mutation was released to no fanfare. Supposedly, it has almost nothing to do with the original movie.


SEE ALSO

Jaws (1975), Rogue (2007)

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Monster Movie of the Week: Primeval (2006)

PRIMEVAL (2006)

Director: Michael Katleman

Genre: Natural horror

THE MOVIE

Sadly, not every animal will see its day as an oversized monster in a b-movie. For example, you probably will never see a movie about a giant tarsier that runs amok, killing hundreds of people. There seem to be no shortage however of movies about man-eating alligators and crocodiles. One of the most recent is Primeval and the twist here is that it is based on a true story. The movie was released in 2006 with a truly inept ad campaign that tried to sell the movie as a serial killer thriller.

Domenic Purcell plays a hotshot journalist who is incapable of using more than three buttons on his shirt. He is sent to the African nation of Burundi to cover the “sensational” story of Gustave, a killer croc and his network’s attempts to catch it. Along for the ride is his wisecracking cameraman, a female scientist and a Crocodile Hunter wannabe. They are soon trying to survive not only Gustave but the various warlords and factions vying for control of the area.

The movie is set in Burundi and the overarching theme is that the years of bloodshed and violence have literally fed this monstrous crocodile that has developed a taste for human flesh from feeding on the victims of war and genocide. The movie merges a story about the socio-political situation in Africa with a monster movie about a rampaging 30 foot crocodile. While I think that this is somehow fundamentally exploitative and trivializing, there is something about the allegory of it that works very well. Who said monsters were supposed to be subtle anyway?

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS:

Gustave is basically a big crocodile. So if you’ve seen one on TV or at a zoo you know what to expect. Only really big. He is realized primarily through CGI. Not fantastic effects but pretty good.

MONSTERS FEATURED:

Gustave.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY:

Widely available on DVD. There are some nice extras, including a featurette about how the croc was brought to life.

Also available on Bluray.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE:

Gustave charging across the savanna in pursuit of Orlando Jones. You may have different reactions to this scene depending on how you feel about the often annoying former MadTV cast member and 7-UP spokesman.

7-UP yours, Orlando Jones.

SEQUELS

None.

SEE ALSO

Primeval is part of a long line of crocsploitation movies.

See:

Alligator 1980, Lake Placid 1999, Rogue 2007

Just to name a few. Rogue, in particular is quite good.

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