Review by: Monkey Fist
SCUM Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Before “Sharknado” and “Boa vs Python”, there was…..ALLIGATOR!
This film ranks right up there together with other 80s B-Grade classics such as “Humanoids From The Deep” and “C.H.U.D”. Seriously, with a title like that, you do not expect any in-depth plot or character development. Just pop the DVD in, press “Play” and enjoy the ride! A young girl’s mother lets her buy a baby alligator from a show, which she names Ramon, while on vacation, but later her father decides she can’t have it and flushes it down the toilet alive. Fast forward sixteen years later and the alligator has mutated to monstrous proportions, feasting on the carcasses of dead dogs that were used as guinea pigs for an experimental growth hormone. And as with most creature features, the nasty beastie gets tired of slithering through the meandering sewers and decides to come up for better feeding…..chomping on anything from adults to kiddies!! I can still remember this flick bringing on some chills when I caught it back then but I can’t say the same after re-watching this again 34 years later. It’s so bad it’s hilariously good!
The special effects aren’t too bad either. The full length shots that show the alligator are mostly composited shots of a real baby gator walking on miniature sets, but I felt they were very convincing, especially a great image of it walking down the middle of a street with a number of vehicles next to it so you can easily see how big it’s supposed to be. The rest of the time, the alligator is only shown in bits and pieces, like a giant head or a mechanical tail. Still, it’s not too shabby for a film from 1980. John Sayles, who started his career working with Roger Corman, is the man behind the script (he’s also written the screenplay for both “Piranha” and “The Howling”). The film’s directed by veteran Lewis Teague, who cut his directing and editing teeth on such Corman classics as “Crazy Mama” and “Death Race 2000”…..this is good enough a reason for you to watch the film. Seriously.
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