ALL SCI-FI

[Bogmeister]

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This one seems like an amusing afterthought to all the eco-horror pics of the seventies — these mostly have some kind of sci-fi rationale for the monsters; this falls into the category of mankind's interference with nature.

The story, written by John Sayles, plays off the urban legends of baby alligators — purchased as exotic pets — being flushed down toilets and eventually growing to adult size in the city sewers.

A girl's irate dad does the flushing in an early scene, and then we switch to 12 years later in Chicago. The basics of such a tale would be bad enough; but in this case the alligator has been feeding on dogs who had been injected with some kind of growth hormone by the local pharmaceutical company.

So, this alligator is much larger than the norm — about 35 feet in length.

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Robert Forster stars as the police detective on the case. Chewed off limbs have started surfacing, and the initial surmise is that there's a human maniac.

But Forster soon ventures into the sewer system with a young cop, and they run into the true culprit. As sometimes happens in these types of films, no one believes Forster's account, not the least of which is the local reptile expert, Robin Riker, who might be the adult version of the girl from the start of the film.

Riker actually gives Forster all the reasons why alligators could not survive in sewers, debunking the legends of our reality.

As also happens in these types of films, there are annoying characters, not the least of which is a reporter (Bart Braverman), who likes to harass Forster. The intrepid reporter ventures into the sewers alone and ends up providing evidence for Forster's claims.

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None of this is truly frightening — in fact, the film eschews the usual conventions for building to a shocking moment, instead going for a dark-humored tone and the exposition of various corrupting forces in a city's bureaucracy and industry.

This begins with the resident dog catcher (Sidney Lassick), who captures dogs for insidious experiments, and he's the first to get his comeuppance via giant jaws. But the big beast doesn't stop there, it eventually reaches the upper echelon, represented by Dean Jagger's wicked corporate head and the weaselly mayor (Jack Carson).

The story also throws in the typical big game hunter (Henry Silva, hamming it up), who briefly enlists the aid of 3 local black youths — he refers to them as his "bearers" Rolling Eyes . Director: Lewis Teague.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[The Spike]

After an irate father flushes down the toilet his daughter's baby alligator, the creature feeds on dumped animals that have been tested with a growth hormone. Thus the gator grows into a 36 foot long monster that promptly terrorises Chicago.

With a rather witty John Sayles script, tidy effects work and Lewis Teague's knowingly "B" movie direction, Alligator turns out to be one of the better post Jaws copy-cats. Very much using a satirical slant, Alligator's gigantic horror is born out of dubious suit types involved in conspiracies. While the cheery pay back that comes the way of various gits responsible for the growth of super gator is rewarding to say the least. Peperred with in jokes as well, Alligator also benefits from having the considerable talents of Robert Forster and Dean Jagger in the cast. They may look a touch bewildered at times, more out of a sense of fun one feels, but they give it gusto supreme and carry the picture to the bloody and entertaining finale.

A million miles away from Jaws of course, but this is a funny, enjoyable and different type of animal. 6.5/10
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The quality of mercy is not strnen.

[Bud Brewster]

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Great review, Spike!

And even though this movie might be "a million miles away from Jaws", as you said, Marty McFly was right.

"The shark still looks fake."
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[The Spike]

[Bud Brewster]

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Netflix doesn't have this movie, but YouTube does, although I'm not sure it plays as smoothly as we'd like for it to. But I'd like to see this movie, so I've downloaded it, and hopefully it will play better on my TV than it does directly from YouTube.

_________________ Alligator (1980) - Trailer


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_______________________ Alligator (1980)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)