Before cementing his place in horror history twice with the
cinematic adaptations of Stephen King’s Cujo and Cat’s Eye, high-school
dropout turned jack-of-all-trades Roger Corman film worker Lewis Teague dabbled
in the indie film world before making a big splash with one of the great
underrated animals attack creature features of the 1980s: Alligator.Initially a clone of Steven Spielberg’s
blockbuster Jaws before future Academy Award nominated screenwriter John
Sayles (The Howling) retooled it as a clever send-up of the tropes of
the animal attack film, the film is a star-studded effects-heavy monster movie with
the skin of the aforementioned shark-attack classic and just enough snarky humor
and satire to make it something of a dark comedy.
In the late 1960s, an American teenager buys a baby alligator
named Ramone while vacationing with her family in Florida.Upon return home to Chicago, however, the
father angrily flushes it down the toilet.Circa 1980 however, the thought-to-be-dead gator grows to a gargantuan
size with an impenetrable hide after feeding on the discarded animal test
subjects of a new formula designed by Slade Laboratories to increase livestock
meat production (Deep Blue Sea certainly lifted this plot element).Soon the gator starts wreaking bloody animal
havoc, devouring sewer workers with body parts flowing freely from it.Only disgraced Detective David Madison (Robert
Forster), recently coping with the reputation of inadvertently killing a partner
on a previous crime scene, and herpetologist Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker) seem
to stand in its way. A tightly-budgeted exploitation flick with its tongue firmly
planted in cheek while also sporting a strong cast of notable character actors
including but not limited to The Godfather Part II actor Michael V.
Gazzo, Twelve O’Clock High Oscar winner Dean Jagger in his final role, Henry
Silva and even Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita actress Sue Lyon in her final
role, Alligator is a monster movie with a difference.Notably, Quentin Tarantino cited the film as
a primary influence on Robert Forster’s character in Jackie Brown and
also sported early stunt work from soon-to-be horror legend Kane Hodder.Including a decently scary orchestral
soundtrack by Schizoid composer Craig Huxley and meat-and-potatoes camerawork
by Neon Maniacs cinematographer Joseph Mangine, the ensemble monster
movie looks and sounds a lot nicer than fare of this sort should.
As with Jaws, the greatest strength of Alligator lies
with its cast members as the titular animatronic alligator didn’t always work
though the effects that did end up onscreen (rendered partially by a
then-unknown Bryan Cranston) look serviceable nevertheless. Still, this is the kind of film where the
monster is cool but you root for the actors ala Steve McQueen’s screen debut in
The Blob. You’re aware of the
budgetary effects limitations, made even more noticeable now in Shout Factory’s
4K UHD disc release, and the silliness of the whole scenario but with a cast
like this it becomes kind of a playful joy to watch. A B-movie populated by a cool character soon-to-evolve
into one of the most beloved characters in cinema history in Tarantino’s film
years later, Alligator makes no bones about what it is while also providing
a high benchmark for other like-minded Jaws knockoffs and creature features
to follow suit.
