Snap! (Alligator (DVD))

Member Name: moronboy

Product:	Alligator (DVD)
Date:	23/11/00 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Generally very entertaining

Disadvantages: Has been outclassed by other movies

Slightly bettered by Steve Miner's more recent big alligator movie 'Lake Placid', this Corman-produced monster mash is still worth watching if you can track it down. The best of the late seventies exploitation movies that Corman came up with were written by John Sayles and directed by Joe Dante ('Piranha', 'The Howling').

Sadly, arch-satirist Dante didn't do this one, and so it's handled with slightly less finesse. Nevertheless, a pair of outstanding performances make it work well - Robert Forster is great as the smart, harassed cop hero, and Henry Silva magnificent as a bonkers big game hunter following the trail of alligator spoor across the city.

The effects are fine and the action sequences well-done, especially as the chemically enhanced monster goes to work munching on a polite society wedding. There are some great gags as various people cash in on the alligator terror, and the effects are up to standard. Unlike 'The Howling', it breaks no new ground, and unlike 'Piranha', the pace sometimes flags, but nevertheless, fans of good old-fashioned creature features will have fun, and the tongue-in-cheek jokes should keep most people entertained.

Summary: