One of the old-time urban legends in all its glory
This takes the old urban legend of alligators living in the city sewer
and turns it into a fun and sometimes gory movie. Ramon, the baby alligator, is purchased in Florida and comes back to Chicago where dad one day decides to give it a burial at sea. Ramon lives quite well down there and thanks to modern technology (as in, growth hormones that find their way down there courtesy of some schlock testing lab) he grows to enormous size and dines on sewer workers, etc. Seems that he may have drawn some unwanted attention to himself but in general he's able to take care of himself quite well, if only he wouldn't leave tell-tale body parts around. Police detective Robert Forester is on his tail though, but because of a supposedly checkered past nobody believes him until Ramon really lets it all hang out and comes above ground. At least the sleazy characters in this get what they deserve and the good guys come out rather well. Lots of familiar B-movie faces in this too. I wouldn't call it a comedy but it's not a straight horror film either, more of a dry-humored spoof, really. I think that's called "tounge in cheek" but I hate that term. Anyway, well worth seeing and you can get it on DVD (all region, NTSC) in a version from Korea that's quite nice and playable with no subtitles. 8 out of 10.. 
Alligator
Scientific hormone testing to enlarge animals so that the world can
reap the benefits of a wider food market, leads to the massive size of an alligator resting in the Chicago sewers ready to munch on anyone who dares venture into his lair. A pet store operator/veterinarian brings a major scientific company abandoned puppies for hormone testing with the remains of the dead animals dumped in the sewers. Chicago detective David Madison(..an engagingly likable Robert Forster, good as always), reeling from a partner's death when he was a cop in St. Louis, is the man who must stop the alligator before it threatens an entire city. His superiors, Chief Clark(Michael V Gazzo, of "Fingers" fame)and the mayor(Jack Carter)make it hard on Madison after his investigation leads to the hormone testing company whose chairman has major political ties and the power to wield the detective's way. He enlists the aide, and soon falls in love with, reptile expert Marisa Kendall(Robin Riker)whose expertise come in handy as he pursues the location of the alligator. Madison's task proves very difficult as the gator, despite it's massive size, is often able to elude police officers searching for it. Soon the alligator surfaces above ground roaming the streets of the city looking for fresh meat. One of the major effects of the hormones that increase the size of those experimented on is an insatiable appetite and the alligator is always on the prowl for fresh victims. When the gator continues to kill, Madison is removed from the case and a respected, egomaniacal "Great White Hunter", Colonel Brock(Henry Silva, who steals the film when he appears in one of his signature roles)is called in to get the beast. But, can anyone stop the alligator? It was a lot of fun re-visiting the wonderful creature feature from the early 80's. What doesn't this movie have? Great cast full of very likable and established characters, a very witty script, alligator carnage(..you get the gory goods as the beast munches down on humans), and a brisk pace. The alligator feasts everywhere in this film. There's a scary scene where Madison loses a policeman to the gator when the manhole cover wouldn't budge. There's a great sequence where the gator explodes from a concrete onto a street as kids with wide-eyes playing run in fear as a policeman's car crashes with the officer inside getting his leg bitten off. There's one harrowing scene where the gator is resting in a neighborhood pool when a child falls in accidentally and is eaten! Of course, those responsible for the gator's creation are attacked at a wedding reception where the hired help, and others, get chewed up and spit out(..not to mention, one getting smashed in his limo), and, equally memorable is Silva's fate in a street alley. Oh, and there's a great homage to Jaws where one man is trying to swim to a boat and gets both his legs ripped away by the gator. Silva has a marvelous scene where he finds gator poop. And, even a homage to "The Third Man" is thrown in for laughs. Suspenseful, smart, gory & funny..ALLIGATOR delivers the goods on all levels. I give a lot of love to Blue Underground and Lionsgate for a high-quality DVD transfer and very good interview with screenplay writer John Sayles. Monster movie fans should not be disappointed with this one.. |
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