Killer Krokodil II - Die Mörderbestie

"Killer Crocodile 2" isn't about to mess with a formula, as it proceeds to offer lovers of Euro-cheese more of the same things we got with the first "Killer Crocodile". The lovely Debra Karr (in one of only two feature film appearances) is an appreciably feisty leading lady as reporter Liza, sent to a Caribbean swamp to investigate nefarious doings by an evil developer named Baxter. Once again, the swamp is being polluted with illegal disposal of radioactive waste. And once again, an enormous, homicidal reptile shows up to munch on as many unlucky humans as it can. Richard Anthony Crenna, a handsome lad who is not particularly blessed with acting talent, returns as the hero Kevin, although he doesn't show up until the movie is almost half over.

Italian effects master Giannetto De Rossi, who also designed our monster antagonist, proves to be at least somewhat capable in the directors' chair, delivering to us undemanding thrills for a little under an hour and a half. Granted, any parts of the plot devoted to the criminal goings-on, cover-ups, and Liza's un-P.C. bantering with her colleagues back in NYC are never as fun as when the croc makes its appearances and does what it does best. To further illustrate the fact that the screenwriters (including producer Fabrizio De Angelis and the prolific Dardano Sacchetti) don't really want to stray from what they felt made the first movie work, they bring back crusty, Crocodile Dundee wannabe Joe (Ennio Girolami) to be Crenna's cohort for a brief portion of the running time.

The music by the great Riz Ortolani is fun, especially when he's riffing on John Williams' classic "Jaws" theme. The effects are sometimes dodgy, but at least this animatronic croc is still highly preferable to a digital one. De Rossi and company don't skimp when it comes to suggesting the creatures' size. The dialogue and the performances are extremely cheesy, with some genuine laugh out loud moments. (Such as Kevin's reaction to Liza's desire for sex late in the game.)

For a sequel that was quickly banged out (it was actually filmed at the same time as the original), with not much thought put into the script, this does entertain solidly - in a purely tacky way, of course.

Seven out of 10.

A horrendously funny sequel bearing no actual horror (and it is categorized as a horror film), actually having more than good nature photography and swamp, river sceneries and cheesy, goofy, nice acting than terrible visual effects.

It is fun for a pass time, especially if you watch it dubbed in Italian, which suits the beautiful power two Debra Karr very much.

Who and how (were) funded these movies is beyond me.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 3.5
• Development: 6.5
• Realism: 3.5
• Entertainment: 6.5
• Acting: 4
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 6
• VFX: 2.5
• Music/score/sound: 5
• Depth: 3
• Logic: 1.5
• Flow: 5.5
• Horror: 2.5
• Ending: 4.

Although the gigantic killer crocodile was killed at the end of the previous film, she managed to leave behind an egg that hatches in the same swamp at the beginning of this movie. Meanwhile, a newspaper reporter for the New York Chronicle named "Liza Post" (Debra Karr) has been assigned the case involving the illegal dumping in that swamp which has yet to be cleaned up. Sent to help her is the swamp expert by the name of "Kevin Jones" (Anthony Crenna) who killed the killer crocodile in the first movie. Now, as far as this film is concerned it certainly could have been much better. The dialogue was substandard and some of the scenes were pretty bad as well. But to be fair the movie was filmed in Italian and dubbed into English so I suppose some allowances should be made. Also on the plus side was the presence of Debra Karr who was absolutely stunning. Still, as I stated earlier, this movie could have used some improvement and even though I enjoyed it, in all fairness I have to rate it as slightly below average.

The 1990 follow up to the 1989 "Killer Crocodile" movie wasn't really a step in the right direction. Not unless you count a cheesier and campier storyline as better, or having an even more inanimate crocodile as being better.

The storyline in "Killer Crocodile 2" was a direct continuation of the events and story in the 1989 movie, for better or worse. But then it gets weird, because apparently one crocodile survived from part I and it emerged from the egg as a hatchling. But wait, within mere minutes apparently, it had grown bigger than the crocodile in the first movie. There was no time lapse to the storyline, which was a total slap in the face of the audience that have sat through the 1989 "Killer Crocodile" movie.

The events were less interesting in this sequel, and there were far less deaths throughout the movie in comparison to the first movie. And that was something that made the movie suffer.

As for the acting in "Killer Crocodile 2", well it was equal to the level of acting in the 1989 "Killer Crocodile" movie, so you know what you are or aren't getting here, depending on how you look at it.

I found this 1990 sequel to be less adequate in terms of entertainment and enjoyment in comparison to the predecessor. I managed to get through the movie, but it was an uphill battle because the storyline was essentially pointless and non-existing.

"Killer Crocodile 2" runs 82 minutes (including credits). About half of those are dead space - like a female reporter's petty bickering with her colleagues back in "New York". Roughly 10 more minutes are taken up by flashbacks = footage lifted from the original film (including its ending). That leaves about 30 minutes of pure crocodile-chomping-on-people action, and the croc itself looks good; even if it's stodgy at times, it's still vastly preferable to the computerized crocs of such recent bombs as "Crocodile" and "Blood Surf". But the script is so lazy that just when the movie looks about to finally get going, we get a stupid climax and it's all over. Anthony Crenna repeats his role from the first film; don't expect any acting awards coming for him anytime soon. Leading lady Debra Karr has (at least in the first half) a self-assured, take-no-sh*t attitude that I quite liked. (*1/2)