Croc

Abominable special effects threaten to sink this Thai "Jaws" clone, until, mercifully the makers decided to give the croc a break and focus on some more convincing local themes that resurrect this film from total and utter decay. Owner/operator of a struggling Thai zoo (Tuinstra) finds himself up against more than just the local corrupt businessman (Junsook) and his crooked, petty criminal brother (Saetong) when a large salt water crocodile that has migrated from Australia threatens the tourist trade. Predictably, he elects to hunt the creature himself, with the aid of his long suffering sister (Healey) her son (Hazell) an animal welfare official (Phungprasert) and a peg-leg drunken fisherman whose motivations are noble (Madsen) in spite of the $50,000 reward offered for its destruction.

The first twenty minutes of this action-thriller are diabolically bad in almost every facet, and there is real cause for concern that the picture is going to descend to grade Z depths. Alas, somehow, the amateurish acting improves (relatively) and the narrative even shows glimpses of local content – Madsen's quest to avenge the deaths of "those who couldn't swim fast enough", reminded of their suspended souls through photographs he keeps in the cabin of his boat, is a nice touch. But despite his compassionate interior, what would a Michael Madsen character be without a prop or two, and typically, alcoholism is again his preference ("a shot of OJ in your vodka?").

The filmmakers spare little in their pursuit of shocks, whether it's children dragged into the depths in front of hysterical parents, randy teenagers snatched while they canoodle in the surf, or just a pair of no-good villains being dismembered in their own pool. Such is the variety of severed limbs, torsos, decapitated heads and decomposing corpses (check out the rigor mortis in the croc's "larder") that it's surprising that some enterprising local didn't open a spare parts shop. One scene in which a distraught gangster's girlfriend identifies butchered remains beggars belief; how she managed to identify him from the meat pate into which he was minced is one of the movie's unintended laughs (and there are others to enjoy). At least it's good to see local talent, locations and bystanders involved in the filmmaking process, exposure essential to growing a more commercial film industry in Thailand.

A 20-foot croc terrorizes Krabi, Thailand, while an egotistical mogul tries to put a private zoo out of business by blaming the croc attacks on smaller crocs from the zoo. Peter Tuinstra plays the protagonist, who runs the croc farm while Sherry Edwards appears as his romantic interest, an agent from the animal welfare department. Michael Madsen shows up in the second half as a formidable croc hunter.

"Croc" (2007) is a TV movie that only cost $750,000, but it's a surprisingly compelling crococator flick, all things considered. The highlight is the unique setting of west coast, Thailand, and life thereof. Sure, some of the acting by Asian unknowns is questionable, but if you roll with it, you'll get over it.

Tuinstra makes for a likable protagonist while Madsen does well in what is a cheap gig. The cast of women are interesting, but the filmmakers coulda done better as far as feminine appeal goes.

The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes and was shot in Krabi, Thailand.

GRADE: B-/C+

CROC may be no LAKE PLACID, but it isn't completely terrible. A very large croc is on the loose, and a bunch of folks, including Michael Madsen in a goofy white hunter's hat, are after it. The young cast playing with Madsen is mostly appealing, and the action rarely lets up. The CGI is minimal, and it would appear a lot of the croc shots are of real crocs. The ending is a bit of a problem, as you will see when and if you watch it. It would appear they ran out of film a little too soon. Or maybe they ran out ideas. Shot in picturesque Thailand and directed by Stewart Raffil of MAC AND ME and ICE PIRATES fame. Or is that infamy?

I just finished watching this on Epix. It just happened to come on and I thought, "What the hell." So I left it play. The next thing I knew, I was all interested in the movie. The croc was well used. I was happy to see plenty of shots of real crocs. I liked many of the characters and loathed the greedy assholes. The kind of jerks that you're hoping so much that they get eaten. There were a few side story lines going on too. This is actually a pretty decent movie. I got sucked right in and couldn't stop watching it. I was interested in what was going to happen. The cast performed well and it didn't have many slow spots. I think it's worth a watch for those who like these kinds of movies. I'll watch all kinds of crazy stuff. This is a pretty good movie,

Stuck with a series of professional crises, the owner of a croc farm and a group of locals team with a croc hunter to stop the rampaging crocodile leaving a trail of blood across Thailand.

This was overall a pretty decent killer croc film with some really good points about it. One of its better elements is the rather impressive amount of attacks throughout here which has a large pull on the whole film. There's a wide variety of attacks here, from the brief ones like the attack on the fishermen in the lagoon or the chomping on the dock to get at the dog which are built-off surprise ambushes and shocks, while the more prolonged sequences throughout here from the family's encounter in the bay or their hunting party's first encounter out along the off-shore reefs that really showcase a lot of action within this. Both of these situations give this one some great points here by really making for a frantic pace that keeps the film at a brisk, enjoyable pace by managing enough attacks and encounters to keep this one quite exciting. That all of these attacks also brings in some really worthwhile blood and gore from the chomped-on bodies and severed limbs makes for some really good times here which makes this hold up somewhat against the few problems here. The biggest issues here is the fact that there's way too many subplots and alternate story lines that just drag out the film in the first half. The different issues between the gang-boss and the animal zoo isn't the slightest bit interesting, almost as much as his difficulty with the personnel in his own gang and really drag the first half out with these pointless rivalries and internal squabbling. Otherwise, this one really has a bit of schizophrenia about its titular creature which is quite distracting how this deals with the beast. While it's commendable to use real-life crocs here, there's a series of shots which not only fail to get the species right but also manages to flip between different ages as well. This one is played for both alligators and crocodiles of vastly different species, and on top of that the monstrous beast is played by full-size adults and babies which is quite distracting against the CGI and animatronic crocodile props for a wholly unsatisfying creature. These issues hold this one down.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.