Alligator: terror bajo la ciudad

Alligator is one of those films that people will either love or hate. I doubt it was supposed to be very 'A-grade' when it was released back in 1980. Now, well over thirty years old, I was hesitant to see how well it's stood up to the test of time.

I was pleased to say the answer is: pretty well.

If you can excuse the seventies haircuts (in an eighties movie!) then you'll find quite a tight little monster-munching movie. Lake Placid may have better effects, but Alligator still has its own special charm - think 'Jaws,' but with an alligator instead of a shark (oh, and in Chicago, rather than the sea, obviously).

Basically, what little plot there is revolves around a little girl having her per alligator flushed down the toilet when it was still young. Once in the sewers, over a period of twelve years, it mutates, getting much, much bigger and basically comes back for revenge. Yes, revenge. It seems to have a natural instinct as to whose fault it was, but, hey, just suspend your disbelief and enjoy it.

Alligator is played out on that fine line between 'tongue in cheek' and 'straight.' It has a foot in both camps and somehow it manages to pull both off.

If you're a fan of general animatronics monsters eating man, woman and child (yes, child - you wait and see!) then give Alligator a go. It's just a shame that with a solid movie like this, the alligator himself didn't move on to better things. He was certainly the star and I was hoping to find him in a nice indie flick or even a romantic comedy. Well... maybe.

I wasn't expecting much of a movie when I sat down to watch this one. I was very pleasantly surprised. With a script by John Sayles, committed performances by leads Robert Forster and Robin Riker, and a happy company of interesting performers, including Michael Gazzo, Dean Jagger, Henry Silva, Sue Lyon, and Mike Mazurki, it wasn't just a cheap JAWS rip-off about trying to stop an alligator flushed down the toilet eighteen years earlier, grown huge on medical wastes and dogs, but something of a screwball comedy, with dialogue at once witty and natural.

It also has an emotional journey. When we first meet police detective Forster, he's depressed because he had lost a partner in a shootout, and his hairline is receding. By the end, he has accomplished his goal, and if his hairline is going, Miss Riker content to be with him.

John Sayles seems to have used his fee from writing this to fund his directorial debut, THE RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN. That's a win-win, so far as I am concerned.

John Sayles brings as another memorable horror effort that mixes horror and comedy rather effectively. Giant alligator is flushed down the toilet as a baby and grows to giant size in the sewers of Chicago. Not finding much food down in the sewer, gator brings his act to the street and begins to make lunch meat of the city's population. Violent flick has a killer pace and never has a dull moment. Beware of the awful sequel though. Rated R.

What a classic. I will admit that the main reason I watch so many horror movies is mainly because I can make fun of them. I bought Alligator from a video store that was going out of business. I vaguely remembered the scene where the alligator crashes the birthday party from when I was a little kid. Anyway, I remembered enough to pick it up, so I was expecting another movie that I could sit there and trash, but once I saw John Sayles's name in the writing credits, I assumed that I would be in for something more. Instead of getting a movie that I could laugh at, I got one that laughs at itself for being a horror movie (about 16 years before that was cool). The script is super-sharp, with witty lines and the direction is tight. We also get a great, charismatic Robert Forster playing the role of the burn-out cop and Henry Silva makes a HILARIOUS cameo as a hunter. I don't know if his performance was intentionally bad or if he was just trying to be that bad, but either way, it worked. I loved his character and the funny noises that he makes. I'm sure it had to be intentional.

John Sayles has done some great horror scripts. Just check out Piranah and The Howling (the first one). He scores another knockout with Alligator and it put Lake Placid to shame. What that movie seemed to try so hard at (making a "parody" of sorts) Alligator pulls off with ease. The special-effects (of course they're dated by now) are actually really well-done for the time and, in many ways, a helluva lot more convincing than most of the CGI crap that we're force-fed today.

If you can find this movie, I highly reccommend it. No, it's not scary, but it is very entertaining and a good time all the way through.

This movie is the best damn giant alligator movie I've ever seen. They just don't make then like this anymore. Featuring very cool pre-CGI animatronic fx & a real live alligator. And any time a lil' kid gets eaten by the monster in a horror movie, you know that they're not messin' around.