Les Marais de la haine

OK, here's the deal, I got sick to death of reading lame reviews of exploitation and Eurotrash films from people who simply don't get it. These films are NOT meant to be compared to the sanitized crap Hollywood sells us.

'Gator Bait is a cult classic for a number of reasons, first of all, Claudia Jenning is hot, secondly, the Sebastians make quality low-budget dark sleaze. Most importantly, though there is little sex and violence in the film (as compared to many exploitation films) this film does not hold back. It rolls along at a good pace and is full of unlikable characters with secrets that are slowly revealed as the film plays out.

The plot is fairly simple, Desiree (Claudia Jennings) is out to avenge the death of her sister... who was killed at the hands of an angry family who were led to believe that she killed a member of their family while all along it was the son of the Sheriff who had committed the crime. It's pretty much a cat and mouse story, with gorgeous and barefoot Claudia Jennings (the cat) hunting down and systematically killing the men (the mice) responsible. In many ways (as was the case with many exploitation films) the film has a strangely feminist theme to it. It turns out that Desiree is the most clever, likable, and capable character in the film. That is the frequently missed point of many exploitation films... the women (the victims of some pretty dumb and unpleasant men) are the most sympathetic and frequently brightest and strongest characters. The whole film has a deep and dark sexual undertone to it, and like most exploitation, it is not for the squeamish or the Hollywood-fed public. This is a film for people who are willing to look into darker corners.

It is well acted, beautifully-shot, with a really cool Cajun theme song ("Jole Blon" rewritten), and plenty of action and outright weirdness.

My friend and I rented this film one evening, along with its sequel (which was released 12 years later) in order to have a "bad movie night" of sorts. Well, we were not disappointed. "Gator Bait" is a very bad film, although most of the time it is literally quite harmless. Although Claudia Jennings was included in the cast as the swamp girl presumably because she had been a nude model, there is very little skin to speak of in this film. At times, of course, the filmmakers cross the lines of bad taste and include scenes of strong implied violence that can make you squirm. The only reason it seems out of place here, however, is because most of the film does not follow this violent tone. It is basically the story of a bunch of rednecks who attempt to destroy the swamp girl and her family, who are freeloading in the swamps. It's that basic white-trash dilemma: get offa my property. Luckily, swamp girl (a.k.a. Desiree) and her brother Big T. rise to the challenge. The film was laughable in most parts, and usually quite boring, but it did have one thing going for it: where some "bad" movies are just too horrible to even make fun of, this one lended itself perfectly to the "bad but fun" movie mentality, and my friend and I even named his truck Big T. after one of the characters. The soundtrack consists of warbling banjo music and a hilarious song about Desiree, and just adds to the fun. A good example of a movie that deserves commentary by you and your friends.

The answer to that riddle would be at least more than five, as the male lead characters are clearly too retarded to accomplish anything... Ah, 70's exploitation of the trashiest kind; you hate to love it and 'Gator Bait is unquestionably one of the most rancid, gratuitous and shameless examples available on film. The basic concept of this movie shows a lot of potential and ingenuity, yet the makers didn't seem to care the least bit about that and exclusively contemplated about ways to make the movie even more sleazy and exploitative. Obviously inspired by the success of "Deliverance", judging by the outback setting, the character drawings and the massive overload of banjo-music, 'Gator Bait is a simplistic story about murder & retribution starring the luscious former Playmate-of-the-year Claudia Jennings as a poaching wildcat versus a sleazy bunch of Cajun rednecks. When the cowardly son of Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas frames Desiree for a murder he accidentally committed, a quintet of sniveling weirdies goes into the swamp to arrest her. But when the sexually frustrated hicks then also barbarically kill her younger sister, Desiree prepares from some old-fashioned Cajun justice. The directors' duo Beverly and Ferd Sebastian clearly enjoyed filming Claudia Jennings whilst she bend over in her boat during her poaching activities, but they totally neglected the swamp's potential as a moody setting full of death traps and dangerous animal threats. Despite the exhilarating title, I only saw two alligators and, moreover, not even in action! Desiree's killing spree is monotonous, uninspired and even quite boring and – naturally – every move of her opponents is incredibly predictable. They're typical hillbillies, with names like Billy Boy and Leroy, with incestuous tendencies and trigger-happy gunshot fingers. 'Gator Bait is irredeemably bad, but at the same time charming and a must for feminists. Yeeeeeeeeee Haaaw!

The cover of ‘Gator Bait makes it look like a ridiculous, mindless film with few redeeming qualities other than an abundance of inexplicable nudity. While there is nudity in the film (and unnecessary nudity, at that), it is a relatively low quantity of it, and there are even a few elements of the film that were well done – even if extremely few.

The acting on all parts was just awful, but some performances were less idiotic than others. While it's true that the line `Boys will be boys' was uttered in response to an attempted rape, and one of the men attempting to capture Desiree actually SHOOK HIS FIST at her in one scene, it's not entirely the actors' faults that this movie was impossible to take seriously. Nope, even if ineffectively, all of the actors delivered honest performances – it's the SCREENWRITER that should be drug out into the street and shot. And the cinematographer was no genius either. The day-for-night photography was some of the worst I've ever seen – even worse than that seen in Dr. No, which was filmed 14 years earlier than ‘Gator Bait. Also, there is so much ridiculous dialogue in this movie that it becomes a form of comic relief in itself (`Leroy, you pick that boy up or I'm gonna blow yer head off!'). And I better not even get started on Desiree's laughable lines.

It's no secret that ‘Gator Bait is cheese. Everything about the film is ugly – especially those damn actors. Some of these guys are so ugly that sometimes it's hard to believe that they're real people. But despite this, they make for an effective team of angry (and excessively horny) rednecks, and the way that they get picked off one by one by this country girl not only provides an ironic bit of an interesting story, but also illustrates the extent of their collective stupidity. In the final shot of the film, with Pa standing in the swamp, the camera tilts slowly down to his reflection on the water, providing an unexpected hint toward meaningful direction.

But for the most part, this is garbage. You just can't take something like this seriously at all. Let me put it in the immortal words of the great Sam Gerard, `Who's the ugliest, dumbest, most inbred country son of a bitch out here?' Well, whoever that person is, he or she is sure to get a kick out of ‘Gator Bait.

Seems a lot of viewers really don't get movies like GATOR BAIT. It ain't great but it does deliver some back woods fun, with a low budget charm and terrific swamp locations. I'd say the acting is pretty good, especially the redneck family. The film's biggest failing is having Claudia Jennings the star and then mess her all up and never get her clothes off! The nudity comes courtesy of Janit Baldwin and she never looked better than she does here, although her outfits and hair style are completely out of place in the swamps. Also some comments mention rape, well, there is an attempted rape that never gets started before it is halted. This does result in a very unpleasant sequence, but no one gets shot in the stomach ( it's nastier than that ). While the movie has it's flaws ( the screenplay, Jenning's Cajun accent ) it is solid drive in style fun with an authentic, mud strewn setting and crazy, inbred southern rednecks fighting for their lives against an enraged, revenge seeking woman.