Killer Crocodile 2

I'm a fan of movie composer Riz Ortolani, but his music for the Killer Crocodile movies is uninspired and unoriginal, Ortolani shamelessly ripping off John Williams' score for Jaws. Still, I guess it's fitting in a way, because both Killer Croc films are far from groundbreaking, borrowing heavily from earlier examples of the 'killer animal' genre, including - of course - Spielberg's '75 classic.

Italian special effects man Giannetto De Rossi dusts off his humongous reptile model from the original film (although I'm not sure if the word 'original' is really applicable) and also takes over the directorial reins (from Fabrizio De Angelis), but he is unable to bring anything new to the table, his sequel treading the same murky water as the first film, taking place in the same location - a Caribbean swamp - and featuring two of the same characters, croc expert Joe (Ennio Girolami) and (ex) environmentalist Kevin (Richard Anthony Crenna).

Kevin is sent to the swamp to help feisty New York reporter Liza (Debra Karr) on her assignment to investigate unscrupulous property developer Mr. Baxter, who plans to open a swanky holiday resort despite having dumped barrels of radioactive material in the area. As it happens, nuclear waste is the least of their problems: there's another massive killer crocodile in the water, chomping on anyone who ventures into his stomping ground (including a couple of nuns and a load of school children!).

Although it's far from a great film, if you enjoyed the first one, then there's a good chance you'll have fun with this sequel as well, De Rossi delivering lots of trashy croc action and a smidgen of gore, with more than a little silliness and even some gratuitous nudity (which was sorely lacking from De Angelis' film). The giant crocodile itself is a passable creation, but still shonky enough to provide a few giggles; however, the funniest moment comes at the end of the film, when the special effects 'genius' swaps his oversized toothy horror for a miniature, complete with 'action man figure' clinging to its back. It's so bad it's impossible not to love.

4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

"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.

"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)

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.

KILLER CROCODILE 2 picks up right where part one ended, which isn't surprising since the sequel was made immediately after the first one was finished. It opens with another hopeless imbecile being consumed by the rubber behemoth. It then switches to the nefarious activities of the polluters from part one, and their love of toxic waste.

Enter tough-as-nails, ace reporter, Liza Post (Debra Karr). She's dispatched to the very area where the croc troubles were / are, in order to track down clues on the polluting criminals.

Meanwhile, the monster lizard is busy eating students from a religious school, along with a nun!

As all sequels seem to do, this one attempts to be bigger and more exciting than its predecessor. In this, it somewhat succeeds by having even more idiot human snacks for the monster to chew on, though it might get indigestion from some of them. They're pretty nasty people! Also, we're shown far more of the creature, leading to several laugh-out-loud moments of pure schlock perfection!

Do Not Miss The Explosive, Utterly Absurd Finale!

Watch for Richard Anthony Crenna who returns as Kevin, as well as Ennio Girolami, reprising his role as Joe the crocodile hunter.

Gather your friends and prepare the intoxicants! This is one for the ages!...