Croc

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,

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+

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.

Is Michael Madsen perpetually drunk or he is he simply method-acting? I am not sure. In "Croc," he is a big game hunter come to rid a Thai village of a man-eating crocodile that happens to be a throwback to prehistoric times. Sometimes the croc is footage of real crocodile and sometimes it is CGI and sometimes it is a dummy. It eats a lot of people, that's for sure. This has nothing on LAKE PLACID, but Madsen is funny in his dopey/sleepy way. And the Thai women are all hotties. Stewart Rafill has made better pictures, but a trip to Thailand was probably hard to turn down. Imagine the partying that took place after the cameras were turned off.