Alligator X

Bayou babe is attacked by a prehistoric alligator and kidnapped by possibly inbred yokels. The script is a slight notch above the usual swamp monster thriller, and there is at least one impressive kill scene. The CGI sticks out like a sore thumb, of course, but I have seen worse.

Saw it with the screen title, "Alligator X."

Alligator X (2010)

** (out of 4)

Creature feature has a couple rednecks in a deep swamp creating a large gator that has been extinct for as far back as anyone can remember. Somehow this creature is now stalking the swamp eating anyone that gets in its path but thankfully there's some nice people willing to try and destroy it. ALLIGATOR X, which is also known as XTINCTION: PREDATOR X, is a pretty average movie from start to finish and I guess I would say that it's fairly well made but if you're advertising a creature feature it might be a good idea to actually spend some time with that creature. The biggest issue I had with this movie is that there simply wasn't enough time with the creature. The attacks rarely happened and when they did they were often filmed in a way where we don't see too much action. Again, I'm really not sure why they selected to try and tell more "story" than actually deliver on the goods that fans coming to these type of movies will expect. While on a technical level this film is much better than your typical film you'd see on SyFy, on the level of entertainment I'd say this isn't nearly as good simply because there's not enough action going on. The majority of the running time has our leading lady searching for her father and then constantly running around the swamp trying to get away from the two rednecks and her ex-husband who just happens to be the scientist trying to take this creature and make more of them. This silly melodrama about her father's property and the various other issues that come up really add nothing to the movie. The performances range from average to above average but none of them are going to knock you off your seats. In regards to violence and gore, the levels are pretty low as there simply aren't enough attacks to get excited about and when they do happen we don't get to see much. ALLIGATOR X is a real wasted opportunity and there's really no point in watching it unless you've got to see every film of its type.

Having read Science Fiction continuously since I was a child, I am drawn, like a moth to a flame, to anything that remotely resembles Science Fiction. Unfortunately, most Sci-Fi ain't it. And I love monsters. I don't mean zombies, or vampires, or werewolves, or mummies. I mean creepy alien life forms, mutations, and undiscovered animals. I've loved reading about dinosaurs since I was a child. Hence my attempt to watch this movie.

Most TV writers (or whoever is responsible for these screenplays) don't seem to understand that the average Science Fiction reader tends to be a bit more intelligent than average. And so when character Dr. Charles LeBlanc shows up early in the film to state that he no longer teaches because there is little "progressive" thought in academia because academia is all about "conservative" mediocrity, well… I'm outta there.

I don't consider myself either "conservative" or "progressive" but if that's the sort of dialogue the writers want me to believe, I don't appreciate the lame joke. Or is this supposed to be some sort of alternate universe? It reminds me of the movie "Smart People" where the main character may be the only "conservative" English/humanities/social sciences professor in existence. The idea that academia is full of professors who glorify "conservative" mediocrity, or even "conservative" ideas, is just too stupid to swallow.

When movie dialogue is that stupid, I go read a book so that drool does not drip down my chin.

"Xtinction: Predator X", "Jurassic Predator", "Alligator X", ... This flick has 3 juicy-sounding titles (and possibly even more) but none of them can conceal the fact it's a typically lousy and low-budgeted piece of trash from the Syfy stable! That's okay, though, because you at least know what to expect: a preposterous & incoherent nonsense-story, terribly CGI-effects, and a tremendous body count!

Set in the Southern Louisianan swamps, in the horribly aftermath-years of hurricane Katrina, the brilliant but totally deranged scientist Dr. LeBlanc found some bones of a deadly marine dinosaur species - more specifically the Pliosaurus - and promptly managed to clone and resurrect it! How? Who knows. Why? Who cares! The thing does need to be fed, and the local Sheriff quickly finds himself investigating 5-6 missing person cases. Luckily, for him, his former crush (and ex-wife of Dr. LeBlanc) also returned home, because her father is one of the missing people.

The IMDb rating of 3.0/10 (at the time I'm submitting this review, at least) is exactly right. Low enough to warn people with good taste not to bother, and high enough to indicate to B-movie trash fanatics there's some fun to have with it.

Oh trust me, there is far more worse stuff to watch out there but having said that, this movie is quite horrible.

This is one of those incredibly cheap monster movies, that got put together in a matter of weeks and had no large budget behind it. Or at least, it truly does look that way. It isn't isn't ever very creative with any of its ideas and it's a pretty predictable movie, from beginning till end.

It still had some good ideas in it, it seemed but the filmmakers obviously had no idea how to handle them. You could tell it's just another paycheck for all them and their heart isn't really into it at all. They decided to play things safely, do it fast and do it is cheap as possible, so maybe the studios would give them another job afterward. These persons are not in the business because they love to make movies, they are simply in it because it pays the bills.

And really, with some more creativity behind it, this movie could had at least become a somewhat watchable one, even if it was featuring exactly the same story. Now instead it obviously isn't a very recommendable one, not even if you are really into the monster movie genre. There besides isn't really any good gore or tension present in this movie, which makes it such an incredibly bland one to watch.

I honestly quite liked some of the characters and actors in this movie, which is already a real big thing for a movie of this sort but obviously they can't make the movie any more interesting or exciting.

Thing that remains the absolute worst thing about this movie are its special effects. My goodness, when you make a monster movie you would think that the filmmakers would realize that having a good- and convincing looking monster is the absolute, most crucial thing but the monster looks absolutely horrendous in this, due to some incredibly bad and cheap looking special effects.

It seriously had some good potential in its story but this all goes to waste, courtesy of some not so very talented and interested film-makers.

3/10

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