The Bayou

Truth be told, I am a sucker for killer animal movies, and thus I needed no persuasion to sit down and check out the 2025 movie "The Bayou".

Writers Ashley Holberry and Gavin Cosmo Mehrtens put together a script that, while it was generic, was actually entertaining enough. It was a simplistic and straightforward script, and the writers didn't exactly bring anything new to the genre. Regardless, "The Bayou" proved to be an entertaining alligator movie.

I was not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, but I found the acting performances to be good. I actually do enjoy watching unfamiliar talents on the screen whenever I sit down to watch a movie, so that spoke well in favor of "The Bayou".

The effects in the movie were good, which is a must for a movie with killer animals. There is nothing worse than sitting down and watching a movie where the animals look like they were discarded from a 1990s computer game because they looked to fake. Luckily that was not the case in "The Bayou".

If you enjoy killer animal movies, then directors Taneli Mustonen and Brad Watson does deliver an enjoyable movie with the 2025 movie "The Bayou".

My rating of "The Bayou" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Terrible acting, horrible casting, and a storyline that feels like it was recycled from countless other films-but with an extra layer of awfulness. The dialogue is forced, the characters are unconvincing, and the pacing is sluggish. Any attempt at suspense or emotion falls completely flat. Even the cinematography and editing seem rushed and uninspired. It's almost impressive how every element of this movie manages to miss the mark. I think 1 star is overrating it-this is a complete waste of time.

You will be surprised by the time you will waste watching this cheap movie. Can't believe I wasted my time.

It's a shame, really, because the acting, cinematography, and score are all fine for a Horror movie. But the script and the directing are terrible. The best actors on the planet couldn't make these character interactions make sense. They wouldn't be able to make the dialog work either.

There's nothing original in the script. It literally sounds like it was cobbled together by AI, from other movies.

I feel bad for the actors... they clearly were invested in doing their best.

Maybe it was made to be a tax write-off. I'm just rambling now because a certain number of characters (letters) is required.

I put this movie on last night not expecting much but it is so much better than I expected.

I thought it would be on par with a lot of Asylum films but this is way better.

The CGI is pretty good, the acting is also pretty good. Sure there's the expected a'hole characters and silly sacrifices but all in all it's a fun movie.

What's not to like? People and alligators in the bayou.

I don't know why other people have given it such rubbish reviews, glad I didn't read them before I watched it.

I went in expecting rubbish and was pleasantly surprised.

Why not give it a go.

If you like creature features, this is the movie for you.

After suffering through Skinamarink, one of the most boring horror films I have ever seen, I needed to cleanse my palate, so to speak. The Bayou fits the bill perfectly - it's a cheap and cheerful creature feature with absolutely no pretensions. It does exactly what it says on the tin and is actually better than I expected, with above average CGI for this kind of thing, a smattering of gore and reasonable performances.

Athena Strates plays Kyle, who flies to the everglades with her friends to scatter the ashes of her older brother Jamie (Flynn Barnard). Disaster strikes when the plane experiences engine trouble and ditches in the middle of a swamp, where the alligator population has turned super-aggressive due to the powerful narcotic that was dumped in the water during a raid on an illegal drug factory.

The film obviously won't win any awards for originality, but it's not trying to - it knows exactly what is required of it, moving swiftly along, delivering a few jump scares and a fair bit of suspense. And it doesn't scrimp on the gator action: there's numerous ravenous reptiles, both practical and computer generated, and they put quite a few similarly themed films to shame.

6/10. Worth a go if it's a brainless, no-nonsense bit of fun you're after.