NoShame Films have just released The Big Alligator River, a 1979 Sergio Martino “animal revenge” film, on a beautiful digitally remastered DVD. While Alligator River can best be described as “Jaws in the jungle” (with, obviously, an alligator in the shark’s place), it is nowhere near Spielberg’s Great White classic in terms of production value—this is a straight-up low-budget giant gator movie, but fear not, for this is a damn good one.
Alligator River utilizes the same basic plot that is used in many of the “animal revenge” films (specifically, yep, you guessed it—Jaws), in that it centers around a tourist attraction in which a gigantic beast lurks but is ignored because the corrupt owner wants to rake in the dough rather than scare cash-giving people away. In Alligator River, the tourist attraction is a place called Paradise House, which is being built over an innocent, tribe and wildlife-riddled jungle. Paradise House promotional photographer Daniel Nessel (played by Claudio Cassinelli) tries to warn the token corrupt owner Joshua (played by Mel Ferrer) that something huge, dangerous, and hungry for humanity is lurking in the river of the semi-demolished jungle. The creature beneath the water is ignored by Daniel until everything eventually blows up in his face and the shunned alligator breaks into the spotlight by doin’ what he does best: chomp on people like they’re pieces of Wrigley’s Spearmint.
Alligator River’s acting is just about exactly what you’d expect from a 70s Italian jungle horror film: not the greatest performances you’ve ever seen in your life, but on the other hand, they’re watchable to the point that they’re not of the Appliance Direct commercial quality.
One standout factor of the film is the music. Primal tribal rhythms accompany those great 70s horror keyboards (think Dario Argento film soundtrack composers Goblin) to create the perfect b-movie jungle feel.
Then there’s the gator itself. Director Sergio Martino uses many quick cuts when showing the creature, which usually looks fine and nearly believable, but then there are scenes in which Martino just shows the creature full-on for enough time to realize that it looks like a toy I could pick up at the dollar store. The gator’s tail is really the only mobile feature on its entire body—its limbs awkwardly stay flat and stiff, as if the creature was standing on land (and for the record, the creature is in the water for the entire course of the film). Still, this cheesiness adds to the great b-movie tone of the film, and personally, I’d pick a fake model of a seemingly paralyzed gator over a CGI one any day.
NoShame Films have really beautifully restored The Big Alligator River (granted, I’ve never seen the original print of the film, but the DVD picture is crystal clear), and the extra features that were added onto the DVD, while not explosively spectacular, still contribute to the greatness of this DVD package as a whole. There’s a special feature entitled In the Croc’s Nest, which is a collection of interviews with Sergio Martino and production designer Antonello Geleng, the film’s original Italian and English trailers, and a poster gallery. There’s even an 8-page booklet included with the DVD that features an essay on “animal revenge” movies, a ton of additional info on the film itself, and bios on some of the cast and crew of the film.
If you’re looking for an entertaining and bizarre low-budget creature vs. man movie, this is, as they say, the shit.
-Spooky Steve
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
