Alligator
(1980/Lionsgate)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: C Film: C
One of
the more amusing and silly, yet notable Jaws wannabes is Lewis Teague’s Alligator, a 1980 B-movie that has its
moments if not being that good on its own.
The Kendal Family is the happy family who makes the semi-innocent
mistake of flushing a pet baby alligator down the toilet. It does not ruin their plumbing, but it lands
up near a laboratory where it grows to an immense size and goes on a
rampage. It makes for an early argument
against animal abuse.
Robert
Forster, Jack Carter, Sue Lyon and Dean Jagger are among the more known members
of the cast in a monster film that has aged in interesting ways, including that
the latex work is always welcome over current digital work. The John Sayles/Frank Ray Perilli screenplay
is not bad, though far from the subtle personal films Sayles would write and
direct later. For its reputation and the
names involved, it is worth a look.
Unfortunately,
the anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is a bit softer than you might want,
though it looks like the same print the Anchor Bay PAL import edition
used. That one is Region 2 and did not
look much better, but had some advantages over this. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is surprisingly poor,
with the Dolby 2.0 Mono version being a bi8t more natural, though neither can
match the nice DTS 5.1 upgrade on that Anchor Bay import. The combination is disappointing. Extras include feature length audio
commentary by Teague & Forester and a new Sayles interview.
- Nicholas Sheffo
