Review of Alligator (1980) by Tim S — 02 Jan 2012

When it comes to these creature features, they're pretty much a dime a dozen. I found Alligator to be quite special for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was made by competent filmmakers who put their own spin on things without losing sight of the main narrative.

Second, Robert Forster, Perry Lang and Henry Silva are in it. The lovely Robin Riker is also in it, and one must experience Michael Vincente Gazzo's performance which is amazingly bad! Third, not only does it reference The Third Man in a very nice way, it's also been referenced and lifted from for everything from movies to video games.

There are supposed to be some extended and deleted scenes from a TV version of the movie out there that I would like to have seen included on the side of the disc I watched, but the movie itself is quite entertaining.

It's constantly giving us new information without becoming boring, and I like that a lot. It's also nice to see a leading guy who's not all that great. Not that Robert Forster isn't great, but the way he portrays his character makes him seem like a douche bag.

It's great that he isn't the usual heroic type, yet still manages to come through in the end.