Review of Alligator (1980) by Martin R — 19 Aug 2015

[8/20/15]: I remember watching this movie with my brother whenever it was on TV, which hasn't happened recently now that I think about it. "Alligator" is an underrated classic even though it basically steals elements from "Jaws.

" The main character is reminiscent of Martin Brody, who-like Brody-is also a cop; the music at times often goes for a 'thump-thump' sound, again, similar to the motif for the shark in "Jaws;" hell, there's even a scene where the police try to lure the alligator out of a lake by releasing dynamite from their boats.

But, what "Alligator" loses in originality, it makes up for in its special effects and its creative sense of fun (intentional or not). The reptile itself looks damn good for a movie that was made with less than two million dollars.

The close ups will make you think that they used a real alligator for some of the scenes, but, the most impressive shot is the one where you see the full alligator devour a guy and I have absolutely NO idea how they filmed that.

Granted, the alligator does not always look THAT impressive but for the most part, it holds up. When the movie ended, I thought: "they should remake this," then I paused, shook my head, and said to myself: "they'd just CGI the fuck out of this and make it PG-13.

No thanks!" But the best part about this movie are the scenes (and there's quite a few of them) that take place in the sewers; I'm not sure why I like them so much, maybe it has to do with my weird fascination with running water [creeks, waterfalls, rivers, etc].

Plus, the sewer scenes provide a great deal of suspense that actually function, I mean, if "Alligator" came out in 2015 it would be all cheap jump scares with a barely visible alligator. The DVD is currently expensive [possibly out of print] so if you want a copy (that's CHEAP) then you'll have to get the Korean version on eBay, which is what I did [it's English and the Korean subtitles can be turned off].

I would do anything-ANYthing-to get Lionsgate (or whoever owns the film) to re-release it on blu-ray or, fuck it, even DVD!!! Someone get a petition started, "Alligator" is among the best of the monster creature flicks.