PopHorror Let's Get Scared
In an industry that has given us such intellectually challenging fare such as: Sharknado, Mega Piranha, and, of course, Velocipastor, is it any wonder that, sooner or later, someone would take the piss and release something like Bad CGI Gator? Fortunately, for fans of cheese, Charles Band’s Full Moon Features exists.
Synopsis
“Six college grads get a cabin in the swampland’s of Georgia. They decide to throw their school laptops in a backyard lake in an act of youthful defiance, which unknowingly turns an alligator into a dreaded and insatiable CGI creature.”
Check out the trailer!
Six newly minted college grads journey to a secluded vacation home in the Georgia swamps for an Instagram friendly Spring Break. Unfortunately, a viral video stunt, involving throwing their school laptops into a small lake, goes awry when they short out and inexplicably transform a cute little gator into the titular monster. The “Full Moon Formula” of taking a virtually unknown, but capable cast, throwing them into an absolutely bonkers situtation, and adding an equally bonkers creature is on full display here. Stir in a measure of boobs and blood, and viola!
Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
Embracing the suck, so to speak, director Danny Draven (Patient Seven) and writer (and Charles’ son) Zalman Band turn in a quick, fun little flick for the short attention span generation, that, despite it’s vapid, social media obsessed characters, manages to generate quite a few laughs and a surprisingly amount of gore (both CGI and practical).
Is it formulaic? Sure. You have all the horror film stereotypes: the cautious Sam (Michael Bonini; Snack Shack), the “hot girl” Sarah (Rebecca Stoughton; Cut Off), the meathead jock Chad (Ben Vandermay; Baby Driver), the sweet girl Hope (Maddie Lane; Monster Mash) and of course, the dim witted, horney couple Pearce (Cooper Drippe; Breed of Greed) and Paisley (Sarah Buchanan; Love Kills).
With a house and lake setting eerily similar to the one in There’s Nothing Out There, Bad CGI Gator delivers the goofy goods with an ever increasing in size gator floating on thin air, doing physically impossible manuvers, and even politely knocking on the door. The protagonists are in on the joke too, as they marginally break the “4th wall” by referencing the shitty effects. Clocking in at just under an hour, Bad CGI Gator gets cooking at about the 15 minute mark (after introducing/developing the characters that you can’t wait to see die) and really entertains in a very self aware, intentionally stupid way. Just the right running time, and perfect for a watch party brah!
The Full Moon Features Blu-ray features standard packaging, but actually has more extras than you might expect. Commentary with Draven and Band, a blooper reel, podcast interviews, an isolated music score, and a cast table read video along with the requisite trailer. The transfer looks as sharp and crisp as you’d expect for a recent shot on digital feature, and the audio is even and well mixed.
A fun, crazy, gory little flick, that never takes itself too seriously, even with a bit of latent social commentary on empty headed influencer culture, Bad CGI Gator delivers exactly what the title promises, with a tongue firmly planted in a scaly cheek. Sometimes bad is good…
Full Moon Features’ Blu-ray release of Bad CGI Gator is available now from fine retailers, and streaming on Full Moon’s Tubi channel.
