Stay out of the Sewers: ‘ALLIGATOR’ (1980) Revisited – Retro Review

I remember watching TV one night when I was a kid and they showed the trailer for Alligator since it was going to be premiering on network television a few days later. Since I was obsessed with JAWS – and any movie that featured killer aquatic animals – I nearly peed myself with excitement when I heard about this film. I watched it for the first time that weekend with my mom and sister and at the time thought it was the greatest movie ever. I went to school the following week and told everyone how awesome it was and couldn’t wait to see it again as soon as possible.

I’ve watched it several times since then and just revisited it the other night since it had been about twenty years since I last saw it. So, was it as great as I once thought it was, or was it one of those movies that ruled when you were a kid but not so great when you check it out as an adult?

Keep reading to find out…

Synopsis

A baby alligator that was flushed down the toilet years ago grows to massive proportions and starts snacking on anyone it encounters. Can a rugged police detective and the original owner of the alligator stop its reign of terror, or are they destined to end up on the menus along with everyone else?

While it may not be as amazing as I thought it was when I was a kid, I still think that Alligator is a fun little killer animal flick that holds up quite nicely after all this time. It has some likeable characters, some great death scenes, and the title character looks awesome and is quite scary. I know that some people dismissed it as just another rip-off of JAWS, but I think it is more than that and it is an extremely enjoyable movie if you just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Directed by Lewis Teague (Cujo, The Jewel of the Nile) and written by John Sayles (The Howling, Piranha) and Frank Ray Perilli (Dracula’s Dog, Laserblast), Alligator is the perfect film if you are in the mood for some good old school killer animal on the loose action. The plot is simple, but it works, as we have a giant alligator going around eating everyone in sight as the police try to figure out how to stop him. It’s just a fun movie in general that boasts an impressive body count, so if you are into films of this nature, you won’t be disappointed.

The cast also does an excellent job of bringing their respective characters to life. Robert Forster (Satan’s Princess, Jackie Brown) is great as the main character David – a cop who has horrible luck when it comes to keeping his police partners alive – and is just your average everyman that you can’t help but like. Robin Riker (Without Her Consent, Stepmonster) is equally awesome as his love interest Marisa (who the alligator belonged to back in the day before her dad flushed it down the toilet) and the two have great chemistry together to the point that you believe that they are an actual couple. The rest of the cast does an exceptional job as well, especially Bart Braverman (The Gladiator, First Strike) who plays an annoying, sleazy journalist that you love to hate that is a constant pain in David’s neck.

Did I mention that this movie has a ton of fun death scenes? We get to see a lot of people get eaten as the movie progresses, and in my opinion the best death scene involves a little boy being forced to walk the plank into a swimming pool during a party unaware that the alligator is waiting for him (seriously, this scene is hilarious and I always have to watch it several times each time I watch the movie). There’s also a great scene that takes place at a wedding that results in many bloody deaths and a cool scene where the alligator uses his tail to beat the living crap out of a limo with a person inside. There’s no shortage of cool death scenes in this movie, and that is one of the main reasons that I have always dug it as much as I do.

As you can see, I am mighty fond of Alligator. It’s not only an awesome horror film, but it also includes some dark humor that works (such as a sewer worker named Ed Norton and some of the graffiti on the walls in the sewers). The people behind it didn’t take it too seriously, and you will love it if you don’t either. It spawned a pretty lousy sequel years later that is mostly forgettable, and I am a little surprised to no one has tried to remake it (which is something that I hope never happens). If you are looking for a fun little animal amok movie that has a great cast, an awesome looking title creature and some black comedy that is actually funny then you can’t go wrong with this movie.