Alligator (1980) Group 1/Horror-Comedy RT: 90 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence) Director: Lewis Teague Screenplay: John Sayles and Frank Ray Perilli Music: Craig Hundley Cinematography: Joseph Mangine Release date: November 14, 1980 (US) Cast: Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael Gazzo, Dean Jagger, Sydney Lassick, Jack Carter, Perry Lang, Henry Silva, Bart Braverman, Angel Tompkins. Box Office: $6.4M (US)
Rating: ***
The cool thing about the creature feature Alligator is that the makers know they’re doing a Jaws knock-off and run with it in their story of a 36-foot alligator lurking in the sewers of Chicago. One of the writers is John Sayles who also wrote the screenplay for Joe Dante’s take on Jaws, 1978’s Piranha. Although there’s plenty of chomping, Sayles and co-writer Frank Ray Perilli (Dracula’s Dog) find plenty of room for humor.
It all starts with a young girl buying a baby alligator while vacationing with her family in Florida. Not long after their return to sweet home Chicago, Dad flushes the reptile down the toilet. It ends up in the city’s sewer system where it feeds on the discarded corpses of test dogs from a pharmaceutical company experimenting with a growth formula. Expectedly, the little gator grows to a gargantuan size. When his food supply runs out, he starts attacking sewer workers and anybody dumb enough to go down there in the first place.
Cut to present-day 1980 where burnt-out Chicago cop David Madison (Forster, Jackie Brown) is assigned to investigate why body parts are being found in the sewers. Because of an incident in St. Louis, he has a reputation for shortening the life expectancy of his partners. This is confirmed when his latest partner, rookie cop Kelly (Lang, Spring Break), gets eaten by the titular reptile. Although he witnesses it with his own eyes, nobody else believes him. That is, not until a pesky tabloid reporter (Braverman, Vega$) manages to snap a few pictures while the alligator is killing him. Now that his CO (Gazzo, The Godfather Part II) is convinced, he brings in reptile expert Marisa Kendall (Riker, TV’s Brothers) to help. In case you haven’t already guessed, she’s the gator’s former owner all grown up. And yes, she and David become lovers. You know they will by the prickly way they treat each other at the onset.
A local tycoon, Slade (Jagger, Game of Death), would prefer to keep the situation under wraps for personal reasons. That becomes impossible when the creature crashes through a sidewalk and goes on a rampage throughout the city. He calls in pompous big game hunter Col. Brock (Silva, Sharky’s Machine) to quietly deal with the situation. Seriously, does that EVER work? Naturally, it comes down to David and Marisa trying to stop the creature.
In other hands, Alligator would be another lame rip-off of Jaws, but director Lewis Teague (Cujo) makes it work by taking a non-serious approach to the material. The writers throw in some clever in-jokes like the sewer worker named Edward Norton. If you know your TV history, you know exactly why this is funny. There’s a great deal of fun to be had with this schlocky, campy fright flick. Sure, it’s predictable as all get out. We know what uninvited guest will crash an outdoor wedding attended by Slade, the mayor (comedian Carter) and other important types. We also know the fate of the hunter before he does. It’s written in the stars of filmdom. That’s why it’s so fun.
In addition to all else, Alligator is bloody. Gators aren’t the neatest eaters in the world; they make an awful mess with their “food”. The thing is many of the people that get eaten deserve it. The alligator itself is obviously fake, but who cares? Be real, Bruce the shark doesn’t look all that real either. Again, it’s part of the fun of a movie of this sort.
Even the cast looks like they’re having a blast. They’re clearly in on the joke. The late Forster was a great B-movie actor. He was also a great A-list actor after his Oscar nomination for 1997’s Jackie Brown. He’s terrific in Alligator. Gazzo is fun as the commanding officer. Lang does fine work in a too-small role. Silva has a real gift for playing evil, despicable characters; he puts it to good use here.
Personally, I love the idea of an alligator attacking a major city. I’d like to see an Anaconda sequel set in New York or L.A. What’s cool about Alligator is how it pays homage to the creature features that preceded it. It’s a fun, low-budget piece that never pretends it’s anything more than it is while making sure it keeps its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.
