This re-release of cult classic Alligator finds it in as joyous as ever; a fun, knowing creature feature wrapped in a lovingly extensive package of remasters and extras from the ever-reliable 101 Films.
We’re in LA, there’s a spate of missing sewage workers, and surly leather jacket-type cop David Maddison (the magnificent Robert Forster, continuing to be the Zelig of underrated American cinema) is tasked with finding out what is the cause of it. Shock-horror, it’s only a genetically mutated alligator.
Maddison, alongside herpetologist Marissa Kendall (a superb Robin Riker, who, in the magnificent series of interviews that accompany the film, says she’s just playing Richard Dreyfuss) must battle through a slog of disbelieving superiors, meddling reporters and the efforts of the sinister bio-research lab that cause the whole mess in order to bring a stop to it.On paper it reads like one of many Jaws rip-offs that were circling at the time, one bolstered by the fact that, objectively, alligators are scarier than sharks. Alligators look like pure prehistoric cruelty survived unchanged through sheer, precise violence; while sharks look like big rubbery duffers. However, a key part of its joy is that it swerves this; instead it feels far closer to a Frankenstein amalgamation of Godzilla and a particularly good episode of Kojak, complete with a wonderful performance from Michael V Gazzo doing what he was born to do; do some ball-busting, be beleaguered and make requests that result in the protagonist exclaiming, “But Chief!”.
It’s rare to find a film in which every corner of the movie just throbs with people really enjoying themselves without it tumbling into self-satisfaction, but Alligator maintains its discipline with ruthless Roger Corman-esque control. The script, by future definer of a generation of American independent film John Sayles, maintains a streak of absolute silliness alongside its taut, uncluttered story.The actors then bring everything to their parts, Forster and Riker have a great spiky chemistry and there’s a magnificently slimy performance from the late great Sydney Lassick, turning what could be a purely functional part into something tart and memorable. Director Lewis Teague, better known for a couple of later Steven King adaptations Cat’s Eyes and Cujo (terrific fun and dull respectively), should be praised for his giving real space to the actors, as well as injecting the gator attacks with an energy that belies their repetitiveness.
The sequel, on the other hand, is another matter. Teague approved the film under the condition that Forster still starred in a Sayles script, which the studio simply ignored every word other than yes, and made a limp retread of the original whilst watering down every eccentricity that made it so magnificent. Alligator II: The Mutation is barely worth commenting on, and I only do so because it is included in this release; but it cannot cheapen the magnificent original, a film that still stands as spectacular good fun.-Joe Creely-
