Review: Alligator II: The Mutation (1991)

This is such a strange sequel. The main character is also named David like our hero in the first one but different actor, they add a last name, give him a wife and son, etc. He's clearly not the same guy. Both are cops though but this film has no references at all to the events in the original movie. If he was the same fella, he'd remember he was attacked by a giant alligator before, right? I don't think that's something you forget. So it's basically a crappy remake. Ok crappy is a little harsh but it's nowhere near as good as the first film. I was really surprised Alligator was so good. That gave me (admittedly foolish) high hopes for this follow up. I wonder why they chose to ignore the first picture. I do like Steve Railsback (Lifeforce!) and of course Dee Wallace but the charm and intellect is gone. Yes, I thought the original was smart for a giant alligator flick. I was hoping with the sequel's subtitle, they'd make the creature into more of a monster but no dice. I like the alligator rampaging through the carnival, and *spoilers* *spoilers* *don't read past this* the death of Railsback's big baddie Vinnie. That was a fitting demise. *end spoilers* But pretty much everything in this was done better in the first film, and it's pretty dang odd for a sequel to not reference the original in any shape or form at all especially when the first Alligator was actually really good. Robert Forster is sadly missed.

Alligator (1980) is so much better than you'd expect from a Jaws ripoff.

For one, it has all practical FX. They even mix in some real footage of alligators. Yes, this wasn't a big deal back then, but since we've now all been eye-raped by the awful CG alligators in Eraser, this is important to point out. I think Robert Forster is also a big reason why this film works so well. He doesn't seem like an actor at all. Just an everyday guy you can easily root for, and he helps ground the film by giving such a believable performance. You get some excellent bad guys too that are easy to hate. Maybe it's a cheap trick, but having your antagonists heartlessly kill a ton of dogs is a definite way to make your audience despise them. Then you get Henry Silva. A name we should all know, but not enough people do. He was Steven Seagal's nemesis in Above the Law. Of course, he has been in a lot of other films too, but here he plays a hunter (aka Quint's role), and he does a fantastic job with it. Alligator is well directed too with a fast pace to keep you entertained. Even the pre-credit sequence, which has the obligatory flushing an alligator down the toilet scene (yep, it's silly, but that's the old urban myth), manages to be effective thanks to the opening of a real alligator attacking a guy at a Florida gator show. Good thing they didn't try to make this PG-13 either since all of the blood really sells the opening. Alligator bites are always pretty gruesome anyway so it's smart they use that to set up the threat. This movie even has something I'm so sick of in horror films: nobody believes the protagonist about the giant alligator, but they even make that painless and move past it quickly to advance the story. I'm really surprised just how good this film is. I always remember seeing the VHS cover at video stores and wanting to check it out. It's such a shame you don't get any good cover art these days. Anyway, I'm glad I finally saw this. If you're looking for a good '80s flick you might have missed (or don't remember), this is one worth revisiting.