KILLER CROCODILE Review On "Violent Maniac's Cage"

KILLER CROCODILE

ALSO KNOWN AS: Murder Alligator.

(1989, Italy)

DIRECTED BY: Fabrizio De Angelis.

STARRING: Anthony Crenna, Julian Hampton, Van Johnson, Thomas Moore, Vohrman Williams.

Fabrizio De Angelis's take on Jaws except the shark is replaced by a giant crocodile and the ocean is a New Orleans swamp. The setting and plot of Killer Croc is somewhat familiar to Anaconda (this was made before it by the way) with emphasis on great gore effects courtesy of the main man Gianetto De Rossi (if you've never heard of him FUCK OFF) Rossi also designed the cool looking croc which succeeds in killing off most of the cast.

A group of ecologists are combing the swamp for water samples as part of an experiment in testing the quality of the water or some bullshit like that. When they lose one of their crew and discover the body afterwards chewed to bloody bits they suspect a crocodile is responsible. The crew also discover from their water samples and the bite marks on their dead crew member the swamp is polluted with toxic waste which may have mutated the crocodile thanks to a phoney reporter and the town mayor. A croc hunter is hired to kill it but the ecologists want to study it. All the while the crocodile is eating up folks left, right and center. The climax is far better than Jaws thanks to an outboard motor and a good throwing arm.

This was a very competent production and a fun monster movie. The intro was campy much like an old fashioned monster flick such as The Creature From The Blue Lagoon with two old fogies out in a fishing boat. It could have benefitted from being shorter and the unintentional funny scenes were also present such as a scene where the croc hunter is practically eaten and appears out of nowhere still alive laughing and waving his hand, I believe I laughed out loud during this scene. If your in the mood for a gory monster movie you can't go wrong with Killer Crocodile.

Rating: 2 ½ Skulls

Review by: Richard J. Taylor

Email: rtaylor@roadrunner.nf.net

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