Alligator is a great mashup of creature feature, neo-noir detective story, and conspiracy thriller. The Alligator could have been on screen more, especially early on. The story is a little jumbled. Despite that I was entertained because of that combination of different genres I outlined above. Jaws also had an investigation/hunting story involving a cop scientist, and later a hunter. This movie does too but the similarities end there. This is much more of a big city conspiracy thriller and anti-corporation. Jaws is more small-town murder mystery and political cover-up when the shark isn't there. This wouldn't work if people like Robert Forster, Robin Ryker, and Henry Silva weren't so captivating in their performances.
Synopsis: A herpetologist (Robin Riker) helps a detective (Robert Forster) track her flushed-away pet, now a king-size mutant called Ramone.
The movie opens with an appropriation of urban legends as a girl's pet alligator is flushed down the toilet. This is later believed to be the same titular alligator. When Robin Ryker's character, Marisa 12 years later says she had a pet alligator as a kid you're lead to believe she is the same little girl all grown up. After that opening the story quickly transitions into the initial part of an investigation as detective David Madison (Forster) is investigating body parts found in the sewer. The story quickly sets him up as a likable character by showing him go to the pet store to get food for his dog. This same pet store owner played by Sidney Lassick, ("I want my cigarettes, Nurse Ratched!") is rounding up stray dogs and giving them to Slade Pharmaceuticals. He later goes into the sewer to feed the alligator animal remains and is eaten by said alligator.
Meanwhile David is a bit of a pariah on the police force as he is held responsible for one of his partners deaths while working in St. Louis. He has a young cop named Kelly go with him into the sewer and investigate and Kelly is also killed. No one believes him about the alligator because of his history and the CEO of Slade (Dean Jagger) using his political power and money to cover it up. David later meets scientist Marisa Kendall (Ryker) and the two begin their own investigation as well as a romantic relationship that feels more earned as the movie goes on. This also leads to lines from Robert Forster like "What does anybody need anybody for? You’re the country’s leading herpetologist, you have a wonderful mind, a doctor degree, and beautiful tits." I do like some of the investigation scenes like Marisa being able to tell how big the alligator is by it's footprints. David's arch-enemy of sorts journalist Thomas Kemp, (Bart Braverman) goes into the sewer to do some investigating. In a very Jaws 2 sequence he is killed by the alligator while his camera keeps flashing. After a botched attempt to capture the Alligator it breaks loose from sewers and finally some alligator carnage is seen. This includes chomping on cops, and a little kid in the pool. Any horror movie that kills kids is a win in my book. You can say Ian you're crazy, but it helps increase the stakes and has you take the movie more seriously.
Toward the last act of the film Henry Silva shows up as big game hunter Colonel Brock. He shows up like Manu Ginobili in the 2005 playoffs and drops like 30 points in 15 minutes. He has one great scene where imitates the alligator's mating call and hits on a newswoman interviewing him. He is later eaten by the alligator. David is fired from the force by his boss (Michael V. Gazzo) after getting too close to the conspiracy of the case. He and Marisa had gone to investigate Slade and they find out that the alligator was a product of human growth hormone type of experiments. In a great sequence the alligator goes to a wedding party at Slade's house and literally eats some of the rich. The movie ends when David goes into the sewer with a bomb. There is a great amount of tension the final sequence as David can't exit the sewer because a car is on top of the manhole. While I do wish some of the early alligator sequences weren't so much in the dark this is about as rewarding of a creature feature I can find with a great subplot around it. It's also ahead of it's time making big pharma a villain and experimenting with things that are probably still done today. Buy the Scream Factory! blu-ray of this at looks amazing.
Rating: 8/10
Trivia: Robert Forster improvised the jokes about his receding hairline
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_f3-h4tGFQ
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