The Great Alligator (1979) Horror Alligator

The Great Alligator (1979)  - To say this film is problematic for our current PC world is putting it mildly, it is problematic for the year it was made. There is some early lip service by spa owner Joshua (Mel Ferrer) lays on photographer Daniel Nessel (Claudio Cassinelli) about the abundance of wildlife and the spa's adherence to fitting in with it. Not only a capitalist but an imperialist Joshua believe he is improving the lives of the natives by building a resort "Paradise House" near their village.  It's pretty smart how Director Sergio Martino goes from this scene to one on the ground where his crew is using TNT to blow down trees and terrifying the natives. When the helicopter lands bring the model and photographer to this "little piece of Eden" they are greeted by Alice Brandt "Ally" (Barbara Bach) a cultural liaison for the Spa and local tribe. Again to counter what might be a good thing we immediately  see the resort staff heading live piglets to the river caiman (they call the alligators). The little squealing things roped up and tossed out into the river desperately swimming back for the boat before they are a reptile's lunch. That is not all of the exploitation in the depiction of the indigenous population. They are shown as curious happy primitives in loin cloths. They are drum and dance through the night in rituals to keep Kruna, the giant beast from harming them.They are easily frightened by things and are generally seen as simple. Many of the women dance topless although Martino does not shoot it from a male gaze. still they are easily bought, paid with Coke-a-Cola and blue jeans. Even our cultural anthropologist Ally when talking about the tribe and how they lived prior to contact with white puts it in terms of the white perspective, saying that they hunted and fished, work for the good of the tribe. That they only lived about 30 years so implying that there exploitation is better for them.

  When model Sheena (Geneve Hutton) goes off with a local for some love making but then the pair get eaten by, lets say alligator since that is the title, things get tense. The native perform ceremonies hoping that the great Kruna stays away but Joshua seems more interested in keeping it quiet and not letting the tourist know what has happened. Daniel and Ally take it upon themselves to investigate and so first visit the locals and then an old priest who lives in a cave, Father Johnathan (Richard Johnson) that adds only confusion about whether it is a crocodile, alligator or a river God. It did give a really nice shot of a waterfall.
  Things have to go bad at some point and the big bash being thrown for the tourists is the event waiting for Kruna. The tribe, the Kuma have a legend of a crocodile half man, half creature who comes for revenge (they keep switching terms but in this case say crocodile. The guest find this quaint but it could be that the tribe is showing themselves as the creature. So we have sabotage to the radio and to the helicopter. Are the natives doing it or the angry river beast? At the same time Ally goes missing and a cobra is left in her room. Meanwhile the clueless tourist go out on the raft for a dance party. Daniel using his camera's telephoto lens sees Ally is taken hostage by the tribe and he is the only one who knows about it. A hero for a problem he springs into action. She is stretched out over the water as a sacrifice but luckily for her the "gator" is more interested in knocking people off the raft and getting a "buffet de tourists". Worse than that the as the raft heads back to the dock we see that the Kuma have risen up to slaughter everyone in the resort. The only was to appease Kruna is by driving out the white interlopers. It is a pretty wonderful third act.
  So much of this third act reminds me of Jaws (1975) or even better Piranha (1978) except not done nearly as well. Daniel having untied Ally and just missed getting eaten by the alligator pulls the sacrificial raft towards shore while we cut to the crunching of the alligator on all the people left in the water.  Really a wonderful scene the people struggle from the raft jumping into the water and swimming for dear life to get inside the alligator proof fence. Once in they emerge from the water only to be confronted by the native tribe on the war path. Anyone who leaves the water gets shot with flaming arrows by the Kuma, caught between a Kuma and a hard Kruna. Kruna then breaks through the fence and the real feast begins. Daniel and Ally seem to get away from the tribe in a VW minivan only to have the bridge they are crossing to collapse into the river full of crocodiles. Kruna is waiting for them as Daniel works to free Ally from the wrecked van. It would have been wiser if the film makers had invested more in a realistic looking crocodile prop because what they have is comical more than frightening. Of course at this point they must have been searching for an ending they have lots of carnage and the bad guys get their due but it all falls a bit flat. When the van falls into the river at night but five minutes later when they come out after defeating Kruna it is light you wonder if there were some re-shoots. The strangely happy ending doesn't seem to work either. All the survivors are save from the natives because Daniel killed the beast, and a flurry of helicopters arrive to raise spirits. Even with its incompetent effects department this is a film that had some things right but because of budget could not execute them. All said and done I won't recommend this one because of the stated issues.

Demons 2 (1986) Horror Demons

Demons 2 (1986) - "Demoni 2: L'incubo ritorna" directed by Lamberto Bava and written in concert with Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini, and Dardano Sacchetti this is a sequel to the movie theater madness that was Demons. Instead of a theater this time we have a highly secured luxury apartment building called The Tower. Safety is first to these people and that need for security sure has a way of backfiring. The film starts in darkness with a voice over to set the atmosphere "A terrifying centuries old prediction foretold the spawning of the demons on earth. That prediction came true when spectators in a movie theater were transformed into blood thirsty fanged creatures and spread death and contagion. Days of terror that convinced the world demons can exist." It is unclear whether this voice over is for us viewer or is the start of the "movie within a movie" that runs throughout Demons 2. Similar to the first Demons film there is a movie about Demons being played during the unfolding of the plot. In the first film it is why all the people are at the theater in the first place and in this sequel many of the people in the apartment building are watching a film on television. There is the woman with the dog (Anita Bartolucci), the boy left alone Tommy (Marco Vivio), the security guard (Lino Salemme) Sally Day the birthday girl (Caorlina Cataldi-Tassoni) and a variety of other guests. It is a fairly well executed technique, we get to learn the players in the apartment building and at the same time the plot of the inevitable demon cross over approaches. A bit of exposition to let us know that the demons pass the demon plague on through their nails and body fluids. It is the single most important plot point. It is because in both instance the film and the real life events sync up that the demons can cross over into this world but we are getting ahead of ourselves.

The opening scene is a humorous misdirection, a close up of a knife with what could be dripping blood, a man's feet an apron red with the fluid, pan out to the baker putting the finishing touches on Sally's birthday cake. This is the introduction and then we head off to the main set at the apartment building.

This is a large cast and many people are introduced as living working and playing in the building. There are George (David Edwin Knight) and Hannah (Nancy Brilli), she is pregnant and he is a student who live in the building. The Haller family consists of Mr Haller

(Antonio Cantafora), wife Helga (Luisa Passega) and daughter Ingrid (Asia Argento), there is the prostitute visiting a client named Mary (Virginia Bryant).

Of note though if you read Soresport Movies early review of Demons (1985) then you know of the "Pimp with a plan" Bobby Rhodes and here we get to see him again as the gymnasium instructor with the same gusto her brought to his first role.

This film like the first uses the method of cutting the scenes within the building, people watching the scary movie, the party goers dancing, George studying with the scenes from the movie within the movie. In that film two couples are investigating what is call the forbidden zone,

The clunkiest part of the plot is the party and the cross over of the demons. Sally is a borderline personality who can not seem to be happy that her birthday is here. Recently broken up with Jacob she is pissed when she learns he is coming over. This is set up to draw another parallel to the first film where we saw a group of punk rockers driving in a car eventually making it to the movie theater and letting the demons out into the world.

In this film Jacob and his three friends drive towards the party playing hard rock music and acting very much like the punk rockers in the first film. The problem with this stuff is that it has no bearing on the plot at the apartment building.

Jacob drives really fast and in the end crashes into Tommy's parents' car in front of the building.

It does not really do anything, it does not attract police to the crisis. None of the people end up getting into the building, it is really a dead end. It does moves Sally into her bedroom away from the party that seems to just go on without her. Not even her best friend bothers to join her in her room. She sits watching the horror movie moping while the party goes on without her.

In the movie in a movie the two couples investigating the forbidden zone come across a demon body dried out and trapped beneath rubble. On of the girls cuts her arm and drops land in the mouth of the demon, this starts its rebirth. Pam (Eliana Miglio) sets up the group for a photo with the demon even with none of them noticing it coming back to life. At the same time at the party Ulla (Maria Chiara Sasso) is setting up the party goers for a group picture. When the two women snap the photo at the same moment, in both cases the flash fails and this little bit of synchronicity joins the world of the demon movie and the apartment building. Sally watches in horror as the demon in the screen seems to see her and walks right at the television screen. Its face pushes out and when she turns it is in the room with her. This is a really weak connection but it gets the job done and it is a short jump until Sally is a demon also and the friends in the other room are target of the Sally demon.

Not before Sally spills bodily fluids from her body, a new form of demon acid blood or something that eats through the floor and drips through the ceilings of the floors below. Its only purpose is to create a way to spread the Demon transformations more quickly.The party is quickly a total demon feast. Unlike the first film where the transformation from wounded human to demon took a bit of time it is not so here. Really about a half minute is all that is needed for the change to happen, so very quickly Sally's apartment is full of hungry demons.

They break out of Sally's apartment and the entire building is now compromised. The smart reviewer out there must see this as a historic piece connecting to the two recent [rec] movies, [rec] and [rec]2 films of recent years. Another film that may have taken or at least shared ideas with this film is The Horde which also used an apartment building as a centerpiece, in its' case a zombie and revenge film rolled into one. Although those films reduced the scope of the building and have original origins for the demon infestation the mechanic as pretty close to being the same.

The rest of the film breaks down into scenes of each of the areas of the building and the people in them and how they are effected by the outbreak. The woman with the dog, hears the dog growling and sees the demon blood dripping from the ceiling.

She watches in horror as the dog transforms into a demon dog.

Then the struggle for her is to try to avoid it and stay alive.

Tommy, home alone gets locked out of his apartment and in so doing must hide in the ventilation system to avoid the Sally demon who is prowling the halls. In the gym the leaking demon blood transforms a man in a steam box which then sparks another chaotic fight between the "Gym Instructor with a plan" Hank and his muscle heads against an ever increasing number of demons.

Three workout women are huddled hiding in a car when the demons attack you see not only are the windows rolled down but the sunroof is open making for easy demon feeding. Can't figure out that choice at all.He and his crew and the Haller family all end up in the parking garage but find that the building is locked down so tight that no one is getting out. They are going to have to make there stand right there. Arming themselves as best they can they circle the wagons for a final battle. It is so useless, with the claws of the demon converting each person they scratch it does not seem it is a winnable battle. Poor little Ingrid (Asia Argento in her first movie role) has to watch as her parents are killed and she is surrounded by demons. While we are talking about the garage scene there is the most ridiculous thing in it.

George and the Hooker are trapped in the elevator when the power goes out. She has already been set up as terrified of elevators and so there is quite a bit of hysterical behavior on her part and calming words on George's part. Through a crack they can see the carnage befalling the residents of the building but are helpless to do anything about it. For them the challenge is finding a way out of the elevator.

George is part of the through story and he the actor is a bit stale in the role but he has the internal drive to get back to his pregnant wife. In the commentary Lamberto Bava talks about not really liking the actor very much, feeling that he was not giving his all in the film. George does eventually make his way back to his apartment and finds his darling wife Hannah has survived a dual attack. The first part by a little demon child who squeezes in through the changed door and then by the true demon that emerges from its stomach. George arrives just in time to save her.

The final sequence is Hannah and George making their way to the roof so they can repel down the side of the building onto the roof of the television studio next door. All the while having to fight off demons and the very persistent Sally demon. When all is said and done George and Hannah have a brand new baby boy and they are free from the apartment building. How they get there is worth your time. So although not as scary as the newer films I mentioned in this review, this film is a very competent attempt at making a demon film with chaos and struggle that work in group and for individuals. The effects are all eighties cheese and the soundtrack include the likes of The Smiths and The Cult. Sure there seems to be things that go nowhere but that has often been the case with Lamberto Bava films. In this movie at least those things do not impact the overall storyline. You can't say that everything is perfectly explained but for the most part the simple story of survival plays out to a some what satisfying conclusion.

Rating (5.7) 5.0 and up are recommended

Demons (1985) Horror Demons

Demons (1985) Lamberto Bava takes a script from Dario Argento and creates a classic gore fest demon movie that holds up through the years. Made in Germany by Italians with English speaking actors the story revolves around a group of theater goers who get more than they bargained for when they accepted the complimentary tickets. Cheryl (The beautiful Natasha Hovey) is scared at being alone in a train station thinks she is being stalked by a strange man with a metallic mask covering half his face. It is a nice tension building scene early in the film, with hyper intense music by Claudio Simonetti who created the out of this world music for Suspiria, as well as other Argento films, The Card Player and Mother of Tears. This film also features music by a variety of eighties bands and is a real treat. Cheryl panics and runs through the train station with this eighties techno blaring. The masked man follows catching her at the top of the escalator but instead of a quick and sudden death he hands her a ticket to a theater, the Metropol. Relieves she actually tracks the guy back down to get a second ticket so she and her friend Kathy (Paola Cozzo) can go together.

There is no title for the movie but skipping class they decide to go to the film anyway. Skipping class can only mean something bad is going to happen. Isn't this how it is in the movies? Do something bad and look out for the repercussions?
We meet some of the other players in the film, the couple who don't get along too well, the Blind man, Warner (Alex Serra) and his cheating wife Liz (Enrica Maria Scrivano), the Pimp with a plan, Tony (Bobby Rhodes) and his two prostitutes Carmen and Rosemary, the two college guys who will scoop on our girls George and Ken (Karl Zinny), Hannah and Tom the daters and the beautiful but creepy red headed ticket taker Ingrid (Nicoletta Elmi). Throughout the this movie her looks seem to lead that she knows something about what is going to happen but then nothing comes of it. Maybe Argento lost some scenes in the rewriting of the script that took away the bigger story which included this woman in a more sinister role. That is what you would think from he silent stares and suspicious behavior anyway. It is a real flaw with Demons is that there is potential for so much more in the story. Is the film being shown the culprit? When the chaos begins someone says it is the building that is doing it. This too is not explored in any significant way, which is a shame because what is a good movie could have been even better.
One of the prostitutes, I am assuming the profession since it is never stated. Rosemary (Geretta Geretta) is her name and she puts on the creepy demon mask in the lobby when they are coming in and as she removes it it cuts her. This is the closest to cause and effect the film gets. When the film begins in the theater it is a dark horror film. It plays out with a group of young adults finding the tomb of Nostradamus. There they defile the crypt and find a book and a mask that looks just like the one in the Metropol's lobby. One of the characters puts the mask on against the wishes of his friend and is warned that the wearer becomes a demon. "He will spread pestilence and evil" As the character removes the mask he is cut just like Rosemary was. This she finds really disturbing and at that moment realizes that the cut she has is bleeding again and heads to the bathroom to get cleaned up. As she walks out the film also talks about cuts that will not stop bleeding.
There is this stuff with Liz (Enrica Maria Scrivano) and a strange guy making out while Werner (Alex Serra) listens to the movie. It was like she planned for them to be here to meet the man. It is a bit out of place but a reason to focus on the audience and break up some of the plot points. So the film being played is interspersed with the audience behaviors in what is some pretty decent editing. When the film later starts to parallel the goings on in the theater it is a real movie making treat. Bava obviously knows what he is doing and the effects are startling and effective.
In the first of an increasingly amazing gross out effects shot of Demons, Rosemary in the bathroom looking at the cut on her face. It pulses and bubbles before bursting forth a green goo. The film now is sort of becoming the theater as the fiend in the movie becomes a demon as Rosemary also does in the bathroom. There are the screams in the film that mask her screams. The on screen film is quite gruesome with some pretty intense stabbing scenes. Carmen (Fabiola Toledo) heads to the bathroom to check on her friend but it is too late and demon Rosemary chases her after wounding her neck. Escaping by running in a panisc through the corridors of the theater, she ends up behind the screen of the movie. Unfortunately for her with all the screaming and stabbing happening in the film no one notices her real live screams. It is a great bit of editing here also. Werner notices Liz is gone and calls for her. She is getting it on with her man a little ways off and wants to head back but is not really pulling away. Werner is feeling around in the dark as demon Rosemary is making it up to the balcony where Liz her lover and Werner are seated. There is a stabbing through tent scene in the film while Carmen starts to turn into a demon herself behind the scream, again masking her distress in a wall of movie sound. Finally though she forces her way through the screen and everyone knows something is going on. They race to her aid as Rosemary gets the cheating couple strangling them with a rope. They see Carmen change in what is some excellent special effects as her fingernails are pushed out by claws, her teeth push out by fangs and she is quickly a demon.
Now the attacks come fast and furious and the music picks up to ad to the chaos, people are panicking and running for the doors as our hooker demons get a couple more people, but in an unexplained phenomena the doors are now blocked by walls. Maybe it is the theater that is doing it? It is important to note the gory attacks are getting better with eye gouges, skulls ripped off, broken fingers and more each more gruesome than the last.
As they blame the movie for the goings on they decide they have to stop the movie and break into the projection room. There is no one in the room though it is all automated. Tony, the pimp with a plan is not done giving orders though. He smashes all the machines and thus the movie is stopped. We now inexplicably shift from the theater to a bunch of coke heads in a stolen car who really only have one purpose, that is to let the demon plague out of the theater. It is annoying but it is what was decided in the script they end up running from the police and in the alley next to the theater, a door mysteriously open and they get in. At the end of the scene though a demon gets out too though. They don't even last very long once inside, they are demon meat before they know what hit them. It really takes away the incredible tension that was built in the Metropol and throws viewing for a loop. The pimp with a plan, Tony has the survivors breaking seats to block the entrance to the balcony and fights off a demon or two before he too is bitten. If they had just stayed there the whole time without cutting in the coke heads it would have been a lot better.
When fully trapped I mean barricaded in the balcony the remaining non-demons pound in the walls to try to get attention of the outside world. Although it fails to bring rescue they do find a hidden passage to a cellar where they freak out because they are still trapped. They panic a bit and the camera follows the room in an artistic scream fest. Only Hannah and Tom are alone together in the theater and are desperately seeking a door that does not seem to exists. Hey maybe if they crawl into the air conditioning vent? Maybe that will work as a means of escape? Back to the balcony and they know the barricades won't last forever but they wait it out. They hear gunshots from the cops dealing with the escaped demon in the alley, soon they are scrambling to get out through the very barricades they built. They are not thinking clearly tearing down the barricade that is keeping the demons out. All most of them can think is that the gunshots mean there is help out there and they have to get to it. Seeing a problem with this strategy George, Ken, Cheryl and Kathy head through the remaining barricade crawling under before the demons attack. Of course they are chased but make it out the other side. What is great about this film is it just keeps upping the gore ante and the attacks at this point are amazing particularly the finger biting. As they exit the crawl Kathy has fainted after a close call with a demon. She is out of it but as she wakes the guys and Cheryl realize she is possessed by a demon, not bitten but possessed. Oh and did I say it gets better, not only is she a gone but the creature literally crawls out of her back. At this point you could say that the film can't get better but it does. All the demons are on the hunt and only Cheryl and George are left, before they get out of the theater there is motorcycle slashing in the theater it is amazing and hilariously crazy but he is the motorcycle samerai and slays most all of the demons. Enough you say NO says Demons and a helicopter comes crashing through the roof. You will be like WTF but our remaining characters see a way out through that hole in the roof. It is just excellent the lengths this film goes to. Then on top of that there is more and we see what has been happening outside also. WOW! Oh and what were those posters on the walls of the lobby? Was that an AC/DC poster and a Four Flies on Grey Velvet, nice touches. So for all you horrorphiles out there if you have not seen this movie What are you waiting for? This flawed but ultimately brilliant film is waiting for your eyes to bleed in its glory.
Rating (8.2) 5.0 and up are recommended In the Zombiegrrlz system BUY IT!