Dark Age (1987) Horror Crocodile

Dark Age (1987) - Stretching back into the ozploitation era we have this entry about a very large crocodile who gets a taste for human blood. The best and worst Australian stereotypes are on display with outback crocodile poachers who do everything possible to be unlikable.  John Besser (Max Phipps) has a strong dislike for crocodiles when not poaching them for cash he will likely be found by the river with his mates drinking beer and shooting things. He is a great bad guy in this film, a menace who doesn't like aboriginal people, crocodile lore or any government agency like a park ranger. The film could have been more interesting if they had spent more time on this angry, unruly and generally mean individual building him into an antagonist he deserves to be. Unfortunately he is a secondary character. This film is all about the Crocodile, a large but stealthy beast who appears and feasts on humans before they know it is coming.
  In contrast to them is Steve Harris (John Jarrett) an upstanding park ranger watching out for the crocodiles and more likely to trap and move a man eater than he is to kill it. So for the 80's the message of a eco-friendly park ranger is good work. Contrasting against the Besser character is genius and really make this film stand out as a eco-friendly film.  When this giant of a crocodile starts feeding on people in the river Steve patrols he is keen to try to capture it and move it to a sanctuary with the help of Oonadabund (Burnam Burnam) and Adjaral (David Gulpilil). The political ramifications abound where district managers just want the harm to stop. He does not care if the animal is killed or moved. Steve sees it different he knows if there is a crocodile hunt dozens of crocodiles will be killed in pursuit of the killer. He is a good guy who talks and takes advice from the local aboriginal tribe. Those tribes see the crocodile as a God and this gets expressed through their interaction with Steve. They see the giant crocodile as a sacred beast and he respects that. (Not a bad message, respecting the native people) One who protects them his people as long as the proper respect is observed.
  There is a lot to like in this film but mostly the very sudden attacks are frightening. There is a great building of suspense in the attacks and as I image a sudden ferocity. The Cinematography is very good with a wide variety of shots with differing angles and lighting that enhances the viewing. Overall this is a great entry and a lot of fun to watch.
  

Blood Surf (2001) Horror Crocodile

Blood Surf (2001) This commentary and synopsis is TOTALL FILL WITH SPOILERS.  A couple of surfers, Bog Hall (Dax Miller) and Jeremy (Joel West) are planning a stunt where they chum the water of the surfing area to attract sharks. With a television pair they film the boys surfing with the sharks. Blood surfing seems like a crazy idea but the young foolish surfers think the idea is awesome. Establishing a competitive relationship between the surfers furthers the idea that they will do most anything to one up each other. They support crew of  producer Zach Jardine (Matt Borlenghi) and director Cecily Herrold (Tziporah Malkah) (Sirens (1994) the Elle MacPherson vehicle when she was the hottest supermodel in the world) meet the locals Sonny (Chris Vertido) and wife Melba (Susan Africa) and are warned away from the beach they want to surf the next day. Shark infested waters are too dangerous. The character development is around the Bog trying to get the Cecily to sleep with him even though she is involved with the Zach. An Australian boat captain John Dirks (Duncan Regehr) tells them they are idiots to go near Palm Island but of course the group won't listen. Dirk's hot as hell blonde Arty (Taryn Reif) does a sexualized dance to attract the surfer guys and anyone else who will go for it. Later when the drunk sailors are sitting at the docks they happen to see her getting banged  by Dirks and Bog on makes some interesting eye contact while she takes it from behind. This is all secondary and not really pertinent to the plot other than to set up a character they will see later in the film.
 Awoken by Sonny's daughter Lemmya (Maureen Larrazabel) Jeremy flirts and they seem to hit it off. Its so she can go along with them and be his love interests for Jeremy. The film starts with someone's memory of people in the surf being eaten by something. It is revealed to be Dirks' who had the flashback in the beginning of the film. He was the leader of an adventure outing when all his passengers were eaten. Setting up his future decisions this is important to where his character is in his life.  The next day Sonny takes the surfer group to Palm Island. Chumming the water to attract sharks we see Jeremy is a bit weary about the event even though he says otherwise. We see the sharks arrive and things at set for the event. Cecily is going to shoot from the water so besides the two surfers it makes three in jeopardy. We get some surfing shots with sharks cutting across the waves just what Zach wants. Its not the best effects just fins seen from the surface and some underwater shots of sharks around the surfers and camerawoman. She gets surrounded by sharks but the fast acting Bog gets to her quickly before her shark proof suit can be tested. From the beach they see a shark get turned into a bloody splotch in the ocean and the group decides that more surfing is out of the question.
  Lemmya and Jeremy head off for some smooching in the woods, Zach, Cecily, smooch on the beach while Bob gets some more surfing in. Why? because they need the couple to be together without the fifth wheel. Melba and Sonny stay on the boat.  When Melba decides to take a swim again why?, Now there are two in the water and the tension mounts. Where Dax Miller has top billing in this feature I can guess who is more at risk. This is all broken up with the interpersonal scenes but viewers are really probably wanting some action at this point. There is no shortage of boobies by the women in this film but boy does it fail the Bechdel test. They are all seen through the male gaze and even though they initiate the sex it is all about them as beautiful things to be possessed by the men. The soft core sex shots and the cutting between that and the boat are weird. When Melba has a close call, something jumps from the water and takes Sonny right as Lemmya and Jeremy at the ruins are climaxing. It is just so wrong. Then nobody seems to notice this happens beside Melba who collapses crying on the boat.
  The sun sets and instead of having some scene about what happened we cut back to Lemmya topless getting near the water. She screams at the giant crocodile behind her. Cut to Jeremy who wakes and thinks she is playing hide and seek. Looking for her he only finds part of her clothes. Bob, Zach, and Cecily don't really believe him but coming back to the dock they find the remains of the boat and Sonny. Even still Zach wants the camera tape and looks to Bog to get it for him. There is a Jaws moment as he swims under water at the boat to retrieve the camera. The Crocodile attacks the dock they are on and they run for the shore as fast as they can. The beast is after them as they sprint through the jungle. Zach can't go any further and they stop in the tall grass. Instead of a crocodile they are met with men with guns who are not so happy to have them on the island. They are taken to a boat which they still hope means they can get back to civilization. The inevitable rape threat to Cecily is interrupted by the giant crocodile jumping out of the water just in time to eat her attecker. Taking advantage of the situation the boys push the remaining armed men into the water with the beast. The ones who make it to shore happen to blow up the boat with gunfire leaving Zach in the water to be picked up by Dirks who arrived on the scene just in time. On his boat the "Fury" they recover as they head back to the main island.
Since this film started with Dirks' memories it means that this could be his story. Dirks prowls his deck drinking trying to keep back the memories of the past while still feeling the crocodile is near. He is Ahab and the crocodile is his white whale. Zach is snooping about when Arty comes up on him and shows him the chum bucket for hunting the crocodile. He is hunting the crocodile and it does not matter if the groups safety in put in jeopardy.  This is Perth Australia and when a crocodile needs to be killed it needs to be killed.. Arty convinces Zach to make the capture of this animal the subject of his next TV show. So in the morning when everyone awakes they find themselves back at the Palm island.  Naming it "Big Mick" Zach makes his pitch to the rest of the group. John Dirks explains the danger of the situation by recounting how the crocodile dismembers and ate his last party. We go from this right into a scene from Jaws where the shark takes a barrel. When the engine blows it is full on Jaws. Dirks harpoons the creature and prepares to kill it. Cecily jumps in the water with her camera filming when the creature, but it breaks the binds they harpooned onto it. They save her just in time but like the shark in jaws the crocodile is up on the back of the boat and it gets one of the group.

  The crocodile now riled up is after them and the boat is dying. Dirks breaks for the reef to ground the boat leaving the group stranded in the beast's turf.. John will stay behind hoping to blow the ship and the crocodile up while the others cross the reef and make there way to the island. The film is moving towards climax. We lose another of the group surfing towards shore but not making it. Dirks and the creature have it out on the boat like Quint, this Captain is cut in half and his life ends in failure. No explosion means Bog has to head back to the boat for the explosives. The two women head for the ruins on the island where they were told the water is too alkaline for the crocodile to tolerate. Foreshadowing a future risk we see one of the gun toting bad guys has survived and is closing in on the women. Bog finds the explosives while the women's risk of rape reappears. Cecily tries to avoid getting banged but the brute. Such a problematic film when it comes to the female characters.
 We get crocodile POV to show us it is hunting the women. They are slightly lost but manage to find a rope bridge with rotting board where they can see the crocodile below and know they are at risk. They make it to the ruins where supposedly the water is too alkaline for the Croc. The water does seem to stop the creature but it camps out on the shore trapping the women. They only talk about if Cecily likes Bob which means that neither of these women seem to have any agency at all. Arty was with Dirk because he won her in a dart game. She is a thing that was possessed, while Cecily is just a love interest for both Zach and Bog and a rape target for two different thugs. Bog arrives with the explosives and places what looks like C4 around the ruins. It's a plan with Bog as the bait and the girls hitting the switch they mean to crush the crocodile. The staging is a bit ridiculous as he tries to attract  the beast by throwing rocks at it. The plan does eventually work dropping tons of stones onto it in a comical CGI chase. As they leave Arty in blind anger kicks the crocodile until it wakes up and eats her. The other two run and jump onto a vine with the crocodile leaping behind them jaws ready to crunch. It gets impales on a stalagmite or jagged rock that just happens to be there. The survivors kiss and Cecily claimed by the man and the film ends with her being into it.
  Needless to say this was not the best of films. Problematic with its approach to female characters who have no agency but are instead just there things for the men to have and save. The 2001 CGI is really quite not up to the great standards we have today. What little we see looks pretty bad. The script by Sam Bernard (The last credit he has) and Robert L. Levy (also the last writing credit but he has gone on to be a successful producer.) is linear with trite character development that leaves the viewer not really caring about the characters. The Directing by James D.R. Hickox  ( Detention (2010) ) is adequate to get the tale told.  So this one is not a recommend if you want an opinion about that.

The Brutal River (2005) Horror Crocodile

The Brutal River (2005) - Khoht phetchakhaat (original title) From Thailand comes this story of a small village on a river terrorized by a man eating crocodile. It starts as a really romanticized ideal place. The people are simple and farm palm or fish the river to fill there lives. It really establishes how the river is essential to everyday life, from travel to industry to food it is all encompassing. Like a lot of Thai movies the film tries to capture the innocence of a time when life was simple and present it as a better life than modern living. Family is important and romance are slow and gentle affairs where both people fall in love through conversation and holding hands. Nong (Chamnong) and Chuan are brother and friends and with the cop are a family that cares about each other. When the Chuan was refused entry into the military Nong enlisted and fulfilled his brothers dream. It is a quickly but well drawn story giving us a setup for the film to come. Mixed with this happy feeling cinema is cuts to the stalking crocodile making the river unsafe. He gets another old man in a boat and then onshore a dog. Early there is Crocodile to human violence show on screen a flirting swimmer has his legs chomped off in front of the girls he was trying to get to know.
   Warning everyone off the river can work for a while but  the old man who sells noodles from his boat does not get the memo and is the next victim of the beast. Now the Aughts CGI attacks are not very impressive but the film does a good job of making it a story of a village in peril. At first not everyone agrees there is a creature, even after seeing it the stories only spread word of mouth and many people choose not to believe. Still some believers band together and with machetes and rifle head into the palm jungle looking to kill the beast. They find a great mud bed and know the beast is gigantic. While the sub district chief and his men ready things to hunt and kill the crocodile there is the village fool organizing his own hunt because there is a 3000 Bhat reward for killing it.  They all end up out there at the same tie in tiny little boats.In the film they say alligator, translated of course but as far as I know there are only crocodiles in Thailand so I am going to keep using that term to talk about the creature.
   The hunt goes as poorly as small boats will allow. When the Crocodile comes everyone realizes that they are over matched and there is a mad rush to get off the river. They are all in little hollowed out boats and the crocodile is like three times the size of the largest. It is a tense dash to the shore and the last of them barely makes it. This slows down the hunt by the village as they are not sur how to kill such a big threat. They next try praying including leaving a couple religious types praying on the shore of the river. When our main characters start losing loved ones you just have to turn to your Gods. The voodoo like ritual performed which should bind the viscous beast but all it really did was allow the Crocodile a free meal of the priest. Not learning from this first mistake they next bring in a Khmer Witch doctor with strong talismans. He also has TNT so the villagers are more confident in his approach. This ends the same as the first. This time though the croc is looking for revenge and knocks a bunch of villagers off a dock blood in the water is all that is left of those who did not make it to shore.
  Now the military is called in to deal with the issue, and the reverence shown upon their arrival is something to see. Cheering villagers and the score to romanticize them. I wonder how much self censoring is going on with the film makers where they laud the military as saviors and the political appointees as trusted leaders. This mixed with the obvious romanticizing of the simple old way of life leads me to think that there is something going on.
  The military kill a crocodile but it appears to be the wrong one. Too small and not fat enough there is still a problem. The crocodile ups the ante first getting lovely Pikul, the girl liked by the cop and then getting Chuan the family is devastated. The personal vengeance hunt is on, led by Nong. The village bands together and builds a place in the river to trap and kill the beast. Requesting explosives and machine guns from the military  but bureaucracy interferes. Eventually though they get what they need and he is ready for a hunt.. Unfortunately things sort of fall apart in the film. What should be the final battle goes on with failed attempts and the more we see of the creature the more comical it gets. Eventually someone sacrifices themselves to blow up the crocodile and saves the village.  The appendix dialog at the end explains how after this incident there was a massive hunt and over 300 more crocodiles were killed making the swamp areas safe.
  So what did I think? Well this film was fine, certainly not high in production value but they were trying to tell a heart felt story. Would I recommend it? Probably but only because it is a very foreign film without the bells and whistles of an American movie making. So do with that what you will. I think it adds another kind of flavor to this reptilian buffet I am eating.

Primeval (2007) Horror Crocodile

Primeval (2007) - This was the first of two films to come out in 2007 with the other being Rogue (2007) which is a strange curiosity about  Hollywood. Similar ideas going through development and getting released within five months of each other. Primeval has the earlier release date and did a meager 10 million on a 6 million dollar budget. Still that is way better that the ten thousand profit made on Rogue. Both films feature a giant crocodile eating people but they take very different approaches. I like when a film starts out with a short but too the point scene that ropes the viewer in. In this film a UN team is uncovering a mass grave from what could be the Burundi civil war/genocide. The specialist looking at the bodies walks to what looks like could be another grave and attempts to dig her shovel into the ground. The ground trembles and she is violently snatched and dragged into the river by a giant crocodile. She is eaten as the UN soldiers shoot at the creature from the shore. This is a fast and brutal scene that sets up the opening credits over newspaper clipping of  troubles created by the crocodile, "Gustav" as the local named him. Its a really nice setup to get us to the characters we will be following.
   Producer Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) who is in a bit of trouble with his boss at the "Network News Channel" about a story he did so is assigned to fly to Africa to produce the Giant crocodile story. More than that with naturalist Matt Collins (Gideon Emery) he is to make the story about the capture of the crocodile. They will go in light try not to upset the locals so with executive Aviva Masters (Brook Langton), cameraman Steve Johnson (Orlando Jones) and a guide they will try to make the capture of this beast prime time news. Burundi is shown as the chaotic place where things don't go as planned. The strong arming producer Tim bluffs his way to get things done. Although the great white hope aspects of the setup are really annoying the Director Michael Katleman working from a script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris pulls off showing a war torn country even if it is from the arrogant white male point of view. It is also troubling early that Aviva Masters is nothing but objectified as the cute not serious journalist, if she does not have an arc that disproves this it will be very disappointing. They meetup with guide Jacob Kreig (Jürgen Prochnow) who is tough and to the point and start their plans for the expedition. We do get some conflict between Kreig and Collins one who wants to capture the creature one who would prefer to kill it. They do not really plan more just get in jeeps and drive. The hope is that the writers did this on purpose with the idea of having the group learn and appreciate foreign cultures, ceremonies in their honor and the blessings of the native shaman (Ernest Ndlovu) adding up to a better appreciation for foreign cultures. The happy dancing villagers and the constant joking by Johnson and the inability of the Americans to take the situation seriously adds up to make the white point of view sort of offensive.
  After attempting to capture the crocodile the crew realizes it is a smarter animal than they thought. Johnson wanders off to get some B-roll for there piece and comes across the local militia beheading the shaman and shooting his family in retribution for not supporting the local warlord "Little Gustav".  This shows a real attempt on the writers part to make the message of the violence in Africa more than just a setting. Using Masters as the conduit we get commentary on the American inability to care for black people never mind African black people. Not to get too political the film shifts to an action sequence where a local ens up trapped in the cage designed to capture Gustav. The giant CGI crocodile attacks attempting to get the boy and oh boy it is obvious that the cage will not be enough for that one.
  Meanwhile Aviva has her own problems as a soldier attempts to rape her while the men are out of the camp. She fights back but is no match for the man and thankfully she is save by Gustav who was hungry and decided to have a meal of the soldier. Manfrey calls for them to leave but one of the other soldiers shoot there guide Kreig. He works for Little Gustav and the only reason they all don't die that night is the kid they saved from the crocodile shoots the soldier. A classic Hollywood trope is to bring in a storm when the climax is on the way. We learn Kreig's hatred for the beast is personal and the crocodile is coming back to finish the job it started. The last thirty minutes is wonderful survive the monster action as the croc attacks and the group loses members one after the other. Trapped on a floating dock the five night survivors wait for rescue. They will have to chance getting back to camp where they helicopter is looking for them but they know Gustav is on land nearby. Add in the arrival of little Gustav's men means another of the group dies. Dealing with both Gustav issues splits the group and creates some really decent action sequences. Unfortunately Johnson's responses to escaping the crocodile through humorous comments takes the seriousness away from what should be a heart pounding climax.
  The political angle was much more well thought out and we see corruption and murder and the double crossing means we can't necessarily have any heroes in the Africans we see. Again are seeing this through the white lens of the good Americans who now want to expose the bad African behavior to draw attention to the corruption. It is so unflattering though the idea of either happy villagers or warlords with nothing in between. As they are forced to go with Little Gustav (Dumisani Mbebe) the scene suddenly goes from day to night I guess to the dark and the rain and thunder and lightning will make the CGI crocodile look more reasonable. Why the director chose to have a kills blood spurt appear to hit the camera lens seems like a mistake in judgement. After the final confrontation we wrap the film up with touching moments and an but never get to an attempt at real journalism, so the story arcs are incomplete. Text added to the screen again attempts to make commentary about the real world events the story are based in but that wrapping seems inappropriate for the type of film this is. It tries to have it both ways on one hand being a monster movie and on the other a political commentary, which could work. Unfortunately it really is like watching two different films at once the two never quite meshing into one story. So even though we get on screen information about the end of the very real life war in Burundi the film ends with a horror scene and text about Gustav being alive and well. I guess I appreciate what the film makers were trying to do here even if it did not totally come together.  I still recommend the film but it has to be said that it is a bit messy in its delivery.

   

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.

Black Water (2007) Horror Crocodile

Black Water (2007) - This is inspired by true event about three vacationers who get trapped in a mangrove forest in Northern Australia after a crocodile capsizes their boat and eats their guide. This is also the exact kind of story that will keep me out of boats anywhere near Alligator and particularly Crocodile habitats. It is a terrifying tale of things going horribly wrong and then getting worse. Any time I imagine being in the environment where man is not the top of the food chain is horrific and this film has that through and through. Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and Grace (Diana Glenn) are traveling on holiday with Grace's sister Lee (Maeve Dermody) and decide to stop at a local (N. Australian) expedition company. They plan to spend a day fishing and trolling about the mangrove forests and rivers. When they arrive they have missed the trip by five minutes. Jim (Ben Oxenbould) who is manning the docks offers to take them out in a smaller boat and they agree.  So the four load up the gear and head out into a vast watery wilderness. Writers / Directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki (The Reef 2010, ABCs of Death 2012) working with a small budget manage to make a very compelling story into an entertaining and tense thriller. Early on they pull off a classic bit of redirection where something bumps the boat making every nervous. Jim leans over the side creating tension so palpable it tightened my stomach. You know this is Australia and the entire country is looking for ways to kill you. Well at least that is the impression I have. After a few tense minute he pulls a floating can out of the water and everyone has a short laugh. It's a classic!
  The film really starts after that when a crocodile not only whacks the boat but flips it over. It takes the guide Jim and drags him under while Adam and Grace swim for the nearest tree. Lee having surfaced under the capsized boat struggles to get on top of it while the crocodile circles back looking for more prey. What is so terrifying as a viewer is the film maker are using real crocodiles. Of course the actors were never in the water with the crocs the film makers used compositing to create the effect. Still the effect is wonderful and no CGI animal can be as threatening as the real thing. The responses by the small group of actors are incredibly believable. Now trapped the crocodile begins banging the boat trying to dislodge Lee. These swamps are muddy and when the creature goes under the water it is impossible to see. So when it seems to have given up the group still can't be sure. How does the group get out of this situation? The boat seems the most likely way so Lee has to reach into the water for the rope so she can throw it to Adam. Each time someone has to hover over the water or worse get in it so tension filled. If you are at all paying attention to the film you feel it deep in your gut.
  Now some people might find this film too simple and lose interest because the scope of the film is three people in a tree trying to figure out how to get to safety without getting eaten. It is a situation where they are in a bad situation and all there limited options are also bad. The film makers do a lot with that and I found the film fascinating. The interpersonal trauma alone is heart wrenching. I don't want to spoil this film because it is definitely a recommend. I will say though that there is a build up and some really heart pounding action before all is said and done. The acting is great and the reactions seem very honest. The crocodile is absolutely terrifying as crocodiles always are. This film pulled such basic, primordial, Darwinian fear from me, I can't really describe it, other than to say its a primal fear. Thousands of years of caution for these creatures passed through generations of DNA warning  of DANGER!  This film is showing something that has happened. That could happen to you if you venture into croc territory.  In Australia crocodile attacks are not uncommon. It is a testament to the film that it captures that allowing the viewer to share it from the safety of the sofa.

Crocodile (2000) Horror Crocodile

Crocodile (2000) - So in July we are getting a new film about alligators called Crawl (2019) Where a woman tries to save her father during a cat 5 hurricane but because of flooding has to deal with a influx of alligators. It looks looks fairly interesting and got my imagination going. Maybe I should look at some alligator and crocodile films from the past both good and bad and see what is what? There is no shortage to this sub-genre of animal attack films. Both these beasts alligators and crocs are reptiles that have been around for 37 million years. For most of there history with men in the world they have been higher on the food chain so there has to be a deep fear created by the beast for us. In Bill Bryson's book about Australia "In a Sun Burnt Nation" he goes on in frightening detail about human run ins with crocodiles that is so worth a listen. The fear they create in us comes from that explicit knowledge that they can eat us. This has in film create a plethora of films in horror about alligators and crocodiles. So while fighting your herpetophobia lets watch and talk about some alligator and crocodile films. Since 1. this is a film from 19 years ago and 2. Most people will not watch it anyway. This commentary and description is FULL of SPOILERS.
  This first film in the series is a ease of access choice. Readily available on Amazon Prime it is not chosen for quality but because it comes up in a search. I was surprised to see that Tobe Hooper directed the film. I have read that he came into the project late but there are parts that show his black sense of humor. The script is a bit messy to be kind. The story centers around eight college kids taking a houseboat out on a California lake for spring break oh and the legend of and real life crocodile.Most of the college age interaction is hard to stomach. Unnatural in that all of it centers around interpersonal conflict but there is no familiar banter that defines the characters, well a little but not enough to know who but a few characters are. Brady (Mark McLauchlin) is dating Claire (Caitlin Martin) but Sunny (Sommer Knight) has also been invited and she secretly had hooked up with Brady while Brady and Claire are on. Duncan (Chris Solari) secretly found a way to get Brady kicked out of school because he missed his friend. (The actor is doing his best Robert Downey Jr. from that era)  Sunny came thinking she was going to get to see Brady again but was surprised to learn that Claire was even there. Of course this melodrama will play out in the film.  You can get the drift from that and boy is it painful to watch. The rest of the crew are Kit (Doug Reiser), Annabelle (Julie Mintz), and her dog Princess, Foster (Rhett Wilkins) and Hubs (Greg Wayne) but since they have no development at all are all red shirts. Everyone one acts like immature teens and the conversations are not really meaningful. Just partying and laughing  but not the kind of catching up catch and stories we tell each other when we get together. It makes the characters less real.
There first night out we hear the story of the old hotel on the hill. Harlan Clemons owned the place and he ran a cult of Egyptian cultist who worship the Nile Crocodile, even imported them. It goes on with that once they messed with the croc's eggs and it came to the mansion on a killing rampage. This is a setup for the ages. Now the old place is cursed and used by arsonist for practice, but that does not really come into play. We have a legend and a reason why this surviving croc that no one has seen in all these years will attack. This is a cut to: Two local fisherman disturbing the crocodile nest. Of course they are a bit redneck in their approach and they pay for the disturbance wit their lives. All well and good but then to have the croc do what it does with the car is just too much. There has to be lines drawn in believe ability and I can suspend disbelief with the best of them but this, THIS is too far. The group come across the eggs all broken up and Hubs decides to hide one of the unbroken eggs in Claire's backpack. Drunken antics or linear storytelling? It sets off a very unfortunate chain of event most pressing is the croc is looking for that egg and will go through all of them to get it.
  The secondary plot feature the local sheriff Bowman (Harrison Young) who after hearing that a couple local fishermen are missing hops in a helicopter and finds there submerged car. Investigating further he find the nest of 'Mommy Croc'. Unlike the kids who don't know the mess they have gotten into he deduces the issue as soon as he finds his first severed hand.  Heading out for help he recruits the ornery local alligator farmer Shurkin (T. Evans) to learn its a croc and not a gator and then to hunt it down. Shurkin wants to get the croc because he is sure it is the one that killed his Grandpappi and we even have a tie in to the story of the haunted hotel too. It does not really go anywhere but its there. They head out in a boat with their guns to kill the beast.
  The young people finally see the croc as it closes in on them and then all hell breaks loose for them. Death and destruction follow as pontoon boats are not the sturdiest of vehicles. Fleeing on foot the survivors are pursured by Mommy Croc and no little shack of a store will be strong enough to stop her. This pursuit is probably the toughest part of the film to watch because between the set pieces attacks and destruction there is a lot of yelling and stupidity on the part of the group. Grinding the audience's nerves and making me wish more would die quicker. Of course they stay near the lake instead of heading away from it. How far do you think a crocodile will walk away from the water it lives in, and into the CA desert? Eventually crossing path with the hunting party their is reprieve before the final confrontation and the reveal to Claire that there is an egg in the backpack she has been wearing the entire time. How to solve this problem, well this bunch of course picks the worst possible way. In Tobe Hooper fashion there are these moments where little jokes are sprinkled into the mayhem which I found endearing. We miss you Tobe! The climax is is seen later in one of the Jurassic Park films maybe the 2nd? If there was a part of this I would recommend it has to be the climax. Although ridiculous it at least makes fun of its self.
  All and all this movie is not recommended unless you are a Tobe Hooper completest or really like bad CGI crocodiles. Screenwriter Jace Anderson continues to work today, although he has not hit it big yet he has written these The Toolbox Murders (2004), Mortuary (2005), and Mother of Tears (2007) made by the great Dario Argento. This one was not the greatest but there is always looking forward to his 2003 film Rats.