Death Rollin'

I really miss the awesome movie ads that used to populate the local newspaper. The movie section would carry all of the films showing in the area, even the pornos. I can remember reading and thinking, "What's the difference between X and XXX?" The paper also featured great explotation and horror ads, these being my favorites. These days newspapers hardly have space for ads, let alone ones with full pictures and critic's blurbs. I used to cut out the really cool ones and post them on my wall. One I remember from my really young days was the ad for Alligator. The ad was of a dark sewer, with the alligator lurking in the water. I was freaked out and facinated at the same time. Years later I finally got to see this fearsome movie from my youth and boy was I surprised. Alligator is fucking hilarious. A young John Sayles wrote Alligator and infused it with a strong sense of satire. He also added an anti-animal testing message into the film. Robert Forster is fresh off his Black Hole adventure and down in the sewers, hunting our rampaging reptile. Alligator features a number of great kill scenes, the best being the awesome one below.

Wow, killing kids is always crazy. The plot is based on the urban myth of alligators living in big city sewers. A little girl gets a baby gator, names it Ramon, then has it flushed down the toilet. The gator feasts on the corpses of animals which have been spiked with growth hormones (much like Barry Bonds). The result is a big ass alligator. The thing runs amok, and Robert Forster hunts it down. There is a fun segment with Henry Silva as an over confident big game hunter who gets his comeuppance. Lots of folks get chomped and eventually the alligator busts out of the sewer and continues it's rampage on the city streets. It's a poor man's Jaws, but there's nothing wrong with that. It does have a sequel, Alligator II: The Mutation, but it has nothing to do with the original, in fact it's basically a remake. It's okay though, not great, but not terrible either. If you're a fan of John Sayles this is a great way to see his talent shine through even in a "B" movie. Alligator is a solid "B" movie Jaws. It has a few scares, a lot of blood and a ridiculous, rampaging alligator. What more could you ask for?