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Review

Demonstrating typical opportunism, Italian horror and exploitation producers were quick to jump upon the bandwagon for the pulp “man versus gigantic nightmare of nature” movie, which had been jump started by the runaway box office success of Steven Spielberg’s classic Great White Shark opus Jaws (1975). Several years later talented Italian genre filmmaker scored an international success story of his own with his visceral but glossy jungle cannibal caper The Mountain Of The Cannibal God (aka – La Montagna del dio cannibale) (1978) which unusually – for the short lived but justly infamous Italian cannibal subgenre – contained two name stars in the form, of Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach. Encouraged by the healthy performance of The Mountain Of The Cannibal God Martino stuck with the exotic adventure blueprint for his offbeat fantasy Island Of The Fishmen (aka – L’Isola degli uomoni pesce) (1979). Later that same year Martino rounded out his jungle trilogy with The Big Alligator River, which continued and ultimately drew a line under Martino’s brief fixation with trashy Boys Own adventuring in far flung locales whilst also borrowing fairly liberally from Spielberg’s Jaws.

The Big Alligator River takes place in an unspecified third world locale (the film was shot in Sri Lanka) where unscrupulous white entrepreneur Joshua (Ferrer) uses his cool seven figure bank balance to establish the luxurious Paradise House resort. Paradise House serves as a playground for the idle rich whilst in contrast the areas native Koona tribe live in relative poverty. Despite its encroachment upon the wildlife and fauna the Koona tribe reluctantly accept the existence of the resort due to the employment its labour requirement gives to their people.

However, the Koona tribe’s legendary god Kroona is not so impressed by the white invasion of his sacred third world paradise and soon rises from the depths of the river to wreak his vengeance in the form of an enormous alligator. After the giant alligator gorily kills several natives and guests in punishment for his people’s betrayal, the terrified Koona tribe repent and side with their god. Meanwhile photographer Daniel Nessel (Cassinelli) and beautiful resort worker Alice (Bach) spot the creature but are too late to avert the carnage as Kroona – with his people now terrified into compliance – paddles down river in order to take his bloody revenge on the rich whites who have dared to invade his domain.

Although indebted in itself to Jaws, in fairness The Big Alligator River did predate (if not necessarily influence) a fair few pictures in its own right. Indeed in the decade or so that followed a veritable crocodile stew of horror and exploitation efforts featuring the reptilian predators from the depths would bubble up to the surface. The most significant of these would undoubtedly be Lewis Teague’s popular semi-comic Alligator (1980) which in turn spawned its own belated and forgettable sequel in the form of Jon Hess’ forgettable Alligator II: The Mutations (1991). Elsewhere viewers seeking more giant, killer crocodile orientated cheese could always check out director Sompote Sands’ budget deprived American/Thai co-production Crocodile (aka – Chorake) (1981) or the ultra trashy Italian efforts Killer Crocodile (1989) and Killer Crocodile II (1990) both directed back to back by Fabrizio De Angelis and following squarely in the footsteps of the Martino film. Even by the dawn of the 21st century the killer crocodile/alligator motif still had enough legs to see Lake Placid (1999) pull a respectable $56,000,000 at the international box office and to give life to Tobe Hooper’s woeful straight to video effort Crocodile (2000). Whilst on the subject of Hooper it should also be noted that a giant, man-eating crocodile also featured prominently in Death Trap (aka – Eaten Alive) (1976) – Hooper’s ill fated and often underrated attempt to repeat the success of his previous southern fried genre classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

Director Sergio Martino’s real calling in the film industry lay with the Italian giallo murder mystery thrillers. This prolific subgenre really hit its stride in earnest during the mid seventies and Martino would be at its forefront delivering memorable gialli such as the classic All The Colors Of The Dark (1972), the bizarrely entitled Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key (also 1972) and the visceral Torso (1974). As the demand for giallo’s waned in the mid seventies Martino proved his worth as a capable jack of all trades filmmaker who was able to turn his hand to most exploitation subgenres with solid results. His grasp of the pulp Boys Own adventure yarn was particularly impressive and it is thanks to this that The Big Alligator River rises above its rather silly and generic post-Jaws narrative to stand as a disposable but nonetheless entertaining piece of Italian trash cinema.

Speaking truthfully The Big Alligator River is mightily familiar stuff replete with dated and xenophobic racial stereotyping , bongo drums pounding away ten to the dozen and of course the underlying moral subtext about white encroachment upon the unblemished paradises of the third world which every single film of this sort of ilk seems duty bound to tack on, regardless of whether their makers actually care about it or otherwise. It is also safe to say that The Big Alligator River has its roots planted firmly in a far less politically correct social climate than that of today. Indeed its racial politics viewed now seem, positively archaic as Martino and company transform the initially “civilised” and peaceable Koona tribe into a stereotypical gaggle of murderous spear chuckers the minute their primitive, blood craving god pokes his jaws above the rivers surface.

However, if the viewer can set aside these more or less obligatory shortcomings (which were par for the course for Italian jungle based exploitation flicks back then) and approach The Big Alligator River purely as a pulp adventure yarn then they will in all likelihood find The Big Alligator River a trashily entertaining way to kill an hour and a half. This is thanks principally to the spirited direction of the versatile Martino, commendably high production values and the mostly exuberant efforts put forth by a salvo of capable hands both in front of and behind the camera. Martino wisely hurries the narrative along as fast as is decently possible spending no more time than is necessary on the exposition which is sometimes bogged down in a little too much cheesy, cornball dialog. Additionally The Big Alligator River is given added flavour by evocatively menacing underwater photography and fine cinematography from regular Martino collaborator Giancarlo Ferrando who uses the beautiful flora and picture postcard views of the Sri Lankan shooting locations to lend of touch of welcome A-movie gloss to the decidedly B-movie narrative.

Whatever the viewer might make of The Big Alligator River it certainly could not be said (at least truthfully) that Martino and his cronies have short-changed the viewer when it comes to the amount of gory gator carnage on display. On the contrary the titular alligator god Kroona’s attacks are not only plentiful and often but are also effectively executed especially when you take into account the obvious limitations of both budget and technology. Cursed with what is blatantly a crap, lifeless inflatable Martino bridges around the problem via ominous alligator POV shots and conveys the attacks via effective rapid editing techniques that rarely show much more than the creatures gaping maw or scaly gaze mixed in with the reaction shots of its victims. On the rare occasions we do catch a glimpse of Kroona in plain view the films trashy roots are exposed, but in a sense this only adds to the sense of cheesy charm. Either way it is in the final act that The Big Alligator River really comes into its own as Martino’s giant plastic gator drifts down river in order to munch on Joshua’s hapless guests. Although Kroona’s resultant rugby score of victims result in nothing more than the sight of bloodied water (alas no gloating close ups of detached limbs here folks) the snapping of the gator gods jaws upon each successive unfortunate is accompanied by a very nasty crunching noise on the soundtrack.

If this is not enough to justify a viewing then Martino surely sells The Big Alligator River to hardcore European horror and trash cinema aficionados by assembling a virtual who’s who of familiar Italian exploitation faces. Veteran star Mel Ferrer could very often be spotted offering a supporting turn in Italian made horror and trash exports at this time, usually going about his duties in blatantly nonplussed fashion in films ranging from Alberto De Martino’s lurid Exorcist clone The Antichrist (aka – L’Anticristo) (1974) all the way through to Umberto Lenzi’s bizarre zombie effort Nightmare City (1980). It is a pleasant surprise then to find that Ferrer brings a little more enthusiasm to the table in The Big Alligator River,m the role of scumbag millionaire Joshua seemingly giving him a little more to get his teeth into than he was used to during his long tenure in Italian exploitation. Elsewhere the ever lovely Barbara Bach makes for mighty fine eye candy and Claudio Cassinelli handles the male hero duties without resorting to any ridiculous action man posturing. Tragically Cassinelli would meet his untimely death several years later in a helicopter accident which occurred, ironically enough, during production of Sergio Martino’s post apocalyptic action yarn Fists Of Steel (1986). On a distinctly more amusing note the acting honours for The Big Alligator River are stolen by almost unrecognisable British acting legend (and fellow Italian trash cinema regular) Richard Johnson who overacts gloriously in a brief, essentially pointless but highly entertaining cameo as a barmy Ben Gun style missionary. Lovers of Italian horror might also want to keep an eye out for black American character actor Bobby Rhodes who would later appear much more memorably as a black pimp in Lamberto Bava’s gorehound favourite Demons (1986). It should be noted that most of the principal cast of The Big Alligator River are actually carryovers from Martino’s earlier Island Of The Fishmen with Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli and Richard Johnson all starring in both films.

To adopt a straight face and then describe The Big Alligator River as more than the sum of its parts would frankly be an outright lie. With its typical post-Jaws narrative filtered through the Italian exploitation industries typically crass approach to racial stereotyping and hankering for lots of gratuitous carnage The Big Alligator River is pretty much everything except for original. What it does however succeed in doing is proving that familiarity doesn’t always necessarily breed contempt. Although fairly inessential The Big Alligator River is still seldom anything less than entertaining in its own trashy kind of way as Martino’s lively direction, a great cast, lush production values and plenty of bloody carnage ensure that the voyage down The Big Alligator River is a largely enjoyable jaunt for fans of Italian exploitation hokum.

Also Try… Killer Crocodile / Killer Crocodile II / Crocodile (1981, Sompote Sands) / Tentacles / Jaws / Alligator (1980, Lewis Teague) / Alligator II: The Mutations / Lake Placid.

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