A
bunch of ecologists head into a swamp to investigate reports of toxic waste
dumping. They soon discover the toxic
waste has caused a crocodile to grow to ridiculous size, and it wastes little
time turning the eco-friendly eggheads into a hot lunch. They turn to the local bigwigs for help, but
since they’re all corrupt, they only want to keep a lid on things. Eventually, the environmentalists turn to a
crusty big game hunter to help take out the killer croc.
Killer
Crocodile is a gloriously dumb Jaws clone that unfortunately is only
intermittently amusing. Although there
are some obvious thematic similarities between the two pictures, the place the film
really rips off Jaws in is the music department. Composer Riz Ortolani is known for his often-beautiful
scores, but here, he just blatantly steals most of John Williams’ theme to Jaws
with only minor variations.
There
are some fun bits to be sure. Director
Fabrizio (the Thunder Warrior trilogy) De Angelis isn’t above showing the croc
in all his rubbery glory, which certainly helps. The opening unrelated croc attacks are cheesy,
and the ending is flat out stupid, and I mean that in the best way possible. Too bad much of the movie is so sluggishly
paced.
The
scenes of the ecologists trying to convince the local honchos the creature
should be protected are a tad surprising though. This is the only unpredictable stretch of the
movie. It might’ve been memorable if the
heroes successfully campaigned to keep the monster alive. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun,
but it would’ve set it apart from the glut of other killer animal flicks. Luckily for the audience, the characters eventually
come to their senses and decide to kill the sucker.
Despite
that novel little twist, there’s just too many lulls in the action to make Killer
Crocodile recommended. Fans of Animals Gone
Amuck movies and/or Italian horror hounds are sure to find something of value
here. It’s just that the highlights are few and far between.
AKA: Murder Alligator.
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