Locals tell tales of the legendary “Crocodylus” that roams a lake in Florida. Meanwhile, Allie (Rachel Comeau) contacts a sleazy detective (Chuck Fusca) to find her missing brother. Seems he was dying of cancer and took an experimental drug laced with crocodile DNA and then suddenly disappeared. Gee… do you think he could’ve turned into a crocodile man and gone on a rampage?
Apparently, this is a sequel to Crocodylus, a movie I hadn’t seen before. Luckily, there’s enough exposition by the characters that made me feel sufficiently caught up on things. I mean, I guess I could’ve gone ahead and watched the first film beforehand, but I’m the kind of guy who sees the words “Mating Season” in the title of a creature feature and immediately hits PLAY on that sucker.
I wasn’t expecting this to be so much fun, but it really is a breath of fresh air. After so many SyFy Channel movies featuring shoddy CGI, it’s refreshing to find one where the monster looks like it came out of a Roger Corman movie… from the ‘50s. (Actually, it looks like a pretty close replica of the monster from Track of the Moon Beast.) It still contains all the green-tinted POV shots you’d expect from something like this, but Mating Season also has the novelty of including “Mouth Cam” during a scene where some swimmers are eaten.
It’s also nice when one of these things doesn’t take itself too seriously. It has some genuinely funny moments and memorable characters too. From the boat captain who dresses and talks like a pirate to the down-on-his-luck private eye (who has a Jedi training certificate hanging in his office), nearly everyone in the cast is fun to watch. Usually, with something like this, you’re laughing at how bad it is. I was pleasantly shocked to find so many laugh-out-loud gags and gut-busting moments. (Like the lovemaking scene between the two leads or when the monster interrupts a guy putting suntan lotion on a girl’s back.) Sure, not all the jokes land, and it probably could’ve stood to be seventy-five minutes instead of eighty-five. That in no way detracts from the fun.
So, if you like monster movies that take themselves way too seriously and are full of unnecessary CGI, then steer clear of Crocodylus: Mating Season. However, if you’re looking for a creature feature with a Zucker Brothers sense of humor and knowingly silly make-up and effects, you’re going to love it. It’s one of the best of its kind and a certified modern classic.
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