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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better than "Eaten Alive", June 9, 2004
I can't say for certain whether Tobe Hooper's film "Crocodile" was the one to kick off the spate of low budget beastie flicks currently plaguing video store shelves. It might have been the one, though, since Hooper's activities have been known to attract copycats. Perhaps this director is simply ripping off his own work, as he was the one who made the atrocious "Eaten Alive" back in the late 1970s. That film involved a killer crocodile (or was it an alligator?) wreaking havoc in the bayous of Louisiana. Well, "Crocodile" is a much, much better film than "Eaten Alive," but it isn't anything to brag about to your friends. It's sort of sad that Hooper's film career has had more downs than ups. "Crocodile" will probably not rescuitate his flagging career. While the movie is often fun to watch, we need to be honest with ourselves and admit that we have seen this all before. Aside from "Eaten Alive," the 1970s and early 1980s saw a huge number of similarly themed films. You had alligators roaming through sewers, piranhas preying on swimmers, and sharks shutting down beaches. I'm guessing these movies have something to do with the human need to believe in civilization. By conquering whatever nature can throw at it, humanity proves its own inestimable worth and confirms its position as ruler of the earth.Before we can believe we are truly superior, we must make the requisite number of sacrifices to nature. In the case of "Crocodile," that means a bunch of college age kids heading out to a lake for a few days of summer fun. You've got Brady (Mark McLachlan), Claire (Caitlin Martin), Duncan (Chris Solari), Kit (D.W. Reiser), Annabelle (Julie Mertz), Sunny (Sommer Knight), Foster (Rhett Jordan), and Hubs (Greg Wayne) serving as the soon to be victims. The lead up to the massacre involves the mandatory relationship problems, overweening egos, and general bad behavior one expects from America's youth. For example, Claire is a nice girl just hoping to share a few precious moments with her lovebird Brady, but finds it difficult to hang out with him when his obnoxious friends show up. Too, Sunny has designs on Brady; designs that she hoped would find fulfillment on the trip before she knew Claire was coming along. Of course, Sunny and Brady have a little secret of their own that could cause serious problems for Claire. Yet, it is easy to forget such trivialities when the sun comes out, the water turns warm, and the alcohol flows like a river. Unbeknownst to our eight happy campers, something horrible lurks in the deep waters of the lake. Two insufferable fishermen first encounter this beast when they stumble over a nest of crocodile eggs on the shoreline. Being the ecologically minded souls that they are, the two yucks start throwing the eggs around, breaking the shells while they laugh maniacally. Sadly for the fishermen the mother croc turns up at an inopportune time, making her presence known in no uncertain terms by gulping up one of the fools in a single bite. The kids, camping some distance away, here the calamity but think nothing of it at first. They do find the nest the next day, and once again humans start mucking around with the croc's potential offspring. One of the kids hides an egg in Claire's bag, much to her chagrin later. Soon after, the crocodile finally makes herself known to the youths by destroying their houseboat and chasing them overland for miles. Shrieks, the beating of chests, and the tearing of hair follow all to no avail. The beast turns out to be the size of a blimp with the ability to run at mach speeds. Our heroes and heroines begin to drop off one by one, overwhelmed by the brute force of nature run amok. To explain the presence of this creature, some bunkum story emerges that a local resident brought giant crocodiles over from Egypt years before, but the kids don't really care about that once the bloodletting begins. They just want to get away with their lives. Some will, of course, but more won't. "Crocodile" is so formulaic that we can guess from the get go how it will wrap up. The general plot is rather pedestrian. The acting is, too, although it could be worse-and often is-in a film from this sub genre. The worst actor in the production has to be Sheriff Bowman (Harrison Young), the local cop who initially harasses the kids and then tries to save them. His leering, hammy performance didn't help the movie in any way. What really sets Hooper's movie apart from all the other efforts of the '70s and '80s are the special effects. Depicting an enormous crocodile with the ability to destroy civilization has to have shock and awe production values, so the filmmakers turned to CGI effects to realize their creation. A computer animated crocodile works most of the time, but occasionally looks a little cheesy. For instance, when the animal leaps over a boat sailing across the lake the effect looked like a computer animation. The techs did a better job when the crocodile attacks people. Pay attention to the scenes on the dock and on the boat. Good grief! The "Crocodile" disc include a few trailers, a behind the scenes look at the special effects, interviews, and a commentary track with Tobe Hooper. I should say that the problems with "Crocodile" pale in comparison with the inherent difficulties found in low budget dreck like the "Shark Attack" films. Here's to hoping Tobe Hooper can revitalize his flagging career; he will have to do better than this movie, but it's a step in the right direction. Give it a watch.
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