udar55 Alligator poacher Desiree Thibodeau (Claudia Jennings) finds herself on the run after a deputy falsely accuses her of killing a man he accidentally shot. Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas puts together a posse to bring her in and relies on T.J. Bracken (Sam Gilen), the dead kid's pa, to guide them through the swamp. After the group rapes and kills Desiree's sister, she uses her bayou brains to get revenge on this group. Directed by Ferd (yes, Ferd) and Beverly Sebastian, 'GATOR BAIT is a pretty enjoyable hicksploitation entry. Of course, most of the enjoyment probably comes from Jennings. Not only does she appear to do all of her own stunts and boat driving, she wears one of the skimpiest outfits in the sub-genre's history. Now I know why my friend Marty recommended it! There is actually one scene about halfway through the flick that is really shocking as well. I won't spoil it for anyone, but it certainly comes out of left field and pushes the sleaze factor completely over the edge. There is also an amusing finale revelation. The Sebastians made GATOR BAIT II: CAJUN JUSTICE fourteen years after this one. I guess that is next on my schedule.

BA_Harrison With its violent revenge theme, backwater setting, and Playboy playmate Claudia Jennings in the lead role, one might expect Gator Bait to be an unmissable 70s exploitation classic. However, with dreadful direction from Beverly and Ferd Sebastian, awful acting from just about everyone, and not nearly enough graphic violence, the movie stinks like a rotting armadillo in a stagnant pool.Jennings plays Desiree Thibodeau, a 'purty' Cajun wildcat who hunts down the dumb hicks responsible for the violent murder of her sister Julie (Janit Baldwin). Dressed in the shortest of shorts and a loosely buttoned top, the feisty beauty first traps the men in the swamp (by destroying their boats), and then proceeds to exact bloody revenge. Whilst this sounds like perfect trash entertainment, in reality Gator Bait is a tedious, drawn-out series of dull fights, (mostly) bloodless deaths, and unexciting chases.Admittedly, there are a couple of scenes which occasionally show promise (an early moment of incestuous fun between a brother and sister, the shotgun blast to Julie's cooch, and an occasional bit of welcome nudity from Jennings and Baldwin), but Gator Bait needed a far grittier approach from its makers and a willingness to get real nasty when necessary in order for it to succeed.

dcramer-1 OK, here's the deal, I got sick to death of reading lame reviews of exploitation and Eurotrash films from people who simply don't get it. These films are NOT meant to be compared to the sanitized crap Hollywood sells us. 'Gator Bait is a cult classic for a number of reasons, first of all, Claudia Jenning is hot, secondly, the Sebastians make quality low-budget dark sleaze. Most importantly, though there is little sex and violence in the film (as compared to many exploitation films) this film does not hold back. It rolls along at a good pace and is full of unlikable characters with secrets that are slowly revealed as the film plays out.The plot is fairly simple, Desiree (Claudia Jennings) is out to avenge the death of her sister... who was killed at the hands of an angry family who were led to believe that she killed a member of their family while all along it was the son of the Sheriff who had committed the crime. It's pretty much a cat and mouse story, with gorgeous and barefoot Claudia Jennings (the cat) hunting down and systematically killing the men (the mice) responsible. In many ways (as was the case with many exploitation films) the film has a strangely feminist theme to it. It turns out that Desiree is the most clever, likable, and capable character in the film. That is the frequently missed point of many exploitation films... the women (the victims of some pretty dumb and unpleasant men) are the most sympathetic and frequently brightest and strongest characters. The whole film has a deep and dark sexual undertone to it, and like most exploitation, it is not for the squeamish or the Hollywood-fed public. This is a film for people who are willing to look into darker corners. It is well acted, beautifully-shot, with a really cool Cajun theme song ("Jole Blon" rewritten), and plenty of action and outright weirdness.

coachjeffk **SPOILER ALERT** I had rented this film hoping to see a good "B" film, but I never finished watching it. I was bored within a few minutes, and couldn't stop fidgeting over the film's lack of progress. I had to shake my head in disgust and turn it off when the rednecks tried to rape the younger sister, and then shot her in the stomach with a shotgun and seeing the blood come out of her mouth. I had had enough.