BA_Harrison I've seen a lot of Jaws rip-offs and killer crocodile/alligator films over the years, and can safely say that The Great Alligator is one of the lamest (even worse than Tobe Hooper's Crocodile). Not only is it wholly unoriginal, liberally pilfering ideas from Spielberg's film, but it's also extremely boring, a shame, because director Sergio Martino can usually be relied upon to deliver a reasonably entertaining time.Martino's film is set in an unspecified tropical country, which one might assume to be in Africa based on the tribes-people and hippos, although some of the wild-life—orangutans, king cobras—suggest further east. Of course, alligators are only indigenous to the U.S. and China, so your guess is as good as mine. Anyway, in the middle of an unspoilt area rich with fauna, businessman Joshua (Mel Ferrer) has set up a luxury tourist resort, Paradise House, which promises to bring its guests closer to nature. Unfortunately, with the titular killer reptile on the loose (be it crocodile or alligator… both species are mentioned), the guests get much closer to nature than they wish for.It takes a long time before we get to see the 'great alligator', which the locals believe to be a vengeful god come to punish the white folk, but when we do it's a massive disappointment (or in the case of some of the shots, a miniature disappointment), the models inanimate and totally unconvincing. Martino should have compensated for his crappy croc (or alligator) effects with loads of splatter, but the film is relatively gore free, with just a little blood in the water and a few of the guests impaled by flaming spears when the natives go on the rampage.As if a crap croc (or alligator) and almost zero gore wasn't bad enough, the film also suffers from annoying characters. The hero, top photographer Daniel Nessel (Claudio Cassinelli), is extremely irritating, continuously snapping away randomly at whatever he can, never once taking time to alter the settings on his camera, take light readings, or adjust the focus. Snap, snap, snap he goes, using up what must be a whole suitcase of film on nothing in particular. When he's not snapping away, he's putting the moves on hotel manager Alice (Barbara Bach), whose raison d'être is to be woman in peril, offered as a sacrifice to the river god by the natives. Bach is beautiful but wooden. Worst of all are the guests, a slutty mother and her annoying ginger daughter, a guy who thinks it's funny to pretend that he has drowned, and lots of people who dance badly to terrible music.Martino ends this train-wreck of a movie with what is one of the most unintentionally funny moments in Italian exploitation: having massacred most of the guests who haven't been eaten by the croc (or alligator), the savage natives see that their river god has been blown to smithereens by Daniel, and decide to call off the killing, smiling cheerily at the remaining visitors as though nothing has happened. It's enough to give Italian schlock a bad name.

TheHrunting "The Great Alligator" is an action-adventure film that takes advantage of the tranquil scenery, humble natives and beautiful wildlife...except, of course, there's Kruna, a monstrous alligator or divine creature, that decides to go on a rampage after its habitat gets turned into a money-making machine of a hotel and resort. Take heed westerners: don't mess with nature and it won't mess back.This takes place somewhere on an isolated island with the only way to get in or "out" being boat or plane. The local inhabitants have their rituals and superstitions, and the encroaching vacationers have their drinking and dancing to get on with. The hotshot photographer, played by charismatic Claudio Cassinelli, gets a whiff of something ominous in the air, as well as the employees work discreetly behind the scenes to investigate these mysterious disappearances. Although at that point it might be too late.There are realistic characters and a few straightforward struggles are thrown in the mix between the humans. Though the alligator is the big attraction here and its on-screen presence is more comical than scary, as instead of being portrayed as this mysterious, what-if beast it almost becomes a caricature along the lines of "Jaws 2" where it can be anywhere and everywhere. The effects in wider shots make the gigantic gator a paralyzed battering ram as the molding used to make it doesn't flex an inch. Indeed the movie set out to be serious, this isn't going to be the equivalent of a modern day Sci-Fi channel creature feature, but it's still hard to ignore that the main attraction isn't able to even remotely nudge the safety barrier away from its audience. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

Chase_Witherspoon The inhabitants of a remote South American village worship a prehistoric alligator god that is part reptile and mostly mythology. When a resort opens to tourists, they run afoul the tribe and their protective 'god'. Fortunately, hotel manager Bach also holds a degree in archaeology and can interpret all the signals with astonishing accuracy. It's also helpful that some of the tribesman speak English remarkably well. Cassinelli is the no-nonsense photographer who begins to suspect the natives are restless, a plea that falls on the deaf ears of Mel Ferrer as the consortium's rather passive financier.As for the alleged "great" alligator, looking more like a piece of driftwood with beaming torch-lights for eyes, it's far from an impressive or especially menacing looking specimen; even still, the sub-continental "natives" all have panic attacks at the mere thought of encountering the great rubber log. One-time Bond girl and Italian eco-horror staple Bach, quickly loses her safari suit, eventually succumbing to the locals as a sacrificial offering to their 'god', and it's left to the anti-hero of Martino's trilogy, the remarkably relaxed-looking Claudio Cassinelli, to do all the work himself. It's somewhat disconcerting to see Cassinelli alight from the helicopter in the film's opening sequence, knowing that he would later lose his life in a helicopter crash, while filming for Martino's "Hands of Steel" in 1985. A very capable actor, who was well equipped to move between western mainstream and Italian exploitation cinema.Given that this movie was made back-to-back with Island of the Fishmen, the cast is virtually identical, and both Ferrer and Richard Johnson (in a meaningless cameo as a traumatized Christian brother) again dedicate their time, while genre fans will also recognize the brawny action-man Romano Puppo in a frivolous utility role. It's the least of Martino's jungle trilogy, with tired looking set-pieces (there's only so many times the same personnel can stage a human sacrifice and make it gripping), and extras in grass skirts courtesy of Bollywood rentals incorporated. With miniatures doing the work of the special effects department (thanks to Carlo De Marcels for lending his kids' toys) and the dim hope of redemption in Johnson's appearance confined to a pointless five-minute cameo, there's not a great deal to recommend "The Great Alligator".

Michael A. Martinez Obviously a stylized foreign film like this would fly right over the heads of American audiences.The late Claudio Cassinelli stars as a photographer who (with his girlfriend Barbara Bach - wife of Ringo Starr) helps to combat a giant alligator god "Kruna" from destroying a multi-million dollar tourist trap (in more ways than one) in Africa somewhere. Of course their exploits are further complicated when the local tribesmen decide to go on a violent killing spree and slaughter nearly all the annoying tourists. (yay!) Mel Ferrer (Audrey Hepburn's hubby) also stars as the greedy landlord of the resort, who lives just long enough to see his dreams of wealth and high society burning to the ground.I really loved this movie; excellent Stelvio Cipriani 70's jungle music and some cutting-edge Giancarlo Ferrando camerawork gave this a uniquely cruel and menacing atmosphere. The alligator is great looking and the death scenes are done with great skill and panache. Great cast too, with small parts played by Bobby Rhodes, Richard Johnson, and Romano Puppo. Would have been Sergio Martino's best film if not for 2019 - After the Fall of New York. Not to mention an extremely high bodycount and a slick script co-written by George Eastman (!), Ernesto Gastaldi, Cesare Frugoni, and several others.Martino went on to ruin his career with such turkeys as Mani di Pietra (HANDS OF STEEL) and CASABLANCA EXPRESS.BTW - at one point the characters do express surprise that Kruna is an alligator, not a crocodile thank you very much.Highly recommended.