Alligator II - Die Mutation

This serviceable follow-up to the original ALLIGATOR has absolutely nothing to do with that movie – other than featuring an alligator living in the sewers of a US city. I actually found this a fun, tongue-in-cheek little monster movie that works around the low budget to deliver a pacy, entertaining film with a strong script to recommend it. It's closer to PIRANHA than JAWS in tone, with the usual stock characters showing up: the rookie cop, the greedy property developer, the ignorant mayor and the dedicated law enforcer on the tail of the beast (literally in this case).

The worst thing about the film is the alligator itself. It's a combination of stock footage from the original film and an absolutely rubbishy pair of rubber jaws pushed at the intended victims. The poor FX and distant lack of bloodshed make the various attack sequences a real let-down, but that's okay because what happens when the alligator isn't on-screen is more interesting than it is.

The clichéd characters are brought to life by a wonderful ensemble cast of familiar faces. Joseph Bologna is well cast as the likable cop doing his best to catch the best; I also liked Woody Brown as the young, inexperienced, square-jawed hero. Dee Wallace Stone (THE HOWLING) finds herself wasted as the cop's wife with nothing to do, but the stunning Holly Gagnier has more fun playing the mayor's daughter. The scene chewing is left to a pair of dedicated B-movie veterans.

First up is Steve Railsback (TURKEY SHOOT), excellent as the utterly repulsive villain of the piece; second we have Richard Lynch playing one of those half-crazed redneck hunter types. Other familiar faces include Brock Peters as the black chief of police, Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder, as an alligator hunter and Voyo Goric (a Russian villain in RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART 2) as a henchman. This isn't a great film by any means, but I found it a more than entertaining effort considering the budget.

An alligator gets into a lake and eats people while a crooked land developer tries to evict people from their homes.

This movie is strictly B level, by the numbers stuff with nothing really to differentiate it from the million other creature features that exist. That said, its harmless and mindless enough that you can watch it and be pleasantly entertained for 90 minutes. You aren't going to remember it or care, but at least you won't feel like your life has been sucked out by a terrible piece of garbage that was only designed to steal your money and leave you an empty husk of humanity devoid of soul or purpose.

I had heard several stories that there was another Alligator to the first Alligator and at first I thought it was a sequel to the first. Boy was I so very wrong. I will admit the first one scared me to death but the second one I was laughing in the floor. At times you could see right through the model that it wasnt real. The one scene that gave it away was the scene where the Alligator went to the carnival and turned it out. While he was busy chomping away you know in Alligator Ramone got just plain down and dirty with his victims, with this Alligator you could just hear the noises that was not even corresponding in sequence with the chomping noises that was supposedly coming from this gator. As for the cajun hunter well he almost stole the show especially when the evil villian got eaten by the big bad gator he made a reference like, Damn I didnt even get my money I thought I was going to come to tears laughing at all the drama from this sequence of the first one. And to think its rumored that this goes all the way to Alligator 9-oh boy this just puts the first to shame.-Well anyway nice try but I will stick to Alligator thank you. Long live Sayle.

A giant, aquatic creature is swimming through the water, attacking and rendering unsuspecting human prey. Meanwhile, a cop tries to find the beast, while attempting to convince a greedy, spineless Mayor to cancel an upcoming celebration. Does this sound familiar? Well, it should. It's the plot of JAWS. In ALLIGATOR II: THE MUTATION, this obvious lift is just the beginning of the absurd fun. There's a slimy real estate magnate played by Steve Railsback, Joseph Bologna as the cop, and Dee Wallace as his beautiful scientist wife. Later, Richard Lynch arrives as the Quint-like alligator hunter.

It seems that someone has been pumping toxic waste into the waterways, causing the creation of the titular terror. Alas, there's a ton of meaningless exposition, including a budding romance, and a veteran cop / rookie cop "buddy film" that takes up far too much of the film's running time. However, if your taste tends toward the cheeeze-tacular, then this farcical fondue should satisfy. Mr. Lynch and his hillbilly crew are particularly rib-tickling!

On the upside, there are loads of sewer sequences, a very typically-Hollywood street gang, and a truly explosive finale. Yep, just like in that aforementioned shark movie...

1st watched 10/27/2000 - 4 out of 10 (Dir-Jon Hess): Rehash of 'Jaws' story not done near as well with of course an alligator instead of a shark. The performers try to keep it credible but it doesn't work. The alligator doesn't scare us and the story is too typical of this genre.