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 THE
BIG ALLIGATOR RIVER (NoShame
Films) 1979. 86 Minutes. One big alligator messing up everyone’s day
with a lot of gore and a little nudity to spice things up. Not rated. When
Mel Ferrer, as a greedy capitalist, starts blowing up the steamy jungles
of Southeast Asia for his tropical paradise you know that things can’t
be good. To compound that, he’s taken over a small tribe that he is
trying to civilize, but the Kuma Tribe is resistant, although they won’t
turn down a nice pair of jeans after showing the tourists their sacred
fertility dances. Claudio Cassinelli stars as a photographer who is there
to take pictures of a lovely model draping herself all over the place to
help sell the whole resort idea to the public. However, he’d rather be
taking pictures of Barbara Bach who helps run the resort. Eventually, the
great god of the Kuma tribe, Kroona, a really big alligator, decides that
it has had enough of the white folk trespassing on its sacred ground.
Kroona especially doesn’t like the touristy type and it isn’t long
before it’s playing out like Martha’s Vineyard in Jaws.
Digitally remastered from the original vault negative, No Shame
Films shows us once again why they are the masters in their releases.
Sure, no one was probably beating down anyone’s doors to see this
flick, but now, presented uncut, who wouldn’t want to watch it?
Director Sergio Martino, who gave us such classics as The
Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh and Torso,
brings us another chapter in the big animal seeking revenge on the
tourists genre. Barbara Bach is as beautiful as ever and the
cinematography of the lush jungle is breathtaking and looks like it
belongs in a Rene Cardona Jr. flick. As for extras, we get the original
trailer for the film and gorgeous little booklet concerning the film,
which has become the norm for NoShame Films. There’s also an interview
with the director and the production designer, Antonello Geleng that runs
for about 30 minutes regardless of the running time of 20 minutes printed
on the box. One of the more chilling moments in the interview is when the
director recalls where they filmed the movie. He says that’s where the
big tsunami hit. After seeing all of those post tsunami pictures of the
area this film shows us how beautiful the land was before being ravaged by
the forces of nature. The movie serves as a time capsule of sorts of a
place that has been changed forever. The
Big Alligator River is proof that NoShame Films knows what they are
doing and that they want all of our money. Good job. - Douglas A. Waltz
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