Killer Crocodile (1989)
Directed by Larry Ludman (Fabrizio De Angelis)
Starring Anthony Crenna, Ann Douglas, Van Johnson, Thomas Moore (Ennio Girolami), Sherrie Rose, Julian Hampton

If anybody watches Killer Crocodile and expects some high-tech, big budgeted film, then they are going to be very disappointed. Come on people, the title alone says it all…pure cheesy entertainment. But even better, this cheese comes from Italy.

Director Fabrizio De Angelis is probably best known for his role as producer. He was behind some of the classic Italian horror in the 80’s, like Fulci’s Zombie (1979) and House by the Cemetery (1981), as well as other greats like Zombi Holocaust (1980) and 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982). Here he steps behind the camera to direct this very much ‘inspired’ film about a very large crocodile. If you can’t figure out what it was inspired by, just wait until you hear the music. The crocodile and effects were done by another guy famous well known to fans of Italian horror: Giannetto De Rossi. For his work alone, this should be watched.

Now I do have to say, that no matter how cheesy the crocodile looked, since I’m still harboring a fear of aquatic terrors thanks to Jaws, I do get a little edgy with these types of movie. So you have to take that into account on how ‘effective’ I might think this movie is.

The story deals with some of those goody-two-shoes kids that are investigating the water in a local swampland village, that seems to be showing signs of contamination. It seems that somebody has been dumping some toxic waste there. I’d make a good guess that this could be the possibly cause of the mutation of one of the crocodiles, causing to become very large. At one point in the movie, one person says it’s about 15 meters long, which I believe is close to 45 feet…that’s one hell of a croc.

As usual with a lot of these low budget Italian films, the dialog is great. Whether it’s the dubbing that’s not quite accurate, or simply the written dialog, it’s always entertaining. Right after losing one of their companions who is eaten by this giant croc, when the authority wants to kill it, these tree-hugging environmentalists do not want it to be killed, saying, “We’re against killing of any kind!.” Of course, once a few more of their members become croc food, they turn so fast it’d make Ted Nugent proud.

There are plenty of crocodile-cam shots with the POV shot moving at the top of the water, either watching it’s next victim, or going in for the kill. For me, I’ve always found those effective and can really put the viewer on the edge of their seats. The croc may not move around enough to be totally convincing, I think it looks pretty realistic.  Or at least for what it’s supposed to be.

So once again, if you’re looking for a serious film, don’t bother. But if you are a fan of these low-budget Italian horrors, then I can’t recommend this one enough. Between the dialog, the giant croc, and the gore, you can’t go wrong.