'Gator Bait (1974)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Directors:

Beverly Sebastian
Ferd Sebastian

Writer:

Beverly Sebastian (writer)

Release Date:

June 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Unless they get her first... she'll never let them out alive!

Plot:

Desiree lives deep in the swamp and supports herself and her siblings by poaching. Ben and deputy Billy...

Plot Keywords:

Swamp | Sheriff | Poaching | Cajun | Violence

Cast

Claudia Jennings	...	Desiree Thibodeau
Sam Gilman	...	T.J. Bracken
Douglas Dirkson	...	Leroy Bracken
Clyde Ventura	...	Deputy - Billy Boy
Bill Thurman	...	Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
Don Baldwin	...	Pete Bracken
Ben Sebastian	...	Ben Bracken
Janit Baldwin	...	Julie
Tracy Sebastian	...	Big T

Also Known As:

Gator Bait (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:(Banned) | Denmark:16 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Australia:R | UK:18 (video rating) (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Sebastian Films Limited

Movie Connections:

Followed by 'Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice (1988)

Not quite as pathetic as it looks.

The cover of ‘Gator Bait makes it look like a ridiculous, mindless film with few redeeming qualities other than an abundance of inexplicable nudity. While there is nudity in the film (and unnecessary nudity, at that), it is a relatively low quantity of it, and there are even a few elements of the film that were well done – even if extremely few.

The acting on all parts was just awful, but some performances were less idiotic than others. While it's true that the line `Boys will be boys' was uttered in response to an attempted rape, and one of the men attempting to capture Desiree actually SHOOK HIS FIST at her in one scene, it's not entirely the actors' faults that this movie was impossible to take seriously. Nope, even if ineffectively, all of the actors delivered honest performances – it's the SCREENWRITER that should be drug out into the street and shot. And the cinematographer was no genius either. The day-for-night photography was some of the worst I've ever seen – even worse than that seen in Dr. No, which was filmed 14 years earlier than ‘Gator Bait. Also, there is so much ridiculous dialogue in this movie that it becomes a form of comic relief in itself (`Leroy, you pick that boy up or I'm gonna blow yer head off!'). And I better not even get started on Desiree's laughable lines.

It's no secret that ‘Gator Bait is cheese. Everything about the film is ugly – especially those damn actors. Some of these guys are so ugly that sometimes it's hard to believe that they're real people. But despite this, they make for an effective team of angry (and excessively horny) rednecks, and the way that they get picked off one by one by this country girl not only provides an ironic bit of an interesting story, but also illustrates the extent of their collective stupidity. In the final shot of the film, with Pa standing in the swamp, the camera tilts slowly down to his reflection on the water, providing an unexpected hint toward meaningful direction.

But for the most part, this is garbage. You just can't take something like this seriously at all. Let me put it in the immortal words of the great Sam Gerard, `Who's the ugliest, dumbest, most inbred country son of a bitch out here?' Well, whoever that person is, he or she is sure to get a kick out of ‘Gator Bait.