The Great Alligator (1979)

Tourists on a tropical island anger an island god, who turns himself into a giant alligator and stalks them.

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

George Eastman (story) (as Luigi Montefiore), Cesare Frugoni

Stars:

Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli, Mel Ferrer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbara Bach	...	Alice Brandt
Claudio Cassinelli	...	Daniel Nessel
Mel Ferrer	...	Joshua
Romano Puppo	...	Peter
Fabrizia Castagnoli	...	Minou's Mother
Enzo Fisichella	...	Maurice, lover of Minou's Mother
Lory Del Santo	...	Jane
Anny Papa	...	Laura
Bobby Rhodes	...	Joshua's forman
Clara Colosimo	...	Tourist
Peter Boom	...	Tourist With Rifle
Giulia D'Angelo	...	British Tourist
Marco Mastantuono	...	British Tourist
Piero Jossa
Marco Giannoni

Storyline

A tourist resort in Africa finds itself at the mercy of a huge man-eating crocodile from a local native legend which the croc is the incarnation of a native god angered by the intrusion of the tourists on its nesting ground. After a new natives are killed and eaten, they naturally blame the tourists and set out to kill them while the survivors try to rally on a boat with the hungry crocodile in the water, and the blood-thirsty natives on land waiting for them.

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Plot Keywords:

native | tourist | island | survivor | boat | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

3 November 1979 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Alligator

Filming Locations:

Sri Lanka

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film,Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A clip of this movie is on "The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made" DVD Region 1 NTSC.

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Connections

Featured in Best of the Worst: RepliGATOR, Johnson Family Christmas Dinner, and Alligator (2016)

User Reviews

excellent jungle splatter film from the talented Sergio Martino

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.