A Sunday morning Creature Features favorite of mine from my early childhood, the nature gone wild classic Alligator makes a most welcomed appearance on DVD courtesy of Anchor Bay UK. Paired with its far inferior sequel Alligator 2: The Mutation in a 2-disc set, it all certainly makes for a pretty interesting package. This isn't high art here folks, so be prepared for much monster silliness. Is it as much fun to watch Alligator now, as it was when I was 12 years old? More importantly how does the quality of this low budget monster flick from the early 80's hold up on DVD? Will I ever be able to enjoy Alligator 2: The Mutation? Let's take a look and find out, shall we?

Vacationing in Florida, a young girl named Marisa and her parents are horrified as they watch a man nearly torn apart at an alligator wrestling show. Of course the logical thing to do is to buy young Marisa a baby alligator that she lovingly names Ramon. Despite the fact that the alligator is kept in an aquarium at home (and seems pretty lifeless as he sits there), Marisa's father becomes increasingly annoyed at the beast and flushes Ramon down the toilet while the unknowing Marisa is at a science fair.

Cue title card, 12 years later.

We're introduced to Officer David Madison (Robert Forster) and Chief Clark (Michael Gazzo - who shouts every line and appears to be one step away from a heart attack) who have been investigating the unexpectedly bizarre appearance of body parts washing up from the sewer system. Turns out that a local lab has been paying off a pet storeowner to supply them with puppies for some hormone experiments. In turn, the used drugged up animal carcasses are disposed of in the sewer system. Guess who's been feeding on the doped up dogs and happened to grow into an abnormal 30 - 40 foot sewer gator? Yup, you guessed it...it's Ramon!

The cops think that the body parts are remnants of a serial killers handy work so David and a young rookie venture forth into the sewers to do a little investigating. The two encounter Ramon (natch) and the poor dispensible rookie doesn't make it out alive. David wakes up in a hospital rambling wildly about a giant gator in the sewer, but of course no one believes him. That is until a nosy reporter ventures into the sewers himself and snaps some pictures of Ramon, just before he chows down on him. At this point the town is on high alert with a plan to flush Ramon out of the sewer (apparently by banging pots and pans) and surly Detective Brock (Henry Silva) is brought in to help the efforts. They never find Ramon in the sewer (he's pretty crafty for a gator) and are about to give up on the whole giant gator thing until Ramon does finally make an unexpected public appearance, busting through the streets and breaking up a friendly game of childhood stickball.

David's defiance to follow Brock's orders ultimately gets him kicked off the force. Not content to let the gator's rampage continue, he sets out to put an end to Ramon's reign of terror once and for all (on the force or not) with the help of a pretty young teacher/reptile lover named Marisa. Yes, the same Marisa (played by Robin Riker) who's father is responsible for Ramon's rampage (oh sweet delicious irony!).

The beauty of Alligator lies primarily within its impressive low-key special effects and its deep-rooted cynicism and briskly sprinkled elements of social commentary. Corruption is everywhere in the world of Alligator and for the most part Ramon chomps down on the elitist and corrupt, that is except for a few minor innocents including a few officers and in one disturbing scene, a young child. The film speaks out on the corruption in society and animal experimentation all the while remaining at its heart, a monster flick. While not overly gory, Alligator contains a few unforgettable set pieces including an all too white wedding that ends in a glorious bloodbath at the hands (or shall I say chompers) of Ramon.

Like I said earlier, Alligator is not high art. It's a cool monster flick and best of all there are no computer effects to be found. Each time Ramon hits the screen he's either mechanical or a baby alligator on a miniature set and the amazing thing about it all is how surprisingly well it's pulled off. The effects aren't all seamless and the added clarity of DVD will allow the viewer to notice some slight flaws in its craftsmanship, but overall the effects are mightily impressive and still hold up quite well to this day. This flick easily knocks the socks off some recent killer gator epics (Lake Placid anyone?). Alligator isn't gonna change your world, but it's a fun flick that doesn't overstay its welcome.

The less impressive Alligator 2: The Mutation comes across unfortunately as a boring and mostly unimpressive retread. Once again, chemicals are being dumped and once again an alligator has experienced abnormal growth. This time around the gator terrorizes an unnamed lakeside resort. In addition to the gator, the police also have to deal with a corrupt land developer (whom the mayor inexplicably hangs around with) and a group of renegade gator hunters led by resident character actor David Lynch. What the original Alligator brought forth in charm and cinematic charisma, The Mutation spits up as chunks of yesterdays leftovers. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING about this film makes much sense and there are so many lose ends, I wouldn't even know where to begin. The all star (?) cast includes Joseph Bologna, Dee Wallace Stone and the aforementioned appearance of Richard Lynch. Everyone here sleepwalks through his or her roles in order to collect a paycheck. The other star of the flick (the alligator) doesn't make nearly enough appearances and ironically enough, looks cheaper and much less impressive than Ramon from 11-years earlier.

The Mutation attempts to match the sarcastic wit and level of social commentary of its brethren, but unfortunately fails miserably in the process. The lakeside resort, impending celebration and defiance of the mayor to shut things down wreak too much of an in your face JAWS rip-off, this alone is hard to get past, not to mention its repeated attempts at light comedy that just fall flat. Add to the mix an extreme lack of gore and sporadic inconsequential gator appearances; this flick begs the question of "who the hell gives a shit?" The original Alligator is a much better looking, acted and executed film, The Mutation just pales in comparison. Also of note, The Mutation could very well contain one of the worst synthesized film scores I have ever hear, simply abysmal.

The original Alligator is presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer and the result is nothing short of a miracle. With absolutely no evidence of print damage and only the slightest hint of grain in just a few scenes, Alligator looks spectacular on this DVD. Colors are extremely vivid and black levels are dead on. Darker scenes in the sewer with minimal light and fog are handled extremely well; this is an exceptionally clear and vivid transfer. If it weren't for the flick having such a dated look (cars, clothes etc.) it actually looks like it could have been shot yesterday, simply stunning. The Mutation is given similar treatment and looks equally as nice, for what it's worth.

As if the splendid picture quality weren't enough, Alligator sports no less than 3 separate audio options. Choices include Dolby 2.0, 5.1 or DTS-ES! Normally I don't go for the manufactured souped up mono to digital surround soundtracks but in this instance, it's not half bad. Audio is punched up just a little, not much in the way of directional effects, just some added oomph in ambient sounds and gator growls. If you decide to go with one of the punched up tracks I'd say stick with the 5.1, the DTS track is a bit too aggressive... the louder it gets, the more distorted and ear piercing it gets. Still, the original 2.0 track is more than a viable option, sporting nice clear dialogue and absolutely no distortion, background noise or hiss. Same deal with The Mutation, excellent audio and a bit of a wider range this time around with the revamped surround tracks as well.

Extras include trailers for Alligator and Alligator 2 (even the trailer makes this flick look unappealing) film notes and a few bios. Alligator also sports a feature length audio commentary with director Lewis Teague and actor Robert Forster. The moderated commentary is interesting enough, if not a bit on the slow side. Still, it's definitely worth at least one good listen for fans of the flick.

Overall, this is an impressive A/V package. I can't imagine ever wanting to sit down with The Mutation again, but I suppose for historical purposes it's nice to have around. As an import, this set can be rather pricey costing about 25 bucks if ordered directly from the UK. With my luck, they'll be a US release right around the corner, but until then I'm very happy with this purchase. For fans this IS the edition of Alligator that you should not do without.

This is a PAL Region 2 release, so in order to play this DVD in the states, you will need a compatible DVD player.