‘Alligator’ rips off ‘Jaws,’ trading the ocean for the sewers

For lovers of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, enduring the cheesy monster movie that is Alligator may be too trying. However, for those who are able to throw reason to the wind, the film is intermittently enjoyable.

Robert Forster, an Oscar nominee for Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, plays David, a Chicago police officer who is known around the force for his unorthodox ways and the unlucky fate of his partners. Investigating mysterious deaths in the city’s sewer system, he comes  across a nefarious mad scientist who uses puppies to test different chemicals and hormones. When the puppies die, they are deposited in the sewer and eaten by an alligator that continues to grow to gargantuan size. Hence, the deaths in the sewer.

Trying to help David with the case is Marisa (Robin Riker), a local animal expert who may have been the cause of the deaths in the first place. A prologue to the movie shows Marisa’s father flushing her pet baby alligator down the toilet when she was just a girl. Presumably it’s the same baby alligator that feeds  on the nuclear puppies some years later.

The whole premise is absurd; however, the characters take everything seriously, and credit should be given for the effort. The screenplay by John Sayles (yes, that John Sayles, the person who would go on to direct some exquisite dramatic features) is serviceable, but clearly a rip-off of the successful and highly more entertaining Jaws film for a few years prior. But, whereas Spielberg’s creature feature was grounded in reality and characterization, Alligator is out for cheap thrills using an impossibly fabricated plot.

Are there scares to be had in the 1980 movie? Yes. Some of the images that director Lewis Teague is able to capture are quite thrilling. One sequence sees a kid playing “walk the plank” on a diving board of a swimming pool. Lurking below is the giant alligator ready to pounce. Another scene sees the monster bust through the ground below a fire hydrant. It’s an impressive display of special effects from the time period.

If the plot were a little more believable and the movie a little more serious, Alligator would have stood the test of time. Forster is a good actor, and he plays the role straight-faced. Michael V. Gazzo is gruff and believable as the police chief. Riker shows some rookie mistakes by being a silent beauty, never intoning her words with a vivid personality. The budding relationship between David and Marisa feels strained and unearned. Plus, this is a movie titled Alligator, forget the love and get back to the thrills.

The  movie is essentially a 91-minute remake of Jaws, but unlike its inspiration, Alligator only adds up to a certain point. In this battle, I’d take the shark over the gator any day of the week.

• Alligator

• 1980

• Directed by Lewis Teague

• Written by John Sayles, based on a story by Sayles and Frank Ray Perilli

• Starring Robert Forster and Robin Riker

• Running time: 91 minutes

• Bubble score: 2.5 out of 4

• Click here to purchase Alligator on DVD.