Killer Crocodile

Killer Crocodile

Genre: Horror, Giant Monster, Adventure

Original title: Killer crocodile - Coccodrillo assassino

Director: Fabrizio De Angelis

Year: 1989

A group of environmentalists arrives at a faraway tropical delta where toxic waste is being dumped. However the water also hides a giant crocodile. The corrupt local officials don't help much either.

This creature-feature is directed by Fabrizio De Angelis who's best known for being producer on some of Lucio Fulci's most famous films such as Zombie, The Boyond & The New York Ripper. Under the pseudonym of Larry Ludman he'd direct a string of mostly forgotten about genre films around the mid 80s such as Karate Warrior & Thunder. 

So here we have another Jaws style cash-in done with little money & little talent. yet Killer Crocodile still manages to generate a certain amount of charm to make things worthwhile. The acting & editing are pretty terrible at the best of times but the Crocodile effects are actually pretty damn solid. They do make the big mistake of revealing too much of their giant prop by not cutting away fast enough which gives away any faults, but for a picture like this it was actually impressive.

The plot, whilst predictable moves along at a decent pace & remains semi entertaining. The cast lack personality and mostly just act as fodder for our big croc with exception of Ennio Girolami who plays this complete badass who lives near the swamp so understands the terrain & most importantly, looks like Lee Van Cleef! The environmentalists seek help & turn to him so Girolami casually jumps off his boat & lands on top of the Croc and begins to attack the beast, it's hilarious in its outrageousness & easily the best scene in the entire picture.  Sadly Girolami passed away earlier this year.  Ennio made a number of appearances in cult Italian films from Light Blast, to Tenebre & also was in all three films of the Bronx Warriors trilogy which were directed by his younger brother Enzo G. Castellari.  

You know what you are getting yourself into with these type of pictures, most of them are pretty atrocious & whilst this picture suffers from some terrible writing, bad acting & a complete lack of originality it remains mildly entertaining throughout & lovers of creature-features will no doubt get their kicks out of it.

Rating: ★★½

Ennio Girolami 1935-2013. R.I.P

The Last Shark

The Last Shark

Genre: Horror, Natural Horror, Giant Monster

Original title: L' ultimo squalo

AKA: Great White / The Last Jaws

Director: Enzo G. Castellari

Year: 1982

An enormous and angry 35 foot Great White Shark takes revenge on humans when they build a beach just for swimmers by a coastal town.

Of all the films the Italian's decided to rip-off, The Last Shark is probably the most notorious case. Shortly before the film's release, Universal Pictures filed suit against the producers, claiming the film was too similar to Jaws, and the Australian distributors, for breach of copyright regarding Peter Benchley's book "Jaws". Universal won an injunction, and the film was pulled from theaters. 

The film would eventually be released on VHS world-wide with various titles that would confuse people into believing that the picture was actually a Jaws sequel. Because of this, over the years people not accustomed to Italian films of this era have regarded it as one of the worst films ever made. This is unfair. Whilst The Last Shark is nothing special, it is for the most part a competent film. The practical effects of the shark are surprisingly decent & very rarely look less than serviceable. The surprising downfall is the dull characters that just act as a support for the shark. Director Enzo G. Castellari who tends to always have fun characters in his movies (surprisingly) fails to deliver this time round with a cast of completely unmemorable characters. 

The Natural-Horror/creature-feature genre is one which when done right can be highly enjoyable. The monster part was handled pretty well, unfortunately the lack of decent characters really drags the film down a good few notches. That said, there is still fun to be had with The Last Shark & as far these type of films go its far from being a disaster. It's certainly better than some of the official Jaws sequels that were churned out in the 80s.

Rating: ★★½

As you can see, it's nothing like jaws!