Alligator
Tags: tragedy, cult, violence

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a little girl attending an alligator stunt show with her parents on a vacation in Florida. The crowd watches as men perform daredevil interactions with the gators until one of them gets taken by surprise and mauled by one of the alligators. The crowd responds with lurid fascination, and the proprietors of the attraction are selling baby alligators to the patrons. The little girl buys one and takes it home with her to Chicago, where she places it in an aquarium and names it Ramon. Her friendship with Ramon is short lived, however, when her father flushes Ramon down the toilet in a fit of rage about something. Ramon emerges in the Chicago sewers intact.The film flashes forward to present times (12 years later), where we meet a Chicago police detective named David Madison (Robert Forster). Madison is a cop trying to make good again after a bungled operation that left his partner dead. Human body parts start showing up in the city's water filtration systems, and Madison takes a young rookie down into the sewer to investigate for signs of foul play. While they are down there, they get attacked by the culprit: an enormous alligator is living in the sewers, presumably Ramon, now grown to a monstrous length of 36 feet. Madison escapes but his partner is killed by the gator, leading to more suspicion and the possible ruination of his career.He enlists the aid of Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker), a zooligist specializing in reptiles; Marisa happens to be the little girl from the introduction, the one who was so interested in alligators and whose father flushed hers down the toilet. At first she is skeptical and refuses to believe that an alligator could survive in the sewers of Chicago, but another victim goes missing in the sewers and his camera is turned up with photographic evidence of the monster.Madison links the mysterious activity in the sewer to a pharmaceutical company performing experiments with hormones. The company has been injecting dogs with serum intended to accelerate their growth. When finished with their "specimens", mostly dogs that have been acquired by illegal means and killed in the process, they give the carcasses to a shady character who dumps them into the sewer. Hence, the alligator has been feeding on these dead dogs for years, consuming the growth hormones within them and therefore growing to gigantic proportions.Eventually the alligator, disturbed by all the sudden activity in its area of the sewer, emerges from underground and rampages through the city. Many people are attacked, and although Madison has been lambasted by the police force, he is out to get the alligator for revenge.The city makes numerous attempts to stop the gator, including a pompous big game hunter they enlist to kill it. The plan backfires when the gator ambushes the hunter in an alley and eats him. In an ironic turn of events, the owner of the pharmaceutical company finds a black tie event at his mansion interrupted by a visit from the monstrous gator, who attacks a number of his party guests and kills him in his own limousine.Finally Madison and Marisa enact a plan when the alligator makes its way back to the sewer; Madison follows him down there with a bomb, and Marisa stays topside to make sure Madison's exit manhole stays clear. Madison is almost killed when a woman stops her car right on top of the manhole and blocks his exit, but they manage to get him out in the nick of time. Ramon is blown to smithereens when the bomb goes off, but we see another baby alligator emerge in the sewer from a drainpipe, presumably flushed down there by another unfriendly owner.

Review: Daughter has grown up to become a 5'-4" herpetologist for the Chicago Zoo. You can just hear the haunting whistle of an Ennio Morricone soundtrack as the showdown looms.This monster flick's pedigree is a purebred B, written by Corman alumnus John Sayles (fresh from 1978's 'Piranha', on his way to 1981's 'The Howling') and directed by veteran Lewis Teague, who cut his directing and editing teeth on such Corman classics as 'The Lady In Red', 'Cockfighter', 'Crazy Mama', and the immortal 'Death Race 2000'.Casting for 'Alligator' was made in Cult Heaven, with Tarantino-fave Robert Forster as the bad-luck cop who gets between the girl and her gator.
First there was Jaws then Piranha both great movies and then in 1980 there was a giant Alligator film written by John Sayles who wrote Piranha and The Howling, using the urban legend of Alligators flushed down into the sewers and becoming giant due to the stuff in there they made a great B-movie with an Alligator twice it's normal size.
Much to my surprise this was a good thrilling monster movie with just the  right amount of tongue and cheek to make the far fetched premise acceptable; ie the idea that an alligator this big could slip in and out of the sewers with out being detected.
Ramon, the cute little baby gator who gets flushed into the sewers of Chi-town eats some dead dogs on super-steroids, and becomes a giant, ravenous walking handbag with teeth.
Robert Forster("The Black Hole", "Delta Force", "Satan's Princess") is our balding, square-jawed hero; Robin Riker("Buffy the Vampire Slayer" tv series, "Dead Badge")plays the snuggly herpatologist; Henry Silva("Chained Heat", "Megaforce", "Amazon Women on the Moon") plays a surly big-game hunter; Michael Gazzo("The Godfather II", "Sudden Impact") is the over-worked police chief; Dean Jagger("Twelve O'Clock High", "X: The Unknown", "Game of Death")is the evil corporate bigwig who gets smooshed in his own limo; Sydney Lassick("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Shakes the Clown", "Fast Walking")is a twisted pooch purveyor who gets pulverized.
Alligator takes place in Chicago, in which a giant alligator that was flushed down in the toilet by a little girl's father, years later it terrorizes the city going on a rampage for anything it sees.
We can thank screenwriter John Sayles, then a writer for hire (his other genre credits during the period being "Piranha" and "The Howling") for its wit and ambition, and Lewis Teague ("Cujo", "Cat's Eye") for the efficient, right-to-the-point direction and genuine thrills.It exploits the old urban legend of "alligators in the sewers" for maximum entertainment, telling the tale of a gator named Ramon flushed down the drain as an infant and making its home in the Chicago sewer.
It's up to dedicated police detective, David Madison (the likable Robert Forster, in a perfect Everyman role) to find and destroy the out-of-control beast when other attempts by the police prove to be unsuccessful.Sayles shows here that the trend of referencing bits of pop culture most assuredly did not begin with "Scream", as here he makes jokes referring to Ed Norton, the character on 'The Honeymooners' who worked for the sewer department, and Orson Welles's character from the classic "The Third Man".
The pacing never flags and Forster and Riker are an endearing main couple; he plays exactly the kind of hero for whom WANTS to root.Any monster movie fan tired of the routine cheese fests, featuring animated creatures, that come out nowadays, is strongly encouraged to check out this solidly entertaining little flick.
When a series of mutilated body parts surface in the sewer system, a detective and a herpetologist discover a gigantic alligator living in the area and try to stop it before it escapes into the city.This was one of the greatest animal-on-the-loose films of the time and still ranks as one of the better ones anyway.
What makes it work is the fact that there's just so much fun to be had from this one, from the blistering pace that generates tons of quality from the creatures' ambush attacks, the growing discovery of what's in the sewers and the eventual escape and ensuing rampages are all awesome action set-pieces that generate a great deal of fun with several scenes being quite exciting including the main attack on the mansion, the SWAT team stalking in the sewers and the ambush in the canal that leads to the finale, which has even more fun here.
For a creature feature made in 1980, 'Alligator' is a pretty good movie that doesn't rely on special effects to entertain the audience.In fact, 'Alligator' doesn't really have any special effects.The closest thing to special effects in this movie are explosions, car crashes, and the giant 30 foot alligator.If you're the kind of person who relies on special effects from movies like 'Hancock' to keep you entertained, then you might as well stop reading this review and forget that you have even heard of this movie because you will end up hating it.If you are that kind of person, then you really have issues.There is only one movie in the world that doesn't need special effects and happens to be one of the best movies of all time.The name of that movie is 'Jaws'.
It looks decent considering it's 37 tears old but it hardly grips you.The Good: Creature effects aren't that bad considering it's age The Bad: No consistency regarding the Alligators size Robert Forster's hairThings I Learnt From This Movie:Alligators can be easily purchased as pets Alligators make great jump ramps.
Up close, this alligator is a terrifying view, and when you got cool cop Forster, (way before he was recognized for the bloody good actor he is) and sexy doc, Robin Riker, it only makes it all the better.
Well directed(by Lewis Teague) and written film has a young girl's baby alligator flushed down a toilet by her callous father, years later, that same alligator(after having survived and thrived thanks to the carcasses of genetically altered animals that had been thrown into those sewers) emerges as a thirty-foot monster that menaces the people of Chicago.
Only policeman David Madison(Robert Forster, nice performance) can stop the rampage, with the help of a young reptile expert.Scary film effectively creates fear and tension in the sewer scenes, and the F/X on land hold up surprisingly well.
I remember when i first saw this movie on the scifi channel back when i was in third grade,I was scared out of my mind.This movie is about a little girl that buys a pet alligator and names him ramon,then her father flushes the poor baby alligator down the toilet entering the sewers where he feeds on the corpse of dead animals that have undergone dubious hormone experiments,then mutates him in to a gigantic alligator eating anyone in the sewer that he comes in contact with.
Browbeaten detective (an understated characterisation by Robert Forster), already at odds with his colleagues over the death of his last partner, now has to convince the authorities that a massive, subterranean reptile was responsible for the disappearance of his current partner, after the two had descended into the sewers following the discovery of some unrelated body parts (one arm and one leg does not one corpse make – the coroner jokes about opening his own spare parts shop if the series of dismemberments continues).Witty script by John Sayles and action-packed suspense enliven this taut little b-movie, which is aided by an impressive looking, and surprisingly agile title beast that would rival any of the great monsters created for celluloid.Notable cast supporting dependable lead Forster, includes gravel-voiced Michael Gazzo as the anxious police captain, Sidney Lassick as the doomed pet shop owner Luke Gutchel, and, in an hilarious parody, Henry Silva, whose impersonation of an alligator mating call for the benefit of lusty newswoman Sue Lyons (in her last film to date), is just the kind of subtle, double-entendre that has become the hallmark of a John Sayles screenplay.
Alligator is a really good monster flick with a good cast,made on a low budget.the movie is based on an urban legend about alligators that get flushed down the toilet when bought as pets.remember they used to sell baby gators as pets years ago,bad move they don't make good pets,it will cost you an arm,and a leg.anyway this gator grows into a 25 foot monster due to eating dogs that have been experimented on by a researcher who works for a rich baddie played by dean Jagger(who plays a good villain)Robert Forster plays a cop who investigates the goings on.
then there's henry Silva as a big game hunter.the rest of the cast is robin riker,Micheal gazzo(the godfather),perry Lang,Sidney lassick, comedian jack carter,angel Tomkin's,Bart braverman,and sue Lyon.this awesome movie was directed by john sayles who was a protégée of roger corman.the mechanical gator was later used by the Florida football team the gators in their parades.this was the best giant gator movie and it was done way before cg effects.8 out of 10..
I love Alligator it's so much fun & so pure early 80's with it's great music score that's exciting & moody & i love the gritty grimy urban city setting & the dark gloomy sewer scenes!!!I remember seeing Alligator on t.v late at night when i was young & used to sleep down stairs & watch lots of Horror films on late night television & this creature feature always stuck with me.I always remember the very scary & terrifying scene where a little boy falls into a swimming pool at night & the massive Alligator is in there & eats him it's still a frightening scene!!!!
Forster here is great as the rugged Detective David Madison who is on the case of bits of bodies turning up in the sewer system & then becomes the only person to see the massive Alligator & no one believes him & on a funny side note he's dealing with thinning hair lol slightly balding & that's where some fun little jokes come from as this monster flick has a nice sense of humour among it's cool characters as well as the scary suspense & violent tone so it's a very clever blend for this very entertaining B-movie creature feature!!!
Pure old school fx.Have say again that Robert forster has created a really cool,fun & tough cop character in a rare leading role & his David Madison is the type of cool cop character i would love to see more of but hey at least he's here all the way through this fun adventure monster movie that has the right balance of Horror & comedy.
Interestingly, Alligator uses the mayor's mafia subplot from the Jaws novel that was left out of the film.While this is atmospheric and the acting is good (especially the great Robert Forster), the film doesn't add much to the genre and its not very entertaining.
This is a typical 80s B-movie, a story where Chicago is terrorized by a larger-than-life alligator, who as a baby was flushed down the toilet and grew to over 36 feet long over the years by feeding on discarded lab animals injected with growth hormones.Robert Forster plays cop David Madison, who is leading the charge to track down and destroy the reptile, and Robin Riker plays reptile expert Dr. Marisa Kendall, who teams up with Madison in the hunt.
The two have decent acting and good on-screen chemistry, and they carried the movie over the more campy supporting cast members (Michael Gazzo's Chief Clark character sounded like he smokes 20 packs a day and Dean Jagger's Slade character doesn't know the meaning of speaking clearly).There are plenty of alligator action (the special and visual effects for it were quite good), chomping its way through those unfortunate enough to get caught in his path, and plenty of spills and screams as the creature makes its way out of the sewers and into lakes and swimming pools.
After a few attempts by the police/military to flush out the alligator, David comes up with a plan to end it's treachery once and for all.I am not a huge fan of these type of films normally, the "giant animal attacks" type of horror flicks.
It's Start with a Alligator being flushed down the toilet by a angry dad.Few years later, some human body part of be found in the water, local and media believe there maybe a killer on the loose.When one of the officer and one other crew members go into the sewer they found, what they really there and Officer partner is killed.Officer wakes up in the hospital but no one believes him until Reporter is killed by the Alligator.There are some good gory and bloody deaths scenes in this movie, This movie as some really good tense moments and there are some really good jump moments in this movie as well.This was a really good b-movie, Huge fan of killer Animals movies, this is one of the best ones from the 80's.7 out of 10.
Thus the gator grows into a 36 foot long monster that promptly terrorises Chicago.With a rather witty John Sayles script, tidy effects work and Lewis Teague's knowingly B movie direction, Alligator turns out to be one of the better post Jaws copy-cats.
A monster movie satire that works well and has some freaky dialogue playing off  some real good scares.A twelve year old girl gets a pet alligator and hr father flushes it down the toilet.
It's not hard to see why a slow tension builder, with competent effects, could be consigned to the movie backwaters these days, but this little classic, so wittily penned by John Sayles, and directed with admirable restraint by ,since vanished , Lewis Teague, is unfairly overlooked.After  seeing this film in 1980, on its initial release, i've always admired it, the friend who watched it with me had to leave before the end as he was suffering from tooth ache, and had a dental appointment booked, (given the films subject matter ,theres a  definite irony in that), i dont see the person anymore ,last i heard they had moved to New Zealand, the two screen cinema at the local shopping precinct has long gone, "RETURN OF THE JEDI", was the last film shown there, so thats how long ago it was.Only being ten years of age at the time ,some of the films more subtle points have only become apparent in later years, the in jokes, the "THIRD MAN" reference ,etc.
A little girl's pet baby alligator, named Ramone, is flushed down the toilet where it resides in the dark, slimy Chicago sewer systems.
Asking for a uniformed volunteer Kelly they both investigate the Chicago sewer system and are attacked by a giant alligator This was written by John Sayles who after jumping on the bandwagon of nature strikes back started with JAWS wrote the supremely entertaining PIRANHA and has followed it up with this movie .
Of all the 'animals on the rampage' films to emerge in the massive wake left by Jaws' Bruce the Shark, Alligator is one of the most accomplished, benefiting from solid direction by Lewis Teague, a fine cast, some effective gore, surprisingly good effects (achieved through the use of miniature sets to make a real alligator look huge, and with sparing use of an over-sized animatronic reptile for close-up chomping shots), and a superb tongue-in-cheek script by John Sayles—based on the age old urban legend about massive reptiles living in the sewers—that slyly acknowledges the cheesy genre clichés that horror fans have come to know and love.The film opens with an irate father flushing his daughter's pet alligator down the loo, the little critter surviving his wild ride through the waste pipes, winding up in the city's labyrinthine sewer system.
Over the next twelve years, the alligator grows to immense proportions, feeding on a supply of steroid-riddled dead dogs dumped underground by a nefarious pharmaceutical company, and the occasional unlucky human visitor to his subterranean lair.When assorted body parts are pulled out of the city's water supply, bitter-cop-with-a-troubled-past David (Robert Forster) investigates, and with a little help from sexy herpetologist Marisa (Robin Riker), uncovers the truth behind the alligator's unbelievable size and huge appetite.Chicago's dark, dank sewer system provides the film with a wonderfully atmospheric location for much of the film, one which director Teague uses to great effect, the shadowy tunnels providing plenty of scope for tension and scares; eventually, however, the scaly star of the film emerges from his nest, and in time-honoured movie-monster fashion, terrorises the city, attacking assorted victims, including several cops, Henry Silva's hilarious big game hunter Brock, a small child at a kid's party, and loads of people attending a wedding reception, including the city's corrupt mayor, and the boss of the pharmaceutical company responsible for the whole damned mess in the first place.In a tense finalé, David chases the beast back into the sewers, where he blows it up with dynamite borrowed from the police department's evidence room.
The acting is fairly decent for a B-movie flick, with Robert Forster leading the film well in the central role and receiving good back up from the cute Robin Riker, as well as cult favourite Henry Silva, who makes a brief but memorable appearance as a big game hunter.
I found this great.In Chicago, a girl buys a baby alligator but her dad disapproves of this and he flushes it down the toilet and it ends up in the sewers.
Another baby Alligator is then flushed down the toilet...Alligator 2: The Mutation followed in 1991 but that is certainly not as good as this.The cast includes Robert Forster, Robin Riker as the love interest and veteran star Dean Jagger (X The Unknown).If you are a fan of monster-on-the-loose movies from the 50's, then you should like Alligator.
Champ.Finally, Marisa and David remember how Jaws ended and blow Ramon up real good, just in time for another baby alligator to get flushed down the toilet.Lewis Teague (Cat's Eye, Cujo) directed this from a script by John Sayles (Piranha, Battle Beyond the Stars, The Howling) that is filled with strange humor, like the first victim, a sewer worker, being named Ed Norton.