A
disturbed man named Judd (Neville Brand)
runs a run down hotel in a swampy area of
Louisiana and has slaughtered a hooker
there when he finds out that she was one
of Miss Hattie's former employees at her
hotel and then feeds her to his pet
crocodile.
Two family members named Harvey (Mel
Ferrer) and his daughter Libby (Crystin
Sinclaire) tries to search for her and
unfortunately stayed at Judd's hotel
while doing so.
Meanwhile, a family drops by to ask for
directions and Judd's crocodile attacks
and eats their dog so they stay at the
hotel to overcome the shocking encounter
to what happened.
He kills his other residents while
staying there and keeps feeding them to
his pet crocodile and tortures some
people too.
A nice openiong sequence exposing a full moon near some clouds showing the opening credits giving it the low budget type of feel as well you could tell it was a still and not shooting through that night. Still an entertaining horror piece.
Then an interesting beginning involving a wild and horny hillbilly Buck wanting his whore Clara to do what she wants and getting rough with her and she freaks out as this exposes alot of good energy by taking place at a penthouse hotel.
Nice flowing discussion between Clara and the maid of the hotel Ruby sympathising towards her and helping her out which draws you in nicely and looking good and natural.
Also perfect dark shots on Clara walking through the deep misty swampy wooded area leading to the run down hotel as well as a nice shot on the sign and the hotel with a red light gleaming on it as well adding a perfect horror touch as well as the sound of the crocodile growling as this almost seemed promising for a horror flick but this seems deceiving later on while we watch.
Yet a nice intense moment with Judd knowing whom she is as well as good graphic shots on him slaying her with a pitchfork and nice close up shots on him heaving it at her.
A really sad moment with a monkey at the hotel in a cage watching the croc swimming in the water and then this poor critter dies which is not a pleasant moment. Plus a good moment with a family stopping by the hotel for a second and the little girl Angie chasing after her annoying dog while getting out of the vehicle as well as Buck driving by there and Judd going hysterical at him in which all of this showed some nice energetic timing.
Perfect intense and disturbing moment when the dog goes towards the pit to bark at the crocodile as well as what happens which is a perfect moment for the family to be shaken up as well as them in a room there to recover from the shock which isn't pleasant to watch. Plus good crazy moments on the husband Roy going crazy and acting like a madman which makes you wonder as to how he snapped like this. Also perfect setting in the room looking worn out and unpleasant.
Also we have some nicely focused moments with a father Harvey and his daughter Libby trying to look for their daughter and talking to Judd about it all which there's nice caemra shots on them all.
Perfect moment with Roy getting his rifle out of his car and Judd trying to reason with him as this gives you a deep feeling that he will go crazy and kill this family man. Also some nice dark humor on the wife Faye telling the daughter ANgie that Daddyt is off slaying the dragon which can offer some chuckles. Plus a great moment on Judd running to slay Roy as well as a good shot on him near the porch and the crocodile breaking through to drag him down which is a total pleaser for horror fans like myself. It was perfectly written in as this is another good pointer for the bland flick saving it from going below average.
Another great intense and disturbing moment when Judd attacks Faye and smacks her around and Angie sees this and tries to run away as well as trapping herself underneath his hotel as when we spot moments when he tries to use his evil charm to try and draw her in which looked strongly done but however when we see her tryiung to hide and siurvive this became terribly long and boring.
A twisted moment with Judd talking towards Faye tied up to a bed as this seemed to pay a tribute to Hooper's previous flick Texas Chainsaw Massacre by using similar elements while watching this but it didn't look anywhere as entertaining unfortunately.
Nice moments on a going ons at a rough redneck type of bar with weirdos trying to torment a shy type of cowboy as well as Buck acting lippy and crazy there too as this seems to add some realistic moments to these kinds of places.
Perfect shot on Harvey near the hotel seeing what he hears underneath the porch as well as a great shot on Judd charging with his deadly weapon. Definetely a good horror moment here.
Also a perfect moment with Buck going out to the porch and looking over the broken area where the crocodile attacked one of the victims which gives you the chills wondering if this nasty reptile will leap out and get him too. Also a nice close up shot on the back of his head and the moon in the sky as well as him slowly turning his head to see who's behind him.
Perfect moment with Judd chasing after a broad in the swampy wooded area and her falling down as this was another moment we remembered in TCM as you wonder if she will get away and nice dark and misty surroundings too. However this scene was overly long making you lose interest a bit.
Perfect terrifying moment with the crocodile approaching underneath the hotel and Angie trying to get away which makes you wonder if she will find a way on escaping. It certainly keeps you in suspense and imagining if you were in this situation.
Perfect shot on both Libby and
Faye running down the stairs and then Judd jumping in with his weapon which is another tribute to TCM as well as other types of slasher films on the victims trying to escape from the killer. It worked in well. Plus some great painful and intense moments on Faye getting injured which looked convincingly painful.
Bottom line is that this film doesn't
really go anywhere but is still at times
amusing. Made on a low budget. Sadly, the film wasn't what I expected it
to be when I read the story about it as I
was thinking that it would have more
action in it.
The acting is in
good shape as we have some familiar faces
in it. Neville Brand (Judd) was great at
playing a psychopath bringing his
character to life and had the perfect
looks for it too. Shows a nice beginning of his performance offering a kind middle aged attitude greeting his customer but yet has a unique attitude about it all. Then changes his ways around like a switch and acting molesting and menacing too really plunging his weapon down towards his onscreen victims offering a perfect and intense energy to all of this. Also shows a perfect aggression towards an onscreen redneck acting grumpy and unwelcoming to this which adds some interesting dark humor to his personality. Plus offers a nice wicjed charm while talking to a little girl as he rolls with this pretty well too. Plus adds a nice creepy softness to his voice while talking to an onscreen actress tied to a bed. Shows great forceful blocking while slapping her around looking convincingly brutal too. Yes he adds perfect timing to his horror character here.
Mel Ferrer (Harvey Wood) seemed to come across well onto the screen as a troubled man in which he does a good job with his demanding attitude and showing his true emotions by his upsetting behavior on what is going on in which he shows good energy within all of this and had the right looks for his part in the film. A true character actor.
Crystin Sinclaire (Libby Wood) I really enjoyed her work in this flick as she comes across well with her soft spoken attitude and mellow behavior. Plus had a nice girl next door type of looks to her appeal in the film as this worked well into the story. Shows a nice mature behavior and understanding on things too which was believeable as well. Also adds a nice fearsome behavior when the terror strikes around her offering a perfect hyped up energy to what she does here. All in all she made her role perfectly believeable.
Marilyn Burns (Faye) has a good
supporting role in the film as her acting
is almost just as intense as her role in TCM. She
gets abused the most in the film too. Does a nice job as a neurotic mother acting normal on stuff as well as showing good energy while trying to get her onscreen daughter away from a fenced area where the crocodile was as well as reacting shaken up by all that happened. Plus does well getting irritated towards her onscreen husband. Shows a nice annoyed reaction to all of this. Does a nice job freaking out while getting slapped around or acting in pain while tied to a bed. Plus does well limping and acting in pain near the end of her performance as well as getting emotional just adding that hype like we've seen her do so before in that horror flick we mentioned. Two thumbs up for her.
William Finley (Roy) certainly brought out his craziness out of him acting shocked about the whole situation that he saw and certainly acts pretty funny while being this way. He for sure does a nice job by getting on your nerves big time while acting like this. Also adds a perfect anxious behavior acting out of control while preparing his rifle to shoot the onscreen crocodile. He adds alot of spunk and characteristics for this. Plus had the goofy looks which worked well into the role.
Stuart Whitman (Sheriff Martin) plays a great
lawman by not taking crap from any rednecks as he shows a perfect seriousness and stern behavior and making it realistic. Also shows a good warm type of behavior while trying to find clues on stuff and doing well with his conversations. ALways did a nice job with whatever I saw him in and mainly played these roles since he's so good at them and has the perfect looks too.
Child scream queen Kyle Richards (Angie) wasn't extremely memorable like in the films Halloween or Watcher in the Woods but yet does a good job by being shaken up after what happened to her dog and getting into this with her shakey speaking and crying emotions. Does well with her screaming and frightened attitude when the terror strikes her. It made you feel sorry for her and wonder if she will survive or not by how she portrays this role.
Robert Englund (Buck) I found to be one of the best performers in this film as a young wild, horny and troublemaking redneck. He shows off a ton of energy and blocking by acting aggressive on stuff who likes to have a wild time and does this with terrific style. He for sure proves to wear many hats in the horror genre long before his years as Freddy Krueger and this is a feather in his cap proving his talents even if the film was bad.
Carolyn Jones (Miss Hattie) does her stuff as the owner of her luxurious penthouse hotel in which she shows a believeable attitude being good to her paying customers and treating her employee hookers like crap offering a perfect bitterness. Also shows a nice versatality when greeting someone else in another scene and getting into a conversation about Judd's hotel acting deceivingly uplifting which adds a great touch to what she can do and be like and then getting blunt as well as acting miserable later on. Also had a nice freaky old lady looks to her too.
Roberta Collins (Clara) had a brief supporting role but had to mention her in which she does well with her scared actions not wanting to do what her customer wants as well as showing a perfect troubled type of behavior. Also does well with her nervousness and shows off good energy with her freaked out attitude while being attacked which she offers alot out of what she did here.
Cristin
Sincliare gets undressed in a hotel room and her
breasts are revealed.
Roberta Collins has a see through blouse in the
beginning of the film.
Janus Blythe plays a broad and her breasts and butt is revealed while getting ready to have a romp in bed at a hotel room.
The violence is a
little graphic as Judd brutally stabs his
victims with a couple of sharp metallic
objects. It's not overly gory though. However a guys neck is brutally stabbed and things like that.
Tobe Hooper and Wayne Bell certainly mix similar
elements with cheesy sound effects like
they did in TCM and it
works well especially the opening music
although some can get a headache hearing
it. There's also chiming sounds as it was a bit too much at times as well as hissing and screeching noises as at times this works in well especially for the slayings. Plus a nice scraping sound when one of the character's in the film looks over a balcony leading to the watery pit of the crocodile as this offered perfect timing too.
Buck: My
name is Buck and i'm ready to fuck!
Roy (While preparing his rifle) That thing is dangerous!!!!
Faye: Daddy's off to slay the dragon
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