Gator Face

by Mike McGranaghan

The tagline for Gator Face touts that it contains “real alligators, real teeth, real terror.” In other words, none of the CGI creatures we got in Crawl. While technically true that there are real alligators in the movie, along with several shots showing the actors in close proximity to them, special effects were used for scenes that could not be safely accomplished otherwise. That is to say, scenes where gators crush human skulls in their jaws or bite off somebody’s limb. Which happens a lot.

The plot concerns the efforts of a group of young people, led by Jess (Amariah Dionne), to escape an ax-wielding Florida madman who is seemingly able to command alligators to follow his orders. He styles himself as a human alligator, wearing a mask and a jacket to resemble one. As “Gator Face” terrorizes them, Jess and crew discover that the killer isn’t acting alone. He’s part of a larger, more sinister movement that revolves around the swamp dwellers.

There are two really cool things about the movie. One is the alligator action. It’s as gory and crazy as any fan of animal attack cinema could want. Blood spurts everywhere as the gators gnaw on their victims. The deaths are gruesome with a capital G. Director Padraig Reynolds knows what people are coming to his film for, and he delivers.

The other is the physical look. Gator Face visually resembles a shlocky old 1970s drive-in movie. It has the same kind of spooky, low-budget grit that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had. That quality adds extra shock value to the alligator scenes, as well as to those involving the town’s creepy religious cult. The overall atmosphere will delight fans of grindhouse fare.

A few not insubstantial problems limit the fun. Most of the performances are seriously unpolished. Only Tabitha Brownstone, playing another of the potential victims, makes an impression. Occasionally sloppy editing robs a couple of the scare scenes of their impact, too. The limitations of B-movies can occasionally add to their appeal. In this case, an occasional bad edit proves distracting.

But let’s be honest: nobody going to see a picture about killer alligators is going for cinematic brilliance. We go for the rush that comes from being put on edge and made to squirm at the sight of a practical gore effect pulled off skillfully. Gator Face works where it matters most.