Alligator (film)
| Alligator | |
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theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Lewis Teague |
| Produced by | Brandon Chase |
| Screenplay by | John Sayles |
| Story by | John Sayles Frank Ray Perilli |
| Starring |
Robert Forster Robin Riker Michael Gazzo |
| Music by | Craig Hundley |
| Cinematography | Joseph Mangine |
| Edited by | Larry Brock Ron Medico |
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Production
company |
Group 1 Films
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| Distributed by | Group 1 Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,750,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $6,459,000 |
Alligator is a 1980 American horror film directed by Lewis Teague and written by John Sayles. It stars Robert Forster, Robin Riker, and Michael V. Gazzo. It also includes an appearance by actress Sue Lyon in her last screen role to date.
Set in Chicago, the film follows a police officer and a reptile expert to track a giant murderous sewer alligator, flushed down the toilet years earlier that is attacking residents after escaping from the sewers.
The film received praise from critics for its intentional satirizing. A direct-to-video sequel was released in 1991, entitled Alligator II: The Mutation. Despite the title, this film shared no characters or actors with the original, and the plot was essentially a retread of the first film. A tabletop game based on the film was distributed by the Ideal Toy Company in 1980.
A teenage girl purchases a baby American alligator while on vacation with her family at a tourist trap in Florida. After the family returns home to Chicago, the alligator, named Ramón by the girl, is promptly flushed down the family's toilet by her surly, animal-phobic father and ends up in the city's sewers.
Twelve years later, the alligator survives by feeding on covertly discarded pet carcasses. These animals had been used as test subjects for an experimental growth formula intended to increase agricultural livestock meat production. However the project was abandoned due to the formula's side effect of massively increasing the animal's metabolism, which caused it to have an insatiable appetite. During the years, the baby alligator accumulated concentrated amounts of this formula from feeding on these carcasses, causing it to mutate, growing into a 36 foot (11 m) monster, as well as having an almost impenetrable hide.
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Wikipedia