Tags:
Film: Alligator II: The Mutation
Year: 1991
Director: Jon Hess
Writer: Curt Allen
Starring: Joseph Bologna, Dee Wallace and Richard Lynch
Review:
This film begins with two men dumping something into a sewer. It turns out to be illegal chemicals. One of them is complaining about it and the other tells him to say something to their boss, who is standing there. The boss is played by Steve Railsback.
The film then shifts to two men fishing in a lake at night. One of them catches a fish and then is attacked by a giant alligator. We then see that his boot floats away.
We then meet our hero, played by Joseph Bologna. Today is his birthday and he goes downstairs to watch a video tape his wife and son made him. His wife is played by Dee Wallace. We learn that he is a cop that works too hard and his beat is at night.
He goes down to the station where we see that the people love him. His nickname is ‘Solo Lobo’. This is partly because his beat has a lot of Hispanic speaking people, he speaks Spanish and he is a good cop that helps the people, plus he works alone. There are a young and an older woman who are trying to get help. They are looking for the older woman’s husband and son. They went fishing the night before and didn’t come home. This is the first time it has happened. Bologna goes to get the initial information from a young cop, played by Trevor Eyster. He ignores him when he asks if he can come along to help him.
Bologna goes to investigate and they find the boot with the foot in it. It is checked out and the coroner thinks that an animal did it. We learn that Wallace works for the local college, so specimens are brought to her to check them out. She thinks that they are inconclusive.
This is the film gets a little unbelievable for me. For some reason, Bologna is completely convinced already that it is a giant alligator doing the killings for no reason. He doesn’t have much proof, but despite that, he knows that is what is doing it. He goes so far to try to get his boss, Brock Peters, to allow him to kill the animal. Peters tells him that he needs more to go on before he can.
Bologna decides to ruffle some feathers by going to the country club that Railsback hangs out at. With him is the mayor, played by Bill Daily. He goes along with whatever Railsback says. Bologna goes there to try to get Railsback to shut down the carnival he is going to be throwing at the lake. Railsback refuses and wants Bologna to be suspended immediately. Eyster is told to handcuff him and take him to the station. Bologna outsmarts him and leaves him locked in a bathroom stall.
Bologna leaves the club and the mayor’s daughter shows up, played by Holly Gagnier. She tries to convince her dad to stop what he is doing. When he won’t, she speaks with Railsback. It ends up with her hitting him in the face. Gagnier also helps Eyster escape. She immediately takes a liking to him.
After leaving, Bologna speaks with Peters and he decides to give Bologna some weapons after a wino says he saw a giant alligator. He also allows him to use Eyster who is currently being suspended for his blunder at the country club. Bologna goes to his house after he took Gaginer out for drinks. They have a little tussle, but decide to work together. They begin to hunt the alligator and Wallace joins with them as well.
Railsback decides that he needs to hire an alligator hunter just in case. The one he chooses is Richard Lynch and his crew of men, including Kane Hodder. They get to work that night.
Bologna and Eyster try to kill the giant alligator with shotguns and dynamite, but when it doesn’t work they need to figure something else out. They learn of Lynch and his crew and try to save them. Lynch finds a chemical barrel in the sewer that bears the name of a company Railsback owns. Lynch loses his crew and decides to work with Bologna and his group.
Will they be able to stop the alligator before it is too late? Can it be stopped? Will Railsback admit he is wrong and stop the carnival or will he continue his greed? Who will survive this ordeal?
I have to say that this film is not that good. There isn’t much to really say good about it other than there are some good actors. I feel their performances are hampered by the absurdity of the story and the way they were directed. The story is very similar to the original, but I think they do less in this one than the first. We even get less killing and stalking scenes.
I will start with what was alluded to earlier. Bologna isn’t horrible, but his character is way too corny and his jokes are quite pointless. Lynch tries to come in like he is a big rough and tough guy, but he ends up turning on his boss and joining Bologna almost immediately. Gagnier immediately falls in love with Eyster after a couple minutes. The film is pretty boring and the story is pretty absurd. Railsback kills important people in the community like there will be no repercussions and like he will get away with it. I think more of concise idea, having more killing would have helped, but it decided to try to go more story-based, but that didn’t make sense. The alligator and how he stalks isn’t even realistic. We have characters who outrun it and it is supposed to be aggressive, yet it doesn’t kill everything in front of it. Things I don’t think were thought out.
I wouldn’t recommend seeing this. It wasn’t scary, the story is horrible and the characters are bland. On top of that, the film feels like things move way too fast and isn’t natural. There isn’t enough of the alligator and not enough killing. The first was campy and for low-budget was fun. This doesn’t capture this. I would say only see this if you have a bunch of people who want to see a bad horror film. If not, definitely avoid this one.
My Rating: 3 out of 10