CROCODILE (1978)
Special Edition Blu-ray
Label: Synapse Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 91 Minutes 48 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Sompote Sands
Cast: Manop Aussawathep, Nat Puvanai, Min U, Wang Eun-hui, Sin Chan-il
Strap yourself in for some giant-croc carnage via this unhinged Taiwanese/Korean Jaws knock-off, a very entertaining slice of late 70s nature-run-amok awesomeness that is super-cheesy yet quite fun. Opening with a hurricane force storm which according to some later lip service might have been caused by an atomic explosion, we then get a crocodile wreaking havoc in the rivers and ocean around a quiet beach town, devouring innocents and seemingly growing (and shrinking) in size depending on the scene. When the croc kills the wife (Nie Tien, Human Lanterns, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold) and the young son of Dr. Akom (Nat Puvani) during a beach vacation he teams-up with his pal Dr. Stromm (Min Oo) and a very Quint-like fisherman named Tanaka (Manop Asavatep, Courier of Death) to avenge the deaths of their loved ones.
Originally filmed in 1978 as Crocodile Fangs (Agowa gongpo), the film was released in slightly different versions all around the world during, including an international version that was re-edited and Frankenstein by notorious producer Dick Randell (Pieces), that incorporated some new footage, outtakes from another croc-flick Krai Thong, and a slightly different ending. The film is a total hot-mess, but thoroughly entertaining with rough looking edits and gaps in logic and storytelling that are befuddling to say the least, but the carnage is fantastic and I love all the miniature works used to showcase the destructive storm, and mini-sets of a riverside village being destroyed by the flapping tale of the apparently giant killer croc. There are copious amounts of scene of people screaming and thrashing about in the water which is turning red, the head-prop of the croc looks terrific, meanwhile the full-body shots are less impressive when it comes to realism, but quite impressive in regard to schlocky awesomeness. Rather comically the size of the croc seems to shift from large but no quite abnormal to almost Godzilla/kaiju sized, and at certain points it has glowing-red eyes for some inexplicable reason, and again, there's some lip service paid to the fact that the same alleged atomic explosion that caused the opening storm might have mutated the croc in some way. The actual gore is pretty slim, what we do get are a lot of clips of nature docs about crocs, croc eyes peering above the water, red dye thrown into water, and occasionally someone getting bitten by the head prop of a pretty cool looking croc. Other croc carnage comes by way of the croc patrolling the river and chowing down on old people and kids, a herd of water buffalo, and a monkey.
As a Jaws knock-off it starts off sort of doing it's own thing, we have the doctor losing his family to the croc, sneaking into the coroner's office to view their remains to make the determination what killed them, deciding on the fact that it was indeed a croc, and then formulating a plan to find and kill the creature. The final third of the film is where it really launches into Jaws territory with the doctors, fisherman and a photographer named Peter (Robert Chan Law-Bat) heading out into the open sea to pursue the croc, with a harpoon gun and some dynamite. The miniature work during the finale involving the boat and the giant-croc is hilariously bad, clearly shot in a bathtub, but hey, it's an explosive finale that delivers the low-budget, killer-croc exploitation well-enough. I will say, that like many of the cannibal films there is some real-life animal cruelty inflicted on a crocodile for a moment, so if you are sensitive to such content please be aware.
While not quite on par with other killer croc/gator flicks like Alligator (1980), Dark Age (1987), Lake Placid (1999), Black Water (2006), and Crawl (2019), I would easily put this above both Killer Crocodile (1989) and The Great Alligator (1979) as far as pure schlocky gator/croc Jaws knock-offs go. It's a frenzied mess for sure but it is a very entertaining frenzied mess.
Audio/Video: The U.S. cut of Crocodile (1978) makes its worldwide Blu-ray debut from Synapse Films in its original U.S. release version, meticulously restored from the original English 35mm camera negative. The results of the restoration look great, the non-stock footage shots look terrific with nice color, good contrast and solid black levels. The grain and blemished stock footage is less pleasing but there's just not much you can do about that. Audio comes by way of English-dun DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. The track is a hot mess but delivers the English-dud well enough, a track that has very low fidelity, sounding quite thin and shrill a lot of the time, music cues are have some warble and distortion in the low and high registers.
Audio/Video: The U.S. cut of Crocodile (1978) makes its worldwide Blu-ray debut from Synapse Films in its original U.S. release version, meticulously restored from the original English 35mm camera negative. The results of the restoration look great, the non-stock footage shots look terrific with nice color, good contrast and solid black levels. The grain and blemished stock footage is less pleasing but there's just not much you can do about that. Audio comes by way of English-dun DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. The track is a hot mess but delivers the English-dud well enough, a track that has very low fidelity, sounding quite thin and shrill a lot of the time, music cues are have some warble and distortion in the low and high registers.
Extras on the Synapse Blu-ray include the 3-min Original Theatrical Trailer; an Audio Commentary with writer and film historian Lee Gambin; a 32-min Video interview with original Crocodile Fangs director, Won-se Le; and 23-min Deleted and Alternate Scenes. It's great to get another solid animal-attack commentary track from the late Lee Gambin who passed recently, gone too soon, but his love of animal attack flicks is preserved here with a solid track. Also quite interesting is the interview with original Crocodile Fangs director, Won-se Le.
The singe-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring two original illustrated movie poster artworks that are fantastic, lots of giant-croc carnage depicted there. Additionally, if you order it from Synapse Films or DiabolikDVD.com you get a Limited Edition "Nude" Variant Slipcover, which is limited to 1500 copies.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary with writer and film historian Lee Gambin
- Video interview with original Crocodile Fangs director, Won-se Le (31:44)
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes: Original Thai Ending (2:37), The Monkey and The Little Boy (4:41), Extended Town Attack (5:50), Crocodile Cruelty (1:16), Alternate Spanish Release Ending (3:32), Alternate International Opening (4:15)
- Audio commentary with writer and film historian Lee Gambin
- Video interview with original Crocodile Fangs director, Won-se Le (31:44)
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes: Original Thai Ending (2:37), The Monkey and The Little Boy (4:41), Extended Town Attack (5:50), Crocodile Cruelty (1:16), Alternate Spanish Release Ending (3:32), Alternate International Opening (4:15)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:54)
- Limited Slipcover Edition available now from Synapse Films and DiabolikDVD!
Buy it!
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