Shudder Day: Crocodile (1979)

You have to learn to Croc before you can Crawl.
Wait- that's not right.

Regardless, I thought it might be fun to watch a cheesy '70s Crocodile Film before I get around to a more recent Film that is held in high regards.

You got me covered, Shudder!

In Thailand, crocodiles are quite prevalent.

They are kept on 'farms' to put on shows for Tourists.

This one- however- is on the loose and eats people.

It is also gigantic...in some shots.

I just hope that this real crocodile was treated well after it got done stomping around a terrarium.

It earned another chicken or three, I think!

It creates a tragedy when it kills the Daughter and Wife of one of our Leads and the Wife of another (as they didn't have a kid).

Mind you, this sometimes-giant crocodile somehow snuck into shallow water, killed the kid with no traces of blood and did the same thing to the ladies.

The next time we see this thing it makes a literal blood whirlpool, so the Film doesn't shy away from the stuff!

At this point, the Film becomes a mix of two Films.

It is like Godzilla when it attacks Villages (which are definitely not Models) multiple times, smashes them up and kills a bunch of people (about 50% of which are British/American Tourists).

It also becomes Jaws when the duo hire a third guy- with a giant eagle tattoo on his chest- to take them out in a boat to kill it.

They also use this shot of a real crocodile's eyelid cover moving back and forth about 46,000 times too.

Said trip on the Boat- which is what the last third of the Film is- does not go well.

First, they track it with little luck (even doing the barrels).
Second, a Comic Relief Reporter joins them.

Not Quint gets eaten- of course- but they don't do the bit with the Cage.

Even so, the buddy gets eaten and THEN the Reporter tries to blow it up with a grenade (in a bit that actually pre-dates Jaws 3-D doing this!).

It's a pyrrhic victory, however, as the Crocodile, the boat and the Lead are all blown up.  The (not happy) End.

A truly silly, but mostly enjoyable Film.

Is this a Film that can match up to Jaws?
Hell No!

Is it a Film that can match up to, let's say, Orca or Tentacles?
Maybe...but it is close.

Crocodile takes a bit to get going and will feature a couple of things that were considered 'culturally acceptable' for the time.

Basically, there's some nudity (one Scene) and an unfortunate case of a real animal being killed.

Outside of that, you get ridiculous melodrama, inconsistent effects and a pretty enjoyable piece of Bad Cinema.  The titular creature is either a real crocodile in close-up, a decent model or a real one wandering around with tiny props.

It is so gloriously bad.

The Film can sometimes surprise you with a unique camera angle or trick though too.

All in all, Crocodile is just plain ridiculous, which is helped by it being played just so damn straight.

Why make a Film about an unrealistically large crocodile when the real thing is big and scary enough?

If you go into this expecting nothing close to high art, you will be entertained.  You will believe that a giant crocodile can make a deadly whirlpool!