ALLIGATOR – The whole stampede of seventies / early eighties ‘animals attack’ movies might be indebted to ‘Jaws’, but ‘Alligator’s black comedy makes it more of a successor to ‘Piranha’ in some ways. A lot of that has to do with John Sayle’s sharp writing; even the little asides and bits of character padding have a wit to them. Otherwise, you’re looking at the standard drill of monster-loose-in-the-streets (eventually, the alligator in question spends a lot of time in the sewer at first) and lots of build-up to enjoyably OTT showcases, such as the alligator garden attack sequence. There’s a bit of satire and plenty of that gritty ‘dark times ahead’ early eighties attitude, qualities that lend a punchy tone and make the ramshackle bits and the loose ends hold together more than they should. In that sense, ‘Alligator’ is a masterclass in the lost art of the B-movie, something a bit throwaway, cobbled together out of very little, that still has bite.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) – I can’t remember much about last year’s Netflix revamp apart from that I didn’t like it, even though it was full of things that I supposedly enjoy, such as nice lighting and gore. It’s been ages since I first saw the 2003 ‘remake’, but I had the distinct memory of being pleasantly surprised at the time. Horror fans always tend to see the state of the genre as anaemic and lacking compared with past glories, and back in the noughties that wave of big franchise reboots seemed awkward, slightly inexplicable and mostly rubbish, apart from the 2003 TCM (and later ‘The Thing’, not that many others agree). It’s taken me a while to get round to it again, but I’m glad that the things about it that struck me the first time still stand out; the moody palette, the flyblown atmosphere of chronic dereliction, the harsh (for a mainstream film of its era) violence. There’s a deadly seriousness to it that’s quite impressive, considering it was made at a time when most genre offerings were going for that lightweight post-‘Scream’ feel. A few early noughties-isms drag it down a bit, and it doesn’t do much to challenge the ‘woman-being-chased-by-powertool-wielding-maniac… for ages’ template, meaning the latter sections, which are basically just that, do get a bit ponderous. But you could say that of the original, a film I deeply love. All in all, a very credible reworking that still cuts it.
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