‘It’s gonna be a crappy day’
Sewer Gators is a 2022 American comedic horror film about alligators attacking people in a small Louisiana town via their toilets.
Written, co-produced and directed by Paul Dale (Fast Food & Cigarettes; Silent But Deadly; Chosen). Also produced by Austin Frosch and Zack Lee.
Blurb:
“When a small Louisiana town is plagued with alligator attacks stemming from people’s toilets, it’s up to a ragtag team to save the day before everyone in the town is eaten. Alligators are coming out of the sewers, they are coming for you, they are coming for your children, and they are coming for your grandmother.”
Our view:
Sewer Gators is more concerned with humour than horror. Unfortunately, writer-director Paul Dale assumes that many of his one-liners and visual gags are more amusing than they are. So, maybe a few wry smiles but certainly no guffaws. And forty-seven years after Jaws he also reckons it’s rib-tickling to repeatedly riff on that movie cos it’s not like that’s been done before in the many intervening years.
There’s much talk of alligators yet hardly any are seen onscreen. And when they are, the ‘special’ effects are laughable (and not in the way intended, just embarrassingly awful – the sight of a toy alligator is not amusing). That said, the one briefly seen CGI gator does look better than expected for the obvious lack of budget. Occasionally, there’s some stock footage of real gators to remind us that yep, they are genuinely scary critters.
Meanwhile, locations such as the Sheriff’s and Mayor’s offices are painfully sparse when just a few more dollars to rent some more authentic space would have made the production seem less amateurish. The soundtrack is also way too high in the audio mix.
Two very minor positives are the acting – despite some silly accents – which is often more naturalistic than in some zero-budget movies and the short running time of just over an hour (and that includes about ten minutes of credits and bloopers). Even then, it’s a struggle to get to the end.
Frankly, give Sewer Gators a miss and watch the genuine cult classic Alligator (1980) or even its less impressive 1991 sequel instead; both are considerably more worthy of anyone’s time.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES & MANIA
PS. Some of the gator attacks in the movie include growling so I checked out the real thing and they do indeed make a guttural noise!
Reviews:
“This film certainly doesn’t take itself seriously and boasts not only CGI gators but a gator autopsy that’s a small scale version of the scene in Jaws. It’s not the best gator movie you’ve ever seen, but it might be the best one I’ve seen in 2022.” B&S About Movies
“Gleefully stupid and nearly as amiable, Sewer Gators is smart enough to know to scram before it’s asked to leave […] When it hits, ketchup-packet effects and all, Dale’s goof of a spoof is reminiscent of the $6K wonder Bad CGI Sharks. And when it doesn’t, I’m reminded of my own bored, preteen days of camcorder buffoonery.” Flick Attack
” …very much an amateur production. It looks like that. There’s no hiding it with expensive cameras or anything like that. But, this can work for plenty of movies and Sewer Gators tries to do that. It definitely does not take itself seriously. First and foremost, it’s a comedy […] It’s all about the jokes and the one-liners.” Nerdly
” …Sewer Gators doesn’t take itself seriously in the least, instead plays with genre conventions, deliberately ditches realism for good (or even cheap) jokes, and just enjoys being silly. That said, the film stays clear of just coming across as moronic, it does have a structured plot and decent build-up – if stolen from Jaws – and fun characters that are more than just one-joke wonders…” Search My Trash
Release:
Sewer Gators will be released direct-to-streaming and On-Demand (VOD), Blu-ray and DVD on June 3rd, 2022.
Cast and characters:
Kenny Bellau … Mitchell
Sophia Brazda … Gladys
Paul Dale … Brock Peterson
Charles Early … Mormon
Austin Frosch … Cletus
Austin Naulty … Shane
Manon Pages … Laura Andrews
Sean Phelan … Mayor Bobby
Carter Simoneaux … Reggie
Technical details:
1 hour 3 minutes
Trailer:
