An aquatic creature feature ripping off (*cough* sorry . . . homaging) the absolute king of the aquatic creature features, Killer Crocodile is a dubious delight from director Fabrizio De Angelis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Dardano Sacchetti.
A group of people are exploring some waterways. They want to take photographs and check the local environment, which is why they become very interested in an area that has had a lot of toxic waste dumped into the water. There's also the titular killer crocodile, which means people start going missing until the group is whittled down to just a few survivors who will need to find their own "smile you sonofabitch" moment.
While there's not too much to discuss here, this isn't a film layered with extra commentary beyond the most superficial use of environmental damage to get our characters into place, Killer Crocodile is a bit more fun than some other movies that have come through the Italian movie industry, homage sub-division. The crocodile itself often looks too silly, but there are one or two shots that have it not looking too bad. Ideally, everyone involved should have worked harder to keep the thing as a hidden threat, but that's not really the approach that these films take.
Richard Anthony Crenna, Pietro Genuardi, John Harper, Sherrie Rose, and Ann Douglas are all potential ingredients in one lavish meal for the big croc, and they're generally bland and not given enough to do when not being put in peril, Ennio Girolami is a more experienced hunter type, and Van Johnson and Bill Wohrman are crooked locals. None of the cast are great, but they're in line with what you might expect from a film called Killer Crocodile.
Riz Ortolani provides a derivative score, there are people credited for things like special effects and script supervision (despite overwhelming evidence against the presence of either), and the entire feature is one that you'll either already know you want to see or not. I had enough fun with it that I will watch the second film, filmed at the same time as this, but I could happily rattle off a list of much better films in this sub-genre. That includes pretty much every monster movie from William Grefé.
If you're after some undemanding cheese then check this out. If you're after something half-decent then feel free to ask me for a list of recommendations, whether you want your deadly predators in the water, on the land, or even in the air.
5/10
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