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Overall Rating : 4/10
Directed By : Stewart Raffill
Michael Madsen (Sin City)
Scott Hazell
Elizabeth Healey
Peter Tuinstra
Supplied By : Genius Products
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : January. 22, 2008
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| PLOT On the outskirts of a beach resort in Thailand is Jack's Croc Farm where American born Jack McQuade features his star attraction, Delilah. Jack finds himself in financial trouble when business slows down and the bills start to pile up. His main competitor, Andy Kongsong's Croc World, will do anything to put Jack out of business - including croc snatching. When things take a turn for the worse and Delilah goes missing, bodies start popping up in swamps. A five-thousand-dollar reward for the capture of Delilah draws every croc hunter within earshot, including the great Croc Hawkins. Up to his knees in bad publicity, Jack and his team know they must find Delilah quickly before more people turn up missing and their body parts start to surface. |
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| THE REVIEW In CROC, Jack McQuade owns a popular Crocodile tourist attraction, which draws big crowds that come to see the various spectacles that featured multiple Crocodiles. For Jack, business is great, but that is until a woman representing the local wildlife welfare organization shows up and complains of some minor infractions... he also has a shady neighbor, whom for some reason is seemingly jealous, and wants to see Jack forced out of business meaning he'll do anything to see it happen, even if it means releasing some of Jack's Crocodiles unto the population threatening he life of others. But this would prove to be dangerous than it initially appears, as within the Crocs owned by Jack lies a Crocodile that is even bigger, one that does not belong to Jack. Huge in it's stature, the menacing Crocodile lurks silently within the waters picking off various innocent victims when it becomes hungry. In the end, Jack and his crew, along with a professional Crocodile hunter named Croc Hawkins set out to destroy the creature.....ending the terror for good. Last week I reviewed the 3rd film in Genius Products' Maneater Series, a film of the same name, MANEATER. This week I return to review the fourth film in the series which is CROC - and by the title i'm guessing that it's obvious that it's indeed about a killer Crocodile. In my review for MANEATER, I had stated that it was the best in the Maneater series so far, but i'm going to venture to say that CROC is even a little better than MANEATER, if only for it's action. CROC, still by no means is a great film, and it is slow(like all of the previous Maneater Series films) but the scenery of Thailand and the huge, sometimes cgu'ed Crocodile make for a fun, even if campy film. CROC is yet another Sci-Fi Channel film, so you know what you're getting a film with a huge creature, a whole lot of campiness, and a few actors that are better than the rest. Honestly speaking CROC has nothing about it that sets it apart from the few other killer Crocodile/Alligator flicks that are already out there. Each of these films have really thin stories that are basically the padding for the real reason they are made - the action, killing and the gore - what else would you expect from a killer Crocodile film? Unlike the previous film, MANEATER, CROC sports a bit more action due to the fact that a real Crocodile isn't always used(i'm not even sure is a real one is used at all here). I can see way they'd not want to use a real Crocodile, as they're probably not as good when it comes from taking orders - as with MANEATER the use of a real Bengal tiger gave everything a sense of more realism. But with having the combination of a mechanical Croc and a cgi'ed one(or whatever it was) made way for more exaggerated scenes of violence, which made an otherwise pointless movie a little more fun. The film was made for TV and it feels like it and, if you didn't pick up that it was made for TV from the very beginning, some of the film's actors would soon remind you. Like most of these Sci-Fi Channel films, CROC is headlined by a bigger name that seems to just be their for their name and recognition alone. In the case of CROC, Michael Madsen is such, and although his name is listed ahead of all others in the credits, is role is reduced to a minor one at best. In the film he portrays a character named "Croc" Hawkins, an Crocodile hunter who shows up un Thailand to hunt the huge Croc when a $50,000 cash reward is offered to anyone whom can bring down the menacing creature. Madsen's character doesn't really do much actually and has no real purpose, it ultimately leaves you to wonder why he even took the role - was he that desperate? Madsen although minor, as you could guess, his performance is the best by far - there are few Actors whom seem to be reading off of a cue card that is located somewhere off camera. There are also the Actors who seem miscast(like I wasn't really convinced with the Jack McQuade character as portrayed by Peter Tuinstra, who just seemed a little to young for the part. Overall CROC, is average at best, honestly the plot is not that interesting, but it is the Thailand backdrop and the over-the-top cheesiness of the gore and effects that give it a little bit of entertainment value. |
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| GORE
METER 3.5/10 Various bloody Crocodile attacks that are very exaggerated yet they are still somewhat interesting - there is also a severed head and various severed limbs. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 3/10 Typical suspenseful TV score, really nothing all that special. | ||||
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM CROC is just another average Creature Feature, with nothing new or original. When I went into watch it, I wasn't really expecting to like it, and by it's conclusion I thought it was ok, if average. There are already many films out there that are similar to CROC, so if your are in the mood for yet another one, check it out if you want, the choice is yours as always. This DVD will be released on Febuary 5, 2008 |
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