Alligator II: The Mutation

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Alligator II: The Mutation
Alligator II the mutation.jpg
DVD cover
Directed byJon Hess
Written byCurt Allen
Produced byBrandon Chase
Cary Glieberman
StarringJoseph Bologna
Woody Brown
Harlan Arnold
Nicolas Cowan
Brock Peters
CinematographyJoseph Mangine
Edited byChristopher Ellis
Marshall Harvey
Music byJack K. Tillar
Production
company
Golden Hawk Entertainment
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • October 12, 1990 (1990-10-12)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3,000,000 (estimated)

Alligator II: The Mutation is a 1990 American monster horror film directed by Jon Hess and starring Joseph Bologna, Woody Brown, Harlan Arnold, Nicolas Cowan, and Brock Peters. Released in 1990, a police detective teams up with a Cajun hunter to find a giant alligator in city sewers. It is a sequel to the 1980 film Alligator.

Synopsis[]

Deep in the sewers beneath the city of Regent Park, another baby alligator feeds on the experimental animals discarded by Future Chemicals Corporation. Nourished by toxic growth hormones and other mutating chemicals, the gator grows immense in size, develops a voracious appetite and goes out on a killing spree. No one believes the sightings until a large number of people are killed, and the police eventually embark on a search-and-destroy mission to put a stop to the alligator's murderous rampage. They track it down to a lake and a police helicopter attempts to blow the alligator up, but to no avail. Afterwards, two officers enter a marsh area where the alligator had escaped to. One of the officers uses a rocket launcher and ends the alligator's reign of terror.

Plot[]

The film's plot has some similar elements to the first one. Local tycoon Vincent Brown (Steve Railsback) has a tank full of chemicals from Future Chemicals, a company he's tied to, into the sewers, which in all the times they've done it, caused an alligator which that are a baby alligator from the end of the original film in the sewers to mutate into a near-unstoppable, giant mutant. Two Mexican fishermen are killed, which local Detective David Hodges (Joseph Bologna), who is very popular among the local Mexican population as "Solo Lobo" due to his enjoyment of working alone, begins to investigate. Though many other Mexicans believe Brown did it, as he is very hated by them for always trying to drive them from their homes, the coroner identifies that a severed leg found was bitten off by an animal, which was confirmed Hodges' wife, Chris, who worked at a local university and appeared to be an expert on the subject, identified the animal as an alligator. Vincent Brown has been setting up an empire and is planning a town party at the lake that weekend. Hodges tries to get Mayor Anderson, who has been helping Brown, to call it off, but he, just like Chief Clarence Speed earlier, believed much was at stake. Rookie Police officer Rich Harmon is enlisted reluctantly by Hodges as a partner to help him, but their attempt to kill the mutant alligator fails easily. Professional alligator hunter Shai Hawkins and his friends and brother are summoned by Brown and begin their hunt almost at the same time as Hodges, but they also fail, having underestimated the size of the mutated beast. Having lost his brother and two of his best friends, Hawk joins Hodges and Harmon's team to hunt the alligator.

Hawkins and his team uncovered proof that Brown dumped Future Chemicals in the sewers, so Brown has his right-hand man wreck Chief Speed's car, killing him, before managing to influence people down to his lake area party. Hodges, Harmon, and Hawkins attempt to blow the mutant alligator to pieces with A bomb Hawkins and Hodges made, but it ate it, breaking the detonation device meant to set it off. After Hodges' wife provides poison for use against the alligator, the three pursue it through the sewers, sending Chris and Harmon's new girlfriend, the mayor daughter, Sherri Anderson, to get rid of anyone in the park. Mayor Anderson, who was good friends with Chief Speed, turns on Brown, who murders him on the Ferris wheel. The alligator reaches the park before Hodges and his partners could stop it, ravaging Brown's party and killing his right-hand man, though in his attempt to flee, he was cut off by some young Mexican friends of Hodges, who arrives quickly himself. Though Brown had his gun, Hodges deflects him into the water, where he is devoured by the alligator. Hodges, Harmon, and Hawkins head out on the lake to cut it off, but their boat is overturned by the alligator, who devours Hawkins. A helicopter picks up Harmon, though Hodges swims down, gets the hypodermic spear of poison, and stabs the alligator, before being picked up himself. However, it does not die, so he and Harmon, armed with rocket launchers, track it down to its nest in the sewer nest. Once they find it, Harmon's shot misses narrowly, while Hodges manages to blast it in one of its soft spots, blowing off the back of its head and detonating the bomb, which obliterates the rest of the mutant alligator. When they return to the surface, they are greeted as heroes and embrace the woman they love, who were glad to see them alive (Sherri was also hurt by her father's death). Here, Hodges acknowledges Harmon as his partner.

Cast[]

Reception[]

The film, given only a very limited theatrical release, received generally negative reviews, with some critics considering it a retread of the first film.[1] In a review of the original film, Kim Newman of Empire noted that "Alligator II: The Mutation is less a sequel than a lackluster remake".[2] Almar Haflidason of BBC Online wrote that the film lacked "the wit and indeed the scares of the original".[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Wingrove, David (1985). Science Fiction Film Source Book. Harlow: Longman. ISBN 0-582-89310-0.
  2. ^ Newman, Kim (1 January 2000). "Alligator Review". Empire. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  3. ^ "BBC - Films - review - Alligator II - The Mutation SE DVD (1991)". BBC Online. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2016.

External links[]

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