A scientist at the Slade Pharmaceuticals company has been illegally testing the company’s latest growth hormones on animals, and paying an equally-unethical pet store owner (Sidney Lassick) to discard the test subjects, which he just dumps into the Chicago sewer system. However, twelve years ago, a pet baby alligator was flushed down a toilet, and it has been feeding on these lab experiments, growing to a massive 30-40 feet long. When people start going missing and body parts start showing up at the town sewage treatment plant, homicide detective David Madison (Robert Forster) is called in to investigate. While some think that this may be the work of a serial killer, David believes they may be dealing with a large creature living in the sewers. However, no one seems to believe him, not even Chief Clark (Michael Gazzo). So David enlists the help of the country’s leading herpetologist, Dr. Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker), who happens to live right in the city. Rich pharmaceutical company owner Slade (Dean Jagger) has a lot to hide, and it’s a good thing he has the Mayor (Jack Carter) in his back pocket. But as the bodies continue to pile up and the alligator gets more and more brazen, David’s explanation becomes too irrefutable, and soon the city is in panic. As David and Marisa try to track and figure out a way to stop the creature, the mayor calls in over-confident, chauvinistic big game hunter Colonel Brock (Henry Silva) to help. Can they stop the alligator’s rampage before even more innocent people get gobbled up?!

Alligator follows the standard creature feature format—things start off small, but no one believes the person warning of the danger, especially the corrupt politicians and rich folks with the most to lose. However, once the bodies start piling up, and they can’t ignore it longer, things have already escalated too far, and the response is too little too late. This leaves it up to the underdog hero to save the day. The filmmakers’ inspiration from other creature features can definitely be felt, films like The Blob, but more obviously Jaws, as there are many similarities between the two. David is pretty much the Brody character trying to stop the creature even when those in charge won’t listen, Marisa is the Hooper character who explains all the science to the audience and the other characters, Brock is the over-confident Quint character who thinks he can save the day, and the Mayor is the mayor! Also, as the alligator speeds towards its victims in the water or sewer, we see his POV, and even hear a simple Jaws-like music cue in the score. That said, the film never feels like just a rip-off of Jaws.

Alligator takes some time to develop the main characters and explore their backgrounds and motivations. David had transferred to the city five years earlier after his partner was killed during a highly-publicized case. He still has trouble shaking off that stigma, and the alligator eating other cops on his watch doesn’t help matters. The other characters are also constantly commenting on how David is starting to go bald, which irritates him—this is something worked into the script at the request of star Robert Forster in order to pre-emptively address his own hair transplant surgery. Robert Forster is great in this role, and is quite believable as this cop haunted by his past. As for Marisa, we learn right at the start of the film that as a young girl she already had a strong interest and knowledge of reptiles—it is her pet alligator that was ultimately flushed down that toilet 12 years earlier and is now rampaging the city (though she is not aware of this). She’s a published author and takes her work seriously, though people tend to just refer to her as the lizard lady. It’s hard to believe that this was Robin Riker’s first film role as she feels so natural as Marisa and has good chemistry with her co-star. The supporting cast is filled with lots of recognizable faces from other classic films, who provide many fun foils for David to have to deal with while trying to stop the real threat to the city. I have to think that some of the look and smarminess of Jurassic Park‘s Dennis Nedry was inspired by Sidney Lassick performance as pet store owner Gutchel.

As for the thriller aspects of the movie, The filmmakers do an excellent job of building the tension and suspension, giving audiences glimpses of the creature before it ultimately makes its attack, whether that be an eye coming up from the water, or a quick glimpse of its face in the background, or just its massive shadow as it makes its way around a corner. And when it does attack, it is quick and often gruesome. At the same time, there is a bit of levity mixed in to both artificially disarm the viewer before an attack, or to ratchet down the tension. The film’s effects are quite impressive—the alligator looks quite realistic, no matter if it’s a full size animatronic, or a baby alligator shot on a tiny set, and when it’s chomping away on its victims, it looks and feels real.

Scream Factory’s new Collector’s Edition release includes both the theatrical version of the film in 4K/HD as well as the extended TV version in HD for the first time, and both looks amazing! The new 4K scan was taken from the original camera negative, and for the extended TV version, the additional footage was scanned from an internegative. It’s hard to believe this film is over 40 years old as the 4K picture is so pristine, clean and detailed. There is a pleasant amount of film grain that looks natural and never overpowering or distracting. In the exterior shots, the colors are bright, with a very clear picture that captures every detail in the character’s faces and the textures of clothing and the scaly skin of the alligator when he makes it outside of the dark sewer. And speaking of the darker scenes in the sewer, blacks look great with no signs of crush, and the picture and action is still very well-defined. The 4K disc features an English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio track. While this doesn’t give the more immersive experience of a modern film, the audio never felt lacking. The dialogue was clear and well balanced with the score and sound effects such that none of these ever felt drowned out.

The release includes 3 discs packed into a standard 4K keepcase with swinging tray in the middle, and an outer cardboard slipcover. The first disc is the 4K disc containing the theatrical version of the movie plus optional audio commentary; the second disc is a Blu-ray disc containing the theatrical version of the film plus all of the bonus material; and the third disc is a Blu-ray disc containing the extended TV version of the film in HD. The HD picture on both cuts of the film also looks very impressive. The bonus material consists of two features ported over from the previous 2007 DVD release—an audio commentary and an interview with the screenwriter—plus 77 minutes of brand new interviews with the cast and crew (including a thoroughly entertaining interview with Bryan Cranston who was just a production assistant at the time!), a separate look at the TV scenes, as well as trailers, TV spots and photo galleries, some of which come from brand new 2K scans.

What’s Included:

Film: (Theatrical: 1:30:50, Television: 1:38:05)

4K UHD (Theatrical):
• 2160p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Dolby Vision / HDR10
• Audio: English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Blu-ray (Theatrical and Extended TV Cut):

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

Only the audio commentary is provided on the 4K disc, all other bonus material is included exclusively on the Blu-ray disc. Items that are brand new to this release are noted with an *.
• Commentary With Director Lewis Teague and Actor Robert Forster (1:30:50)
  Originally recorded for the 2007 DVD release, Del Howison (Dark Delicacies) moderates this commentary track with director Lewis Teague and star Robert Forster (“David”). The participants talk about how they got involved with the film and share a lot of stories about the production. Some of the discussions felt a little repeated in the other interviews.
• Gator Guts, The Great River, And Bob with Bryan Cranston* (22:17)
  In this brand new interview, Bryan Cranston talks about his early career and working as a production assistant in the special effects department for Alligator. He shares some fun stories about preparing the hero alligator for the film’s big final explosion, shooting in the L.A. river, meeting Robert Forster, and more. Includes production photos, clips, and footage of Cranston’s first TV commercial from 1979.
• Everybody In The Pool with Actress Robin Riker* (7:33)
  Brand new interview with star Robin Riker (“Marisa”), who reflects back on her first feature role, sharing stories about working with Robert Forster, director Lewis Teague, and other co-stars, filming in the L.A. river storm drains, the lasting popularity of the film, and more.
• Wild In The Streets with Director Lewis Teague* (24:32)
  Brand new interview with director Lewis Teague, who reflects back on the film that helped to catapult his career. He talks about working with writer John Sayles to rewrite the script, casting Robert Forster, the challenges with the alligator suit design, filming in the storm drains, shooting baby alligators in tiny sets, the swimming pool party scene, the initial struggle to get a theatrical release, the sequel, his battle with substance abuse, and more.
• Luck Of The Gator with Special Effects Artist Robert Short* (12:28)
  In this brand new interview, special makeup effects artist Robert Short discusses creating the blood and human/animal body parts, his brief on-screen performance, filming the real alligator attack for the beginning of the film, and more. He also talks about the work done by the team responsible for bringing the fake alligator to life.
• It Walks Among Us with Screenwriter John Sayles* (9:35)
  In this brand new interview, screenwriter John Sayles talks about how he got involved with the film, being influenced by the progression of Japanese monster movies, how the creature works its way up the social classes, how Robert Forster wanted to work in his hair transplants into the script, the debate on how to kill the alligator, his reaction to seeing the film for the first time, and more.
• Alligator Author with Screenwriter John Sayles (17:19)
  Originally created for the 2007 DVD release, screenwriter John Sayles talks about the problematic elements of original script, the process of completely rewriting the story, his thoughts on the animatronic gator, finding the right tone for the film, the discussion about how to kill the gator, and more. Some of this is repetitive to the new interview.
• TV Cut Additional Scenes (8:01)
  12 deleted/alternate scenes included in the TV version of the film play back-to-back. Presented in 4:3 full frame format.
• Teaser Trailer* (1:12)
  (NEW 2K Scan)
• Theatrical Trailer* (2:35)
  (NEW 2K Scan)
• TV Spots* (2:27)
  Four TV ads for the film (NEW 2K Scan) play back-to-back followed by a TV commercial for the Alligator Game. Presented in 4:3 full frame format.
• Trailers From Hell — Filmmaker Karyn Kusama on Alligator (1:24)
  Director Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body) provides her thoughts on Alligator over the trailer for the film.
• Newspaper Ad Gallery* (3:19)
  Manually step through this slideshow of 28 still photos of newspaper ads for the the film, or let it auto-advance every 5-8 seconds.
• Still Gallery (22:38)
  Manually step through this slideshow of 270 still photos of movie posters, lobby cards, and publicity photos, or let it auto-advance every 5 seconds.
• Television Version (1:38:05)
  On a Blu-ray disc of its own is the extended television cut of the film in HD for the first time. It is taken from the same new 4K scan from the original camera negative with the additional footage scanned from an internegative. I quite enjoyed this version of the film. Some scenes are extended with extra bits of footage, there are also some additional scenes, and some edited scenes (likely to lose the R rating for TV). All of the new material is blended in seamlessly. A few examples of these changes include a slightly longer version of the young Marisa bringing her alligator home, a new fake-out scene with a missing baby girl in her backyard, and a shorter version of the scene with the pirate kids at the pool party.

Final Thoughts:

Scream Factory has put together a truly impressive 4K Collector’s Edition release for 1980’s Alligator. The film is an entertaining creature feature that holds up quite well over 40 years later and, thanks to this 4K release, looks better than ever! The release also includes a newly-remastered version of the extended TV cut in HD for the first time, as well as hours of brand new bonus material and retrospective interviews with the cast and filmmakers. Shout!’s 4k release comes highly recommended for any creature feature fans, and is certainly a must own for longtime Alligator fans.