Le Crocodile Film

[Beverly Zielonko]

Crocodileis a 2000 American direct-to-video horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. The film involves a group of college students on a houseboat for spring break who stumble across a nest of eggs, and unknowingly enrage a large female Nile crocodile that stalks and kills them one by one. It was followed by Crocodile 2: Death Swamp, a film with no relation to the plot of the original beyond featuring the same individual giant crocodile and its sole offspring.

Eight teenagers, including Brady (Mark McLachlan), Claire (Caitlin Martin), Duncan (Chris Solari), Kit (D. W. Reiser), Annabelle (Julie Mintz), Sunny (Summer Knight), Foster (Rhett Jordan), and Hubs (Greg Wayne) are going on a weekend boat trip on a remote lake in Southern California for spring break. As the group is about to depart on their boat, they are warned by Sheriff Bowman (Harrison Young) to be sensible and keep out of danger. After a day of partying, the group have a bonfire, where Kit tells them a local story about how in the early 20th century (around 1904; 96 years ago) a hotel owner named Harlan featured a 40 ft (12 m) crocodile named Flat Dog at his hotel. Harlan eventually sets up a shrine to Flat Dog, believing her to be an avatar to the ancient Egyptian crocodile god (Sobek), creating a cult that worshiped the crocodile. The town eventually ran Harlan away because of his heathenism and torched his hotel years later when Kit was a kid. Close by, two local fishermen destroy a crocodile nest, only for them both to be attacked by Flat Dog, who devours them both.

The following day the teenagers continue to party. Annabelle's dog, Princess, runs away, leading the group to the crocodile's nest, where Duncan breaks an egg and Hubs hides the last one in Claire's bag. At night, Sunny becomes incredibly drunk and reveals Brady cheated on Claire with her, resulting in Claire breaking up with Brady. Hubs, who is also heavily intoxicated falls asleep at the bonfire while the rest of the group returns to the boat. Sometime later, Hubs attempts to return to the boat but is eaten by Flat Dog, while the boat becomes untied and begins to drift in the lake. In the morning, the friends find their boat has become stuck, leaving them stranded. While the rest of the group attempt to fix the boat, Brady and Sunny go to try to find Hubs. Sunny attempts to get Brady to go swimming, but she narrowly escapes an attack by Flat Dog. The pair rush back to the boat to warn the others. However, Flat Dog arrives and sinks the boat, killing Foster in the process.

The next day, the Sheriff and Shurkin find Brady, Claire, and Duncan and pick them up on their boat. Soon after, Shurkin is knocked into the water and eaten, before the Sheriff is also killed. With the boat's engine broken, the survivors swim to land. Claire finally discovers the crocodile's last egg in her bag, and the group uses it as bait to lure Flat Dog to them so they can kill it. As Flat Dog arrives, Duncan attempts to kill her. However, he is quickly swallowed whole, only to be regurgitated moments later due to being covered in bug-spray. Claire gives the Flat Dog the egg, which hatches into a baby crocodile, before she returns to her nest, leaving Claire, Princess, Brady, and Duncan free to escape.

Producer Frank DeMartini said that, with Crocodile, director Tobe Hooper was "trying to [...] recapture the fright of" The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.[2] Hooper agreed, saying, "It's the 25th anniversary of the first Chain Saw, and I really wanted to create an atmosphere that will wind you up like that";[3] although he also stated, "Stylistically, I'm going for an entirely different look from anything I've ever done, or anything you'd expect me to do."[3] Noting that the movie was his second about crocodiles, after Eaten Alive, he described Crocodile as a campfire film with a "mythological background. There's a legend connected with it. Every town in America seems to have some story of [a] lake or woods with a monster in it."[4] He compared the characters to those in Deliverance, as Crocodile also becomes about survival.[4]

The screenplay was written by Michael D. Weiss, Adam Gierasch, and Jace Anderson. Thomas Crow of Fangoria stated that Hooper had "tinkered with" the script.[4] Hooper said, "On paper, something may look good, but things change. Speaking in broad strokes, we've been reshaping some of the dialogue [to suit the actors]. The idea on the page will certainly get to the screen, but I'm aiming for spontaneity."[4]

Crocodile was released directly to DVD on August 26, 2000.[6][7] It was rereleased by Trimark on October 9, 2001, as part of a DVD box set that also included King Cobra, Octopus, and Spiders.[7][8]

In a contemporary review, Joseph O'Brien of Rue Morgue wrote, "There are occasional flashes of Hooper's brand of weirdness", noting a scene where a crocodile hunter attacks the beast that killed his father. O'Brien added that the film was like an episode of "Dawson's Creek where most of the cast are munched by a big reptile; a not-unrewarding experience if viewed in this light. [...] Ultimately though, even the good bits are only good enough to make you wish you were watching Alligator or maybe even Lake Placid instead."[10] Will Wilson of Deep Red gave the movie one out of four, stating that "the degree to which Tobe Hooper continues to mar his early cinematic legacy is alarming. His once imposing filmic reputation suffers another deadly blow with this stuff, an as by-the-numbers film as one can get."[11][12] Wilson wrote that "arguing that Hooper has lost it is rather a redundant point. We all know he has. It is just how far he has plummeted that is shocking."[12]

Matthew Chernov of Variety would later place Crocodile eighth on a list of the top ten alligator films, noting it was not as strong as Eaten Alive, but had a "cheesy charm that's undeniable", and was better than the "SyFy Channel movies it occasionally resembles [...] Despite some dodgy CGI effects, Hooper's talent behind the camera shines through."[13]

Nu Image would produce a sequel, Crocodile 2: Death Swamp.[14] The film's director, Gary Jones, said the second film is "not really a sequel. It doesn't follow the plotline, characters, or anything. It's a totally new story, except that one of the characters happens to be a crocodile."[14]

Joey L. is a fine art photographer and documentary film director from Canada based in Brooklyn. He can frequently be found in remote places the outside world knows nothing of, and seems equally at ease working with celebrities and corporate brands.

Joey has been working on a book about Ethiopian cultural history for 12 years. Some Ethiopian tribes have maintained their traditions over centuries. The Dassanach tribe is one. Some of the things he photographed 12 years ago are gone, lost to climate change and modernization. His mission is underscored with a sense of urgency.

Finally, the time was now. He was afraid if he waited longer the crocodile hunters would be a thing of the past. The film covers the search, preparation, tribulations, all the way through the complete hunt, which takes place at night. Joey and his team are among the few outsiders ever to see the hunt. Now you can, too.

This documentary merges uncommon, extraordinary footage of landscapes, tribal peoples, ceremonial blessings, along with what it means to be a working photographer and the importance of respect. Joey talks about the roles passion, curiosity, persistence and risk play relative to his photography. He shows you what happens behind the scenes. But also, what drives him to dedicate his life to pursuing the unusual and cultural truth. He has been in demand since he was a teenager with commissions from celebrities and brands. His work takes him into war zones, remote villages, dense jungles, urban areas, and commercial shoots. Joey L. is a rare breed.

The stereotype of the adventurous and tough, yet uncivilized Australian man is one that Crocodile Dundee made popular worldwide, and as other cultural media show it is a stereotype that continues to exist 30 years later. Countries are often perceived based on symbols and characters, and popular media is a robust method of ingraining a sense of a society on to another one3. Film offers a powerful image of a culture, molding how Americans see the culture of Australia and symbolizing, in truth or not, what the people of Australia are like3. The popularity of the film, and the rugged portrayal of Mick Dundee, enforces the idea that Australians are a tough people, fighting to live a hard, uncivilized way of life in a hostile country.

The stereotype cannot possibly offer a view of every member of Australian society, and is viewed as outdated by some in the country. Australians see the stereotype as very limited, an inaccurate and antiquated vision of who the people of Australia really are6. Dundee defined the Australian stereotype as always very masculine, a perfect shot with a rifle, can track and find his way through any type of land or harsh condition, and can drink anyone under the table. But Australia, like most countries, has many microcultures within it. From the aboriginal people, to those who emigrated from Great Britain and other parts of the former British empire, to modern immigrants from Asia, Australia is a mixing pot of varying cultures. In the film, the Australian stereotype is mostly seen as a curiosity. In several scenes, the upper-class people of New York City treat him more as a spectacle, someone to have fun watching instead of someone that fits within the microculture of their affluent society.

I recently reviewed the Chinese creature feature Crocodile Island. It was an enjoyable enough film, so when I found another film about giant crocs on an island, Mega Crocodile (巨鳄 in the original Chinese), I had to check it out.

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