THE GREAT ALLIGATOR

On a tropical island, it was decided to build a large hotel complex to attract tourists from all over the world and to civilize the indigenous population of the place, the Kuma. The skilled photographer Daniel and a model arrive at the location to promote the advertising campaign for the new tourist destination called "Paradiso House". One night, the beautiful model mysteriously disappears without leaving traces in the waters of the river. From this moment on, Daniel will discover a terrible secret: the waters of the river are inhabited by a gigantic, ravenous caiman worshipped as a god by the Kuma, ready to devour anyone who invades the waters of its river. "The River of the Great Caiman" is an Italian-style beast movie, certainly closer to the adventure genre than to horror. Directed by the good Sergio Martino, who in 1972 became known to lovers of Italian thriller-horror with "Tutti i colori del buio" and who a year later directed the equally famous thriller-horror "I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale". In addition to venturing into horror-themed films, Martino signed other adventure films like "The Island of Fish Men" (directed the same year as "The River of the Great Caiman") and many trash comedies with Lino Banfi like "Cornetti alla crema" and "The Trainer in the Ball". Sergio Martino, in addition to directing this film, took the trouble to collaborate on the screenplay, which undoubtedly represents one of the film's strong points; in fact, the film benefits from a well-thought-out and engaging story, and, although in some respects it may remind one of more famous films like "King Kong" (the caiman worshipped by the indigenous population as a god; the girl tied to the raft and offered as a sacrifice to the river god, etc.), it can be quite original and magnificently manages to alternate a very adventurous first half with a second half rich in tension where the ravenous caiman sows devastation among the innocent tourists who came here only to have fun. Furthermore, the film boasts excellent actors like Richard Johnson, who appeared in famous horror films like "Zombi 2" and "Gli invasati", Mel Ferrer, also an actor who has ventured into horror films like "The Antichrist" and "That Motel Near the Swamp", and Barbara Bach who appeared in "007 - The Spy Who Loved Me" and "The Island of Fish Men". The characters, although very stereotypical (the hero who must save the situation, the beautiful damsel in distress, the greedy entrepreneur who only thinks about profit), all have at least a bit of psychological depth, and the convincing acting manages to easily convince the viewer. But, despite everything, the film also has several weak points: the first can be found in the realization of the caiman, which, due to the low budget, appears terribly fake, so much so that in many underwater shots the large caiman appears completely rigid, demonstrating its true puppet nature. The second unstable point lies in the level of gore and splatter. Indeed, this film, which would have been very suitable for gruesome scenes, is completely free of strong scenes, but when the caiman feasts on the tourists, everything is resolved with a simple blood stain in the water and nothing more. In conclusion, "The River of the Great Caiman" is a good beast movie, interesting and engaging, but which presents several problems that could have been resolved with a slightly higher budget. Recommended especially to lovers of beast movies and to nostalgics of old Italian cinema. It definitely deserves a viewing.