Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Killer Crocodile Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 31, 2020

Fabrizio De Angelis' "Killer Crocodile" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films. The supplemental features on the disc include new interview with cinematographer Federico Del Zoppo; new interview with make up artist Giannetto De Rossi; new interview with actor Pietro Genuardi; and more. In English or Italian, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Fabrizio De Angelis was a much better producer than he was a director. The proof? His name appears on Umberto Lenzi’s thriller Violent Naples and Lucio Fulci’s big cult classics Zombie, The House by the Cemetery, The Beyond, and The New York Ripper. This is a solid group of films that all serious film buffs know very, very well. In other words, during the glory days of Italian genre films De Angelis frequently collaborated with people who understood quality and made sure it was reflected in their work.

But while producing their films De Angelis became convinced that he could do just as good of a job as a director and in 1983 he shot his first film, Thunder, under the alias Larry Ludman. De Angelis loved the gig so much that in a little over a decade he completed twenty-two films, six of which were copycats inspired by John G. Avildsen’s genre favorite The Karate Kid. (Thus far, only the first, Karate Warrior, is out on Blu-ray). He even shot and produced two Thunder sequels despite the fact that the original film was anything but a genre favorite. It was good business, particularly when De Angelis was able to shoot and produce his films, which was usually most of the time.

De Angelis shot the first Killer Crocodile film and produced the second one, but they were both conceived in the exact same way his Karate Warrior copycats were. Indeed, the original concept for the first Killer Crocodile is essentially an exotic interpretation of Steven Spielberg’s ‘killer shark’ concept with a few typically Italian genre embellishments. Both films were of course made with much smaller budgets than Spielberg’s film and, perhaps more importantly, with far less reliable actors.

In the first Killer Crocodile film a group of American environmentalists travel to an unnamed third world country and discover that toxic radioactive materials have been released in a river nearby a small village. While gathering data to determine the origin of the materials, the environmentalists are repeatedly attacked by a giant crocodile that might have undergone some sort of a mutation. When a few of them die, a foreign hunter who has lived in the area for decades joins them and eventually confronts the creature.

The only legitimately good entertainment in this film comes from its sporadic attempts to appear somewhat legit. What does this mean exactly? It means that instead of looking like a cheap parody the film actually puts some effort into the action and occasionally produces a few surprises that could thrill viewers with a soft spot for Italian genre excess. An unusually good soundtrack by the prolific maestro Riz Ortolani also adds proper flavor to the action, so there are a few bits here and there that almost make the film worth seeing.

Unfortunately, the chemistry between the lead actors is very problematic, so excluding the footage where the giant crocodile goes berserk there isn’t much that excites. Most of the time it feels like the actors are simply reciting memorized lines and waiting for the right moment to do something silly that only further solidifies the viewer’s impression that they are acting and doing it poorly. Needless to say, even by Italian genre standards this film stutters way, way too much and eventually tires the eyes and the mind.

Killer Crocodile Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Killer Crocodile arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

The release is sourced from a 2K master that was apparently struck from the original camera negative. I think that it is a very solid organic master, but there is room for some minor improvements. For example, there are a few large blemishes and lines that pop up. Both are of the kind that modern digital tools can very easily and quickly eliminate. Also, while the color grading job is very convincing, there are a couple of sequences where the blacks become a tad too prominent, so some adjustments could have been made for smaller native nuances to be better preserved. Everything else I like a lot. Grain is typically nicely exposed and resolved, plus density levels are consistently very strong. The overall fluidity of the visuals is very good as well. I also wish to mention that the encoding of the new master is very good. All in all, while there is some room for minor cosmetic improvements, this is a very fine organic present6ation of the film that should please its fans. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Killer Crocodile Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the Italian track.

I viewed the film with the original English track, which features plenty of studio overdubbing. Some unevenness exists, but clarity and stability are very good. More importantly, Riz Ortolani's music score produces some quite impressive dynamic contrasts that make the footage with the crocodile very exciting. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Killer Crocodile Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage trailer for Killer Crocodile. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Giannetto De Rossi - in this new video interview, make up artist Giannetto De Rossi recalls his contribution to Killer Crocodile and discusses some specific creative choices he made to have the giant crocodile look as authentic as possible. In Italian, with English subtitles. (15 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Pietro Genuardi - in this new video interview, actor Pietro Genuardi discusses the evolution of his career and involvement with Killer Crocodile. In Italian, with English subtitles. (16 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Federico Del Zoppo - in this new video interview, cinematographer Federico Del Zoppo discusses his work on Killer Crocodile, Fabrizio De Angelis' directing methods, and the state of the Italian film industry during the early stages of his career. There are also some very interesting comments about the production of Tinto Brass' working methods and his film Do It!, which Mr. Del Zoppo lensed. In Italian, with English subtitles. (12 min, 1080p).

• Cover - reversible cover work.

Killer Crocodile Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have some serious doubts that a bigger budget would have allowed Fabrizio De Angelis to deliver a better film. Perhaps he would have had a stronger cast to work with, but the end result once again would have been very uneven and ultimately unconvincing. There are small parts of Killer Crocodile that deliver what I consider to be proper genre entertainment, but the quality of the acting is seriously underwhelming. 88 Films' release is sourced from nice organic master and features a very interesting interview with cinematographer Federico Del Zoppo. RECOMMENDED only to fans of the film.