Croc (2007)

the audience applauded

good back-story, and good acting

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Stewart Raffill Before Sci Fi became "SyFY", Saturday evenings were motion picture event nights because one could rely on a high quality production being presented, a film of intelligence and intellectually challenging. That was before the days of Mega Shark vs. Dinocroc and Sharknado. This is one of those fine films from those fondly remembered days. Directed by the gifted Stewart Raffill and starring respected actor Michael Madsen, this is a film that is well produced on location in Thailand and is highlighted by a masterful script by renown screenwriter Ken Solarz. It is a powerful story about a killer crocodile threatening to destroy the indigent peoples and the tourists alike. The atmosphere of fear and dread is almost unendurable and the intensity of the action overwhelming. What make this film especially unique is the focus on the humanity, the inner lives of a people facing a fight for survival they were ill prepared for. Madsen does of his finest work in years and the entire cast is superb.

A mixture of stock footage, animatronics, real crocs and a few CG shots combine to "bring life" to this hokey but cheerful killer croc movie. Madsen keeps himself in the background until the end, and puts in more effort than the role requires. I've heard he's had some financial issues, which is a shame for such a great actor. But hey, at least he doesn't seem bitter. The land developer subplot is used well and quickly disposed of for the finale. Some people just can't capture the pain of being eaten by a crocodile. The setting allows for some nice scenery. Don't expect any strong characters to care for, but if you like Croc movies, check it out. Perhaps better than you'd expect.

Croc is set in Thailand where American Jack McQuade (Peter Tuinstra) runs a zoo for locals & tourists with his nephew Theo (Scott Hazell). Greedy property developer Cao Konsong (Wasan Junsook) wants to shut the zoo since he wants to build a road through it & resorts to underhanded tactics to achieve this, Cao's younger brother Andy (Tawon Saetang) hears that someone has been killed by a Crocodile & sensing an opportunity releases the Crocodiles from Jack's zoo in order to make it look like his Crodile's were responsible. At first everyone buy's it which leaves the real huge man-eating Crocodile to carry on killing people. Evetually the authorities realize the mistake & Jack take sit upon himself to find the real Crocodile & stop it...Diretced by Stewart Raffill this is yet another awful 'Creature Feature' that premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel, why do they keep making & showing this rubbish? I suppose someone must like them, I mean someone must keep on watching them surely? If not they wouldn't get made, right? Anyway Croc has all the usual 'Creature Feature' flaws, a terrible script that almost totally ignores the main monster & instead focuses on a couple of really boring sub-plots like Jack not paying his taxes & the property developers trying to get Jack's zoo shut down. Listen guy's we creature feature fans don't want to see that crap we just want to see the huge Crocodile kill & eat people. The character's, dialog, plot, narrative & logic are all well below par & overall Croc is just a terrible film that bored the life out of me. The film drags, there's nothing to engage or interest the viewer & it utterly predictable in a Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' sort of way.Unlike most Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Features' Croc doesn't have that much bad CGI computer effects work in it, sure it has some but most of the Crocodile attack scenes are a mixture of quick cuts, bad editing, people splashing around in the water & stock footage of real crocodiles which looks like it was lifted from some wildlife documentary. There's a definite shift in picture quality, lighting & you can tell the Crocodile isn't twenty feet long like the film claims as the surrounding terrain like grass, stones, splashes & the like reveal otherwise. The attack scenes are horribly edited, you can barely tell whats going on & they just look awful. There's a bit of gore, there are some severed limbs & in particular a decapitated mangled head, having said that it really doesn't amount to much though.With a supposed budget of about $750,000 this obviously had a small budget & it shows. Actually shot on location in Thailand the scenery looks quite nice & is the only reason I am giving Croc two stars out of ten rather than one. Croc is another awful Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' that has all the usual flaws, it's boring, predictable, stupid & infuriating to sit through. Watch the infinitely better Lake Placid (1999) again instead.

Okay little sci-fi channel monster flick, following the familiar pattern established by "Jaws", with Michael Madsen in the Robert Shaw role of a veteran croc specialist hunting for a large saltwater crocodile that's eating humans within the radius of it's underwater cavernous lair, near a Thai coastal village.The film features greedy corrupt land developers(of course) wanting a croc farmer(..who operates a successful tourist zoo with lots of wild game other than just it's feature attractions), Jack McQuade(Peter Tuinstra)to vacate the premises so that they can confiscate his land for their own financial services. When Jack refuses, they try other desperate measures to force his hand, such as cutting the power, even attempting to run over his sister whose personal funds help sustain his business. When the giant crocodile starts attacking innocent people close to shore, McQuade will join forces with Croc Hawkins(Madsen), a lead-legged hunter with a grudge(..he has a score to settle with the beast, photographs of the many victims it has taken, taped inside his boat's cabin)to find and kill the predatory scavenger.I have to say that Croc, unlike other films of it's type, has some successful attack sequences. I think really only one major sequence looks rather unrealistic, more obvious a CGI concoction when the crocodile attempts to snatch a girl with a puppy in her hand as it bursts through a wooden floor chomping air. I think a more effective attack occurs later within a pool, tearing into(..and apart)victims, leaving a lot of blood and body parts scattered. I thought when the crocodile secures victims in it's mouth, crunching them in one fail swoop, were actually rather well staged. The movie certainly delivers a steady supply of victims to be lunch for the crocodile.The film has a blooming romance between McQuade and a scientist, Evelyn(Sherry Phungprasert), hired initially to shut his zoo down, and Jack's nephew, Theo(Scott Hazell) with a local girl, Chompoo(Duangduean Kumphasee). Chompoo's sister is one of the crocodiles many victims. The film really highlights Thailand, using the people and land as a nice backdrop for this creature feature. Rather low IMDb rating, I've seen a hell of a lot worse than Croc, that's for sure. So-so finale is moderately suspenseful, if predictable. Madsen, while certainly a welcome presence, doesn't really have to flex any acting muscle, maintaining his usual persona of quiet cool.