‘Crocodylus: Mating Season’ Review
Stars: Michael Mclaren, Chuck Fusca, Rachel Comeau, Andy Gion, Jim Serrano | Written and Directed by Stanley Pomianowski
I hadn’t heard of Crocodylus: Mating Season until I stumbled across it while looking through recent releases. Apparently, it’s the sequel to a film from 2017, Crocodylus, which I hadn’t heard of either. But I really didn’t need to know more than that it featured practical effects and was about a human-alligator hybrid terrorizing Peaceful Creek, Florida.
The film’s prologue tells you just what to expect as Lex (Michael Mclaren; Midnight Montage: Book of Consequences, Crocodylus) takes a family out on an alligator tour only to run into something green and angry that kills him and his passengers, but not before he realizes “We’re going to need a bigger float.”
Back in civilization, Harry Bates (Chuck Fusca; Teacher’s Lounge, Fragile Like Concrete) is a private eye who’s paying the bills getting pictures of cheating spouses when Allie Glades (Rachel Comeau; HorrorscapeS, Some Southern Waters) walks into his office looking for someone who can find her brother Mark who disappeared after taking an experimental drug that not only cured his cancer, but put him in the best shape of his life.
It isn’t long before Police Chief Lex Gardner (Andy Gion; Condor’s Nest, Bubba the Redneck Werewolf) is telling him to drop the case and stay away from Allie, a sure sign that something shady is going on. But Lex is already in over his head, and Allie might just be the woman who can get him over his lost Lenore.
Stanley Pomianowski (I Invented a Time Machine, Ellen Vs the World) takes over from Michael Mclaren as writer and director on Crocodylus: Mating Season, with Mclaren producing as well as making his cameo as the charter boat captain. Pomianowski sets Crocodylus: Mating Season up as a spoof on noir detective films, as well as creature features, not the most common of combinations. But the humour is more of the grin, or roll your eyes, and chuckle variety than anything that will have you laughing out loud. The bloopers that play alongside the end credits however did make me laugh a couple of times.
And Crocodylus: Mating Season is quite amusing as the trail leads to Dr. Williams (Jim Serrano; How To: Be The Perfect Boyfriend, David Isn’t Here Anymore) who wants to use the serum to open an alligator farm and corner the market in alligator meat. There’s also a female creature, you can probably guess who, and a clutch of eggs, inadvertently fertilized by our hero. That leads to some of the film’s funniest moments as he imagines raising the resulting offspring.
I should mention that despite some of the plot elements, Crocodylus: Mating Season is a fairly tame film that seems to be aimed at families rather than being the Humanoids From the Deep send-up I initially expected. The jokes run towards moments like a woman not realizing the creature is rubbing sunscreen on her back, Star Wars references and references to films as diverse as The Alligator People, The Creature From the Black Lagoon and Army of Darkness.
Alan Ostrander’s (Crippled Creek, The Mad Hatter) effects are, as I mentioned, practical, and they’re also fairly basic. The Crocodylus suits are obviously just that, given some of the films being spoofed, that may be by intention as much as by budget. The attacks tend to consist of blood splashed around, there is a head knocked off someone’s shoulders, but it’s bloodless and obviously a mannequin. As with the film’s jokes, nothing that will go too far or offend anyone.
The cast manage to play it straight for the most part, although in the grand tradition of mad scientists Serrano frequently goes over the top with his performance with amusing results. And overall, that may be the best way to describe Crocodylus: Mating Season, amusing. It kept me entertained, but was a bit too mild-mannered and lacking in bite to really blow me away.
*** 3/5
Crocodylus: Mating Season is available on Digital Platforms via 101 Films.
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