Dinocroc vs Supergator (3 Stars)

I admit, after I watched this film eight years ago, I didn't intend to watch it again. I'm a big fan of Jim Wynorski, but I didn't consider it to be one of his better films. Recently a friend of mine mentioned the film on Facebook and praised the musical score by Chuck Cirino. I couldn't remember the music, so I decided to pull it off my shelf and watch it again. I'm fortunate that my DVDs are neatly stored in alphabetical order. As someone who owns more than 2000 films, it's essential. I started to use bookshelves exclusively for my DVDs years ago, probably in 2008, when I only had a hundred films. I bought more bookshelves over the years as needed. I now have five large bookcases, all above head height, but the films on the top shelf are still within reaching distance. My top shelf is reserved for my favourite films, and the alphabetic ordering starts on the second shelf. Importantly, when I want a particular film, however long it is since I last watched it, I only need a few seconds to find it.

The film takes place in Hawaii on the island Kauai. An industrialist, Jason Drake, played by David Carradine, has been carrying out illegal experiments in his factory. He's been genetically modifying a crocodile and an alligator. They both increase in size rapidly. For unknown reasons the crocodile looks like it's been grafted onto a Tyrannosaurus Rex's body. Both creatures break out of the factory on the same day and head in different directions, looking for food... the two-legged kind of food.

Drake sends in mercenaries to capture the creatures and bring them back. The US government sends in specialists to kill them. The two groups briefly meet, when Drake's personal assistant is sent to kill anyone from the factory who's giving away secrets to the government agents. That's probably the weakest part of the plot: the rival groups don't challenge one another. In the first half we see mainly Drake's men, in the second half we only see the government agents. It's a loose end that Drake's men – the ones who haven't been killed – simply disappear.

Another problem is that the computer graphics are such poor quality. Nobody expects a low budget film to look like "Jurassic Park", but the monsters still look too bad to be taken seriously. The monster films made by Christopher Ray look better, and I'm sure he probably has an even smaller budget.

The film's title is misleading. The two monsters wreak havoc separately throughout the film. They only come together for a fight in the final five minutes.

As for the music, my usual opinion about film music is that it should produce emotional feelings without being consciously heard. It should be in the background while the viewer concentrates on the story itself. Nevertheless, I made an effort to listen to the music, and I have to agree with my friend. Chuck Cirino's score is excellent, especially in the film's opening scenes. Sometimes music is worth listening to in its own right.

The film has an assortment of pretty girls, as you would expect from any film directed by Jim Wynorski, but they don't last long. Most of them are unnamed characters who strut across the screen, showing off their bikinis, only to be bitten in half a few minutes later. What a waste!

The only girl who makes it to the end is the beautiful park ranger Cassidy Swanson, played by Amy Holt. 

It must be a rule in Jim Wynorski's monster films that any girl wearing a bikini is going to die. I wonder what his therapist has to say about that. We can just be happy that Cassidy was professional and left her bikini at home.

Overall, the film isn't very satisfying. It's not an awful film, but it's not good enough to be thrilling. At the very least, Jim could have added some gratuitous nudity. Maybe a girl or two lying nude on the beach who didn't get killed. Take off your bikinis and survive!

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