![]() ![]() How could anyone think this looked acceptable, much less good? The special effects are so crappy, they become insulting. ![]() When forced to interact with other objects, like a log or a gas station, the fakeness of the effects become even more obvious. When walking, it floats an inch above the ground. So what hope can we have for the computer generated images in a flick made with a quarter of those budgets? The CGI crocodile here doesn’t even appear to occupy the same plane of reality as the human characters. Studio produced creature features like “Anaconda” and “Lake Placid,” both of which were undoubtedly huge influences on “Crocodile,” featured digital effects that have aged extremely poorly. Back in the year 2000, mainstream Hollywood movies didn’t always have decent CGI. The fourth and final method the movie uses to create the title-lending monster is the most questionable. It’s obvious they aren’t real but, at the very least, they actually look like a big ass crocodile. These are cheap but okay special effects. The third of which is a set of jaws, seemingly without eyes, capable of chomping actors. This one floats in the water but otherwise seems immobile. The second method is a large fiberglass prop. The first of which is good old fashion monster-vision, when the camera assumes the point-of-view of the beastie. The creature is brought to life through four primary methods. That’s what we’re all for here anyway, ostensibly. Let’s talk about the titular crocodile first. “Crocodile” is still a monumentally shitty movie. ![]() That’s “ Octopus.” It’s also not the best, which is “ Spiders.” (Maybe Nu Image agrees with that, as they bafflingly remade “Spiders” in 2013.) Not that quantifiers like “best” and “worst” mean anything when we’re discussing Z-grade garbage like this. “Crocodile” isn’t the worst of this particular suite of films. Their sequels – “ Crocodile 2: Death Swamp,” “ Spiders II: Breeding Ground,” and “ Octopus 2: River of Fear” – were also frequently shown. “Crocodile,” “Spiders,” and “Octopus” were all shown on Sci-Fi Channel constantly. But they got their start producing low budget action schlock like “ Cyborg Cop,” “ Project Shadowchaser,” and “ Operation Delta Force.” In time, the company would branch out into low budget horror schlock, such as “ Shark Attack.” “Crocodile” was part of a loose trilogy of singularly entitled killer animal movies Nu Image released in 2000. ![]() The company would eventually reach a certain level of main stream success by releasing “ The Expendables” series. Will any of them survive? Will the audience care?ĭuring the Sci-Fi Channel’s rapid decline around the turn of the millennium, the network frequently showed movies produced by Nu Image. After the teens stumble upon the nest, the giant critter comes after them. A local legend, about a croc-worshipping hotel owner importing the reptile from Egypt, is connected with the beast. Afterwards, they’re killed by a giant crocodile. Meanwhile, a pair of drunken hunters wreck a nest filled with mysterious eggs. Their week of debauchery, drugs, and booze is interrupted when Claire discovers Brady has slept with Sunny, the loose girl in the group. Once in the swamp, they meet up with Brady’s girlfriend Claire and a bunch of other kids. His long fall from the horror A-list had finally reached rock bottom.īrady and Duncan are headed for a wild spring break in Florida. A common presence on the network at the time was “Crocodile.” For some reason, Tobe Hooper directed this movie. Nowadays, the channel’s biggest original movies are the “Sharknado” franchise, showing that this focus hasn’t shifted any. The special effects in these movies were often pathetic, relying on the shittiest of CGI. Soon, the cable network began to show cheaply produced, direct-to-video monster movies over and over again. In the early two-thousands, the channel began to change its focus. I loved “Mystery Science Theater 3000” while Sci-Fi often filled its schedule with old school genre television, classic horror and science fiction flicks. There was a time when I watched the Sci-Fi Channel, as it was then known, a lot. ![]()
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