ALLIGATOR Coming on 4K UHD/Blu (Finally) - February 22nd

[AndyDursin]

Don't care about THE HOWLING (also coming from Shout) but there hasn't been an HD transfer of ALLIGATOR anywhere so this is a real solid premiere from Shout Factory in 4K UHD!

ALLIGATOR (COLLECTOR’S EDITION)

SLITHERS OUT ON FEBRUARY 22, 2022

IN A 4K UHD™ + BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK

FROM SCREAM FACTORY™


Los Angeles, CA – It lives 50 feet beneath the city. It’s 36 feet long. It weighs 2,000 pounds… and it’s about to break out! Alligator (Collector's Edition) comes snapping on February 22, 2022 in a 4K UHD™ + Blu-ray™ combo pack from Scream Factory. Special features will be announced at a later date.

From director Lewis Teague (Cujo, Cat’s Eye) and screenwriter John Sayles (Piranha, The Howling) comes an unstoppable thriller with bite. After returning from their Florida vacation, the Kendal family decides their pet baby alligator is too much to take care of and they flush him down the toilet. At the same time, Slade Laboratories is conducting secret experiments with animals and disposing of them in the sewer. The baby alligator, fending for itself, must feed on anything it can … including the dead animals. Now, twelve years later, when several murders happen in the city of Chicago, David Madison (Robert Forster, Jackie Brown) is put on the case to find out who … or what … is killing people.

[jkholm]

Great news! I haven't seen this since the 80s when it was on HBO a lot. I liked it back then. Hope it holds up.

[AndyDursin]

I remember seeing this on local TV as a kid and being scared/entertained. Everybody liked this one -- Leonard Maltin gave it 3 stars and Siskel & Ebert both gave it a thumbs up I believe.

The only Blu-Ray was a German release but it was a standard definition upscale that I (wisely) never imported!

Shout says they've been working on this for years and have the TV version slated for inclusion too!

[Monterey Jack]

Alligator was a movie that scared the feces out of me seeing it on network TV as a kid (with almost all of the violence left intact! ). I still vividly remember waiting for the school bus the following, very foggy morning, and expecting the alligator to come trundling out of the fog at me.

Always happy to replace an aging DVD, too.

[AndyDursin]

This took years because the producer apparently didn't care about it and wouldn't license it out. At least it took so long we get 4K and not just 1080p!

This is pretty much a holy trail title for a lot of genre fans.

[Monterey Jack]

YES, Bryan Cranston interview...!

[AndyDursin]

7/10

A long-awaited title that’s taken so long to receive a proper high-definition master that it’s been spectacularly scanned in 4K as well, the 1980 creature feature ALLIGATOR (90 mins., R; Shout! Factory) has at last been brought back to life in a marvelous Scream Factory 4K UHD/Blu-Ray release that instantly marks it as one of the top catalog releases of 2022.

“Alligator” might sound like any number of “Jaws” wannabes from the late ’70s but this is a superior piece of entertainment thanks to John Sayles’ capable script and Robert Forster’s engaging lead performance. Forster plays a grizzled Chicago detective puzzled by human (as well as animal) remains that appear floating in the river; after witnessing a giant alligator running around the sewer system – a monster artificially enhanced by downing an experimental growth formula – Forster partners up with this movie’s Richard Dreyfuss, a reptile expert played by Robin Riker (Chris Elliott’s frenemy on his cult-favorite TV series “Get a Life”), to track down the beast…but not before it generates a fair amount of movie mayhem along the way.

Directed by Lewis Teague (“Cat’s Eye,” “Cujo”), “Alligator” offers a fair degree of natural humor throughout but this is not, unlike “Piranha,” a campy picture but an effective reworking of the “Jaws” formula. Sayles’ screenplay pivots on the “alligators in the sewers” urban legend by having the young version of Riker’s character own a baby alligator which her father flushes down the toilet – from there, the movie follows a standard formula but still becomes one of those guilty pleasures that’s difficult to turn off, even after repeat viewing. There’s just something competent across every level of the movie – from its fast pace and FX work to terrific character actor appearances, with Henry Silva, Sidney Lassick, Jack Carter and Michael Gazzo counted among them.

Though it’s not a classic, “Alligator” is a highly resourceful B-movie that has held up well – despite the fact that its right owners allegedly have kept the film out of circulation since the DVD era. Thanks to our friends at Shout! Factory, though, the long wait for a quality home video presentation of the movie is over: Scream’s 4K UHD/Blu-Ray combo pack, out February 22nd, houses a marvelous Dolby Vision HDR grading of the movie, fresh off a 4K scan of the original negative. The 1.85 image is saturated with warm color and high detail that makes even the movie’s dingy sewer pursuits carry more picture information than comparatively dark and muddy DVD/VHS releases. The original mono sound, featuring a score by Craig Huxley with his “blaster beam” in tow, has been untouched, which is fine since it’s crisply recorded and carries a decent punch for a mono soundstage.

A pair of Blu-Rays are also included, both based off the 4K scan, one being the movie’s 98-minute TV version which sports a number of deleted scenes. The set also includes a fine array of extras: a lengthy talk with future star Bryan Cranston, who labored on the movie as an assistant; new interviews with Robin Riker, John Sayles, Robert Short and Lewis Teague, plus archival extras like a longer interview with Sayles (from Lionsgate’s previous DVD) and a commentary featuring Teague and Robert Forster. Trailers and TV spots round out a must-have for genre fans and one of Scream’s finest releases of late.

[Monterey Jack]

Got my copy today...with the back of the slipcover (and case beneath) badly slashed by what appears to be a box cutter.



For $35 goddamn dollars, they better replace this...

[AndyDursin]

Was this internally damaged? Like, was the exterior shipping envelope/box NOT damaged? If that's the case they never should've sent it to anyone in the first place.

[Monterey Jack]

Was this internally damaged? Like, was the exterior shipping envelope/box NOT damaged? If that's the case they never should've sent it to anyone in the first place.

The exterior packaging wasn't harmed in the slightest (it was shipped in one of those "long boxes" to accommodate the poster I got as a pre-order perk), but there was a stuttering cut through the top and bottom of the sealed-under-the-plastic slipcover that slightly marred the case underneath (the insert itself was thankfully spared). For the money I spent to get this, this is appalling quality control. I sent off a complaint to SF, and hopefully they'll send me a replacement slip or at least refund me some of the price. I expect this kind of slapdash treatment when ordering from Amazon or even Target (my recent 4K purchase of Saving Private Ryan came with a totally cracked and useless case, and it's NOT easy to replace a 3-disc 4K UHD case ), but when ordering direct from the source for a premium, I expect the royal treatment. Granted, SF has been good in the past when it comes to sending out replacement copies for titles they'd fudged-up in some way (just the other day I got a replacement copy for The Vampire Lovers, as the first printing of the run was sent out with a censored, alternate shot of Ingrid Pitt exiting a bathtub topless ), but I hope they don't give me a problem with this, as I don't have a cell phone, and thus cannot take pictorial evidence of the damage.

On a lighter note, the new 4K transfer is exemplary, and the new extras are fun and edifying, especially how gracious Bryan Cranston was in donating time to discuss stuffing fake guts into a rubber 'gator at the dawn of his career. This is an early candidate for one of the best catalogue releases of the year, especially considering how long the movie was locked into a dreary, ancient DVD transfer.

[Monterey Jack]

Well, they're sending a replacement for the slip, which is nice.

[Monterey Jack]

Well, they're sending a replacement for the slip, which is nice.

Received today, in great condition. Of course, in the interim, I noticed a giant scratch on the back of the theatrical cut BD. Eh, it didn't effect playback of the special features, so I can deal.

What is WITH terrible quality control, these days? It doesn't matter which label releases them, but it seems like scratched discs and borked audio or video has been running rampant for the last several years, and I don't think it can all be blamed on Covid. Now people are complaining that the "original audio" on the new Ghostbusters disc has the dialogue coming out of the rear speakers, instead of just music and F/X. Getting really sick of every third movie from Arrow or Scream or Kino needing a goddamn replacement program.