Horror Movie Review: Sewer Gators (2022)

Written and directed by Paul Dale and starring Manon Pages, Austin Naulty, and Kenny Bellau, Sewer Gators is trash. A no-budget sci-fi/horror that might be better flushed down the toilet.

A small town in Louisiana has an alligator problem. Some sort of mutant gator has ended up in the sewers and its babies are causing carnage. So much carnage that the annual Gator Festival is in threat, much to the chagrin of the mayor who, of course, refuses to shut it down. It’s up to the local sheriff, an alligator expert, and an old hunter to kill the beasts.

Sewer Gators desperately hopes you can overlook all of its problems by refusing to take itself seriously. Problems that include a rehashed plot, limited action, poor effects and the sight of actors reacting and doing battle with obvious rubber toy gators. Yes, it is really is this cheap.

That being said, some credit can be given for enthusiasm, mainly from the actors who rise above the amateur film-making to really try and make something of this. It’s trash but you might find yourself amused by the overt silliness of it all.

Nowhere in the movie is that trashiness better portrayed than when we’re supposed to be witnessing a gator coming out of a water faucet. Even before the hand holding the toy comes briefly into shot, it’s clear this gator isn’t actually coming out of the faucet.

If you haven’t thrown your hands up in the air and unchained your brain already, this bit might be the moment you do.

Is it funny at least? It tries really hard, to the point of desperation and more times than not, it fails to spark even a wry smile. Again, the actors really put the effort in but they can’t save poor writing even if some of their comedic timing is on point.

There’s a real DIY feel to this movie and that works both for and against it. You can admire the effort that has gone in and with more money, it might have been at least decent. That being said, there are loads of no-budget/low-budget that do so much more.