Despite everyone from major studios to smaller production companies continuing to make them, good creature features feel like a dime a dozen in the modern cinematic landscape. Even rarer are ones based on a true story, with one of the more notable recent efforts being Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear, which delivered some fun B-movie thrills, even while burying itself in unnecessary human subplots. Unfortunately, Gator Lake shows that writer-director Michael Houston King learned the wrong lesson from the 2023 movie with his feature directorial debut. Also known as Lake Jesup: Bonecrusher’s Revenge, the movie is set in 2003 in the eponymous Seminole County region of Florida, where local wildlife preservation has led to it becoming the most densely infested alligator lake in the country. The story focuses on Bubba Coggins, a former alligator hunter who, after a stay in prison, lives an isolated life in the Florida marshland, restricted from spending time with his daughter and grandson. However, when an infamous alligator known as Bonecrusher goes on a murderous rampage, Bubba is approached by the mayor with the offer to kill the beast in exchange for a clean record.
Gator Lake’s Story Starts Off Entertaining, But Quickly Becomes Droll

Why Can’t We Just Let Creature Features Be About The Creatures?

The movie’s primary story of Bubba trying to redeem himself and reunite with his family could have been an interesting enough thread tying Gator Lake together, but the fact that King tries to work in so many extraneous subplots ends up making the movie feel overstuffed. Beyond Bubba’s family, there’s also his potential romance with Sarah Voigt’s Lainy, his dark past with local gator attraction owner Angus Sullivan, and Mayor Sam Neuhauser, played by King himself, trying to keep everything under wraps while on the verge of re-election. With the movie barely clocking in at 80 minutes, it’s a wonder why King elected to fill out Gator Lake’s runtime almost entirely with its human characters in lieu of its deadly alligator. The beginning of the movie does kick off with a solid establishment of its violent nature, with body parts left behind for children to find, and nearly back-to-back scenes of killing characters off. But once Bubba gets thrown into the mix, it’s like Gator Lake lost interest in the B-movie creature feature potential and instead decided to try an ensemble story in the vein of Cocaine Bear or even Piranha.
The Use Of Real Locations Can’t Keep Gator Lake From Feeling Cheap

The Gator Itself Is Clearly Hidden For A Reason

With the movie’s titular location being just as much of a character as anyone else, it’s certainly great to see King properly utilize Lake Jesup and the surrounding Seminole County for filming, making it feel very lived-in and authentic. However, in spite of showcasing the sprawling region for Bonecrusher to hunt in, it also frequently showcases that the movie was made on a smaller budget, particularly in how it depicts the antagonistic creature itself.

King certainly does his best to utilize a variety of techniques to keep the tension in place for Bonecrusher’s scenes, including numerous cuts, POV shots from the gator’s perspective and the aftermath of its attacks.

Where Steven Spielberg’s Jaws hid its shark villain due to a combination of practical production issues and a desire to build tension, it seems Gator Lake tried to hide Bonecrusher for most of Gator Lake simply because they didn’t spend enough money on a good-looking puppet. In one sense, I do appreciate the movie didn’t elect to depict the creature with lackluster CGI, as that too often takes me out of a film more than a cheap practical effect. King certainly does his best to utilize a variety of techniques to keep the tension in place for Bonecrusher’s scenes, including numerous cuts, POV shots from the gator’s perspective, and the aftermath of its attacks. Unfortunately, the filmmaker’s style lacks the same panache or intrigue as many other creature feature directors before him, which could partly be attributed to Gator Lake being his feature directorial debut, but also could just be that the movie’s modest budget prevented some of his grander ambitions from coming to fruition.
Gator Lake’s Cast Is The Blandest I’ve Seen In A While

Apart From The Occasional Flair, Most Are Just Reading Their Lines

With how much emphasis is put on the characters, one would hope that Gator Lake’s cast would bring some life to the film. Instead, they all prove to be a largely underwhelming group of performers. There are certain moments in which the characters show a little life, but with Derek Russo (Bad Boys: Ride or Die) serving as the hero of the story, it would have been nice to see some more passion or charisma from him. But he, much like the rest of the cast, feels like they’re just reading their lines to get through the day, further cementing the film’s boring streak. Gator Lake hits digital platforms and VOD on June 13.

Gator Lake

3/10

Release Date

May 1, 2024

Director

Michael Houston King

Pros & Cons

The movie starts off on a bloody and intriguing note.
The choice for practical effects and real locations is commendable.

The movie buries its B-movie fun in endless subplots.
Michael Houston King’s direction isn’t terrible, but marred by a low budget.
The cast are all quite bland and uninteresting.