Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators

aka Alligator Alley

2013
Story by Rafael Jordan Pujals
Screenplay by Delondra Williams and Keith Allan
Directed by Griff Furst (as Louis Myman)

I love it when they wiggle on the way down!

Cajun dudes, bayou creole accents, fancy blue moonshine, family rivalries, even a banjo player who can’t talk. Ragin’ Cajun Redneck Gators serves up the full buffet of bayou stereotypes. It also serves up a heaping load of killer mutant gators and some horrible body modification mess.

Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators differs in tone from a lot of SyFy’s pictures because it’s a lot more darker. The origin of the monsters turns into a tragedy, and the heroine Avery must reluctantly deal with the consequences and ending the terror. It’s actually horrifying what transpires, basically her entire family is transformed into mutant killer gators after eating the flesh of a slain mutant killer gator. Thus, to save the rest of the town and the planet from the threat of her relatives, who are now mindless killing machines, she has to destroy them. Worse yet, there are clues that the gators have at least some memories of their human lives.

I give credit to the script for delivering the unexpected twist of being forced to slaughter your own family. Rafael Jordan came up with the story and Keith Allan and Delondra Williams turned it into the final film. Griff Furst helps breath life to it, directing under his pseudonym. I especially love how they turn the resident gator expert on it’s ear, you’re expecting a Steve Irwin clone, but instead you get a riff on The Dog Whisperer!

The Gator Whisperer being a complete wackjob is a humorous element needed as the film turns darker. His whole schtick of being an expert who can talk alligators into being docile creatures ends in the bloody way you imagine it will for him and his entire crew. I guess some time slots just opened up on his station!

Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators suffers from an obviously suffering budget, the mutant alligators are barely distinguishable from the standard crocodile models used in these SyFy films. After the Doucettes are all turned into alligators, there only seems to be like five people left in town. The urgency to save the rest of the town sort of goes away if there isn’t people in the town.

Despite some innovations and some neat tricks, Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators fails to rise above the crop, instead languishing with the average SyFy creature features. While that is good enough for those who enjoy them, it’s not going to impress the viewers who are looking for the next gimmick creature feature to turn into a viral hashtag. That’s okay, because SyFy shouldn’t be making films just for viral hits, they should be making films that turn into good films. Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators just fills the status quo, a type of film that you’ll know before you watch whether you’ll find it interesting. I shall always push for films to be greater, no matter which network they originate from.

Avery Doucette (Jordan Hinson) – City girl who returns to the bayou community where she grew up to visit her family, ends up dealing with family feuds, mutant gators, and terrible tragedies. Dathan Robichaud (John Chriss) – Robichaud heir who was childhood secret lovers with Avery, one of the few responsible people in town, though he’s still a jerk at times. Appointed to the police after they’re left shorthanded, but also bit by one of the gators that turns you into a gator. That spells trouble… Lucien “Lou” Doucette (Ritchie Montgomery) – Avery’s dad and swamping expert. Lucien Doucette has a “boom stick” to help him hunt gators as gator season begins. His barbeque of the mutant gator ends up destroying his entire family as they’re all turned into mutant gators. Really hates the Robichauds. Wade Robichaud (Thomas Francis Murphy) – Robichaud patriarch who also makes illegal moonshine, now with added mystery chemicals from the internet. Chemicals that are mutating gators. Whoops! Really hates the Doucettes. Sheriff Landry (???) – Sheriff of this small town that has to deal with mutant gators and two rival families battling it out. Tristan Sinclair (Victor Webster) – Known as The Gator Whisperer, Tristan Sinclair comes to town to try to solve the mutant gator problem. Instead, he becomes dinner. The Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators (CGI) – Mutant gators with tail spikes and red necks. They can throw their tail spikes at victims. Bites or eating their flesh will turn you into one. This happens to a majority of the cast.