GATOR BAIT (1973)

If you are looking for a different kind of horror in the 70s/80s gritty exploitation in the vein of ‘I Spit on Your Grave’, look no further then GATOR BAIT! It’s the most simplest of tales; person has a loved one killed, person gets revenge. But this one likes to distinguish itself by including all sorts of exploitative and gritty substance to go along with this story. Desiree is a poacher who lives in the swamp. After being chased by two men, she throws snakes in their boat to distract them and one of the men accidentally shoots the other with his gun. After telling the local sheriff and his group of ‘swamp hicks’ that she deliberately murdered him, they take revenge by assaulting/killing her sister and then the tables turn when Desiree begins hunting them. Though the flick has some nice cinematography of the swamp itself and swamp critters, this critic would have liked to see a bit more authentic ‘swamp kills’ similar to Crocodile Dundee II when they are in the wilderness. Only really one ‘kill’ or capture involves swamp animals (you’ll know when you see it) and the rest really are almost cop-outs; with even two of the hick squad members fighting each other to the death. Feels like there was some potential to have some creative swamp scenes (or at least a gator death!) and we didn’t get that. However, if you like your gritty revenge ‘ploitative films, check this one out for history sakes. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

SLASH SCENE: Snakes kill

SLASH SCORE: 3/5