Croc Rock

Now everyone should know that there are only two good Alligator/Crocodile films - the classic Alligator (1980) and the witty Lake Placid (1999). I love them both. They are entertaining and funny, providing suspense, gore and er.. snappy dialogue! Sadly though there's also Alligator 2: The Mutation (1991) which was pretty ropey and Tobe Hooper's Crocodile (2000) - a big fat floating turd.

So, the past has seen a real mixed bag of these cold-blooded monster movies, the best of them never managing to capture the public's imagination in the way that Shark movies have; Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and Open Water all took a big chunk of box office and DVD sales. However, now I think something else is stirring in the water... 2007 could be the year in which the Crocs bite back!

You know how it is, you can wait ages for an Australian rogue Crocodile movie and then two come along at once: There's Black Water (which makes an appearance next week at FrightFest) and Rogue (from the director of Wolf Creek). Both look very promising and appear to feature sharp-toothed creatures that could have provided the late Steve Irwin with a real challenge.

I hope that Black Water and Rogue will prove to be exciting and also sufficiently different from each other - it will be great if both aren't simply about a group of people getting isolated in a swamp and then being eaten one by one. You just know that they won't be able to get any reception on their mobile phones! We'll see (in a while).

From the BBC today: Rancher escapes Crocodiles!

Gotta love those Aussies and all their dangerous wild animals. Crocodiles rock!