What a way to start a movie! The lovely Jennifer Lynn Warren decides to cool off by taking a swim in the local bayou. No swimsuit, no problem! It's in the buff bathing time, except she's got some unwanted company. A frisky gator and a menacing creature. I immediately want someone to kill that thing!

We quickly cut to a carload of the standard stars of b-movie horror flicks, a mixed bunch of college aged kids. They're on their way to party in New Orleans and have decided to take the back roads instead of the Interstate. The driver of the vehicle is tailgating a Benz, honking the horn and yelling at the other driver. All of a sudden, I'm routing for the creature to at least take the obnoxious driver out. I never realized I was so fickle.

The travelers become sidetracked by a local legend and only bad things can come from that. Early on, we have the elements required to show the “outsiders in the south” theme. The problem this presents is that the local characters are more interesting than our subjects. Sid Haig immediately starts the creep factor off by merely smiling at one of the lead guys. Pruitt Taylor Vince is almost wasted, getting very little screen time.

After getting a couple of pints into the movie, I started wondering why this flick was getting so many bad reviews. Granted it's not a fast paced movie, but it had a lot of the required b-movie elements.We had creepy hicks, twenty-somethings camping in the swamp, naked breasts, the occasional appearance of a monster. Then comes a plot twist, so this isn't just going to be a swamp critter chasing people in the swamp. That's when things start to come unraveled.

Why the titular creature tracks some people and kills others, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It will kill a guy who is not alone. Only to watch as someone who is alone walks around helpless in the swamp. While I don't want to give away any of the plot, some character interactions don't seem to jibe. Top all this off with one member of the party who has a mutant healing factor. He's shot, beaten almost to death, and he just shakes it off and keeps on going.

The creature is a classic rubber suit. And I do prefer a rubber suit to CGI. While the suit is not bad, definitely a cross between human and alligator, it's not great. I did find it funny that the only place the monster was covered with Spanish moss and swamp dirt is where its genitalia would be. I guess they had to do something to preserve an R rating. There must have been multiple masks and it seems the mandible did not move on most of them. If it did move, it wasn't very far.

The director doesn't seem to know what he wants this movie to be. It's not overly scary, the creature never really leaps out of the dark or causes any sustained tension. Levity, which seems to be a required factor to balance the horror aspects, is surprisingly missing. But, then there's not a lot of scary in the first place. It's not a gore movie, even with an R rating, the most you get is a little blood spatter. Anything gory occurs off-screen.

Basically this is a b-movie that can be missed. Which is a shame because there were a lot of things going for it. Not the least of which is a talented cast. If you're fans of any of the actors, especially the ladies, you'll want to watch it. Though I suggest making it the second feature of the night so you'll have a bit of a buzz to help you through it. If you're looking for blood or scares, this is not the flick for you. It's not a terrible movie, but it's not a good movie, either.