It's hard to know if the creators of this installment in a long line of Jaws rip-offs were being serious or having fun, but it does a much better job than most of buidling up tension and then showing you as much of the monster as you want to see. Overall the script, characters and special effects were too good for a schmaltzy camp-fest and not good enough for serious drama.

Riffing on the old urban legend, a tough but vulnerable cop Forster teams up with beautiful herpetologist to subdue a killer alligator terrorising a big American city after growing to immense size in the sewers. There's a comic turn by Silva as the big game hunter tracking his prey, and while the whole plot is predictable, plenty of gore and tension make it harmless but great fun to watch.