Starring - Tabitha Brownstone (NCIS, Domino), Amariah Dionne (Dead Souls, Saturnalia), and Nikolas Kolasinski (The Republic)
Release Date - 2026
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Real alligators. Real teeth. Real terror"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
I refuse to pass up a slasher or zombie flick. I don't care about the budget, who is involved, or what the film is about. If its a slasher or zombie flick then you damn well guarantee that I will check it out. I've reviewed a lot of slashers over the years ranging from no budget backyard films to several million dollars and I noticed a few things after watching all of these. A budget cannot buy passion. I've seen movies made by teenagers in their parents basement on an iPhone that had more passion and originality while the million dollar films sold in Walmart were dull. In fact, there is how I came up with the term Walmart horror. These films look great but are very mediocre at best. A few weeks back I was sent a review link to check out Gator Face from Rites of Spring director Padraig Reynolds. The trailer, which I usually avoid, pulled me in and I couldn't wait to check it out.
The film follows a young woman who goes into a coastal home after reading a warning of "three dead inside" on the outside of it. She goes in with her friend and discover an alligator with a taste for human flesh and a man wearing a gator mask ready to cut them to ribbons. She flees but her friends are struck down by the masked maniac. She eventually crosses paths with another group of twenty-somethings and tries to warn them but they don't listen. Soon they start to fall victim to the masked man and his gator before they learn he is part of a cult that sacrifices tourists to the gators.
I was pretty excited going into Gator Face. Honestly, I was hoping that this slasher was going to more of a hixploitation flick but that wasn't the case. Instead, it was a slasher centered around a cult which is something I am all for. I fucking love movies about cults and Gator Face seemed to be the perfect set up for a solid slasher but I found myself really struggling with it. I wanted to like it but it clearly wasn't for me. The acting in this one is not the worst I've seen but the cliched characters and zero chemistry between the cast makes many of the scenes a bit awkward. We have a lot of yelling when it's unnecessary and a lot of the emotions you would expect for the scene is nowhere to be seen. I hate to be this negative about a movie but the acting made these unlikable characters even more unlikable. The story for this one is pretty straight forward for the most part. A cult that worships an ancient alligator god sacrifices tourists to the gators in order to appease them. I dig it for what it is but it would have been way more enjoyable as a short rather than a feature length film. Too much time was spent on the cat and mouse portion of the slasher than the story building and back story. I found myself wanting to turn it off by the mid-way point. Some serious editing needs to be done to improve this one. Finally, the film does boast some pretty impressive kills with some great practical effects. The kills fit the film very well and the movie makes great use of the practical effects. Overall, Gator Face is a missed opportunity. It could have been a southern fried slasher that embraced the hixploitation films of yesteryear. Instead, it's a middle of the road slasher that is only saved by it's impressive practical effects and the cult aspect. I seriously wanted to love it but I can't. This is Walmart horror at it's finest.
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