Al Pereira vs. the Alligator Ladies

Al Pereira vs. the Alligator Ladies (2012)

** (out of 4)

Al Pereira (Antonio Mayans) is having a very bad nightmare while laying in his bed. Moments later we see a couple ladies, the alligator ladies of course, doing a sexual dance and then all sorts of weirdness follows.

This turned out to be the last completed film before director Jess Franco passed away and he certainly went out in a rather playful mood. I say this because AL PEREIRA VS. THE ALLIGATOR LADIES is quite different from the films he was making over the last two decades of his career. Visually it has a lot in common with the direct-to-video releases from One Shot but at the same time it's a lot smarter and appears to have more attention and energy from the director.

I say this because there's quite a bit going on here. However, if you're looking for some sort of plot then you're going to be disappointed and you should probably just walk away from the film. I believe everything we're seeing is a dream so it makes sense that nothing we're seeing makes much sense. We go from women doing various sexual things with one another. Then the next scene will just be a couple different women. Throughout all of this there are moments where the actors will speak directly towards the camera and in the film's highlight a woman is stripping when she stops and receives direction from Franco himself.

We see Franco in the mirror as he is directing the actress and there are several moments like this throughout the picture. During one scene Mayans is acting with two women on the bed and he stops and begins talking to Franco who throws in some direction. It's scenes like this that really stand out here and makes it a tad bit smarter and more clever than what the director had been doing at the later period of his career. There's plenty of nudity and sexuality throughout but the real key here is just getting to see Franco work his magic.