Khoht phetchakhaat

AKA The Brutal River, this is a Thai animal-rampage film that makes for a diverting 90 minutes. A small, riverside village community is thrown into panic when a huge, voracious crocodile begins chomping down on the locals (although the sloppy English subtitles keep referring to it as the 'gator'). A police officer and a soldier are amongst those on the menu, trying to stop what seemingly can't be stopped. Impressive model work and likable performances are hampered by variable CGI and numerous, redundant fade-to-blacks and an over reliance on ham-fisted sentiment. Photography is atmospheric, production values are surprisingly high. Most effective is the community aspect of the picture, although the actual crocodile attacks are handled with considerable panache. Not a patch (or reptilian scale) on Alligator (1980) or Dark Age (1987) but it's been a while since we had a rollicking good croc flick, and this one does quite nicely.