'Gator Bait (1974)

From my favorite movies..

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Absolutely the worst movie.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"Swamp Bait" is a rather pointless exercise in wanton brutality and sexual sadism, the latter being more intended than actual.Set in the Lousiana Bayou, it begins with a stunningly attractive, scantily dressed redhead caught poaching gators. She causes the death of one of her potential captors, albeit accidentally, and this leads to a manhunt - or perhaps that should be a girlhunt - the attempted gang-rape of her sister, which is halted only by one of the posse shooting her dead, and a trek through the forest.Naturally, the heroine outsmarts the posse, but what was it all for?Are these really exploitation films, or are they made simply to portray Southern folk, in particular white Southern males as moronic psychopaths?The film's only saving grace - of sorts - is a half-decent soundtrack.

Seems a lot of viewers really don't get movies like GATOR BAIT. It ain't great but it does deliver some back woods fun, with a low budget charm and terrific swamp locations. I'd say the acting is pretty good, especially the redneck family. The film's biggest failing is having Claudia Jennings the star and then mess her all up and never get her clothes off! The nudity comes courtesy of Janit Baldwin and she never looked better than she does here, although her outfits and hair style are completely out of place in the swamps. Also some comments mention rape, well, there is an attempted rape that never gets started before it is halted. This does result in a very unpleasant sequence, but no one gets shot in the stomach ( it's nastier than that ). While the movie has it's flaws ( the screenplay, Jenning's Cajun accent ) it is solid drive in style fun with an authentic, mud strewn setting and crazy, inbred southern rednecks fighting for their lives against an enraged, revenge seeking woman.

OK, here's the deal, I got sick to death of reading lame reviews of exploitation and Eurotrash films from people who simply don't get it. These films are NOT meant to be compared to the sanitized crap Hollywood sells us. 'Gator Bait is a cult classic for a number of reasons, first of all, Claudia Jenning is hot, secondly, the Sebastians make quality low-budget dark sleaze. Most importantly, though there is little sex and violence in the film (as compared to many exploitation films) this film does not hold back. It rolls along at a good pace and is full of unlikable characters with secrets that are slowly revealed as the film plays out.The plot is fairly simple, Desiree (Claudia Jennings) is out to avenge the death of her sister... who was killed at the hands of an angry family who were led to believe that she killed a member of their family while all along it was the son of the Sheriff who had committed the crime. It's pretty much a cat and mouse story, with gorgeous and barefoot Claudia Jennings (the cat) hunting down and systematically killing the men (the mice) responsible. In many ways (as was the case with many exploitation films) the film has a strangely feminist theme to it. It turns out that Desiree is the most clever, likable, and capable character in the film. That is the frequently missed point of many exploitation films... the women (the victims of some pretty dumb and unpleasant men) are the most sympathetic and frequently brightest and strongest characters. The whole film has a deep and dark sexual undertone to it, and like most exploitation, it is not for the squeamish or the Hollywood-fed public. This is a film for people who are willing to look into darker corners. It is well acted, beautifully-shot, with a really cool Cajun theme song ("Jole Blon" rewritten), and plenty of action and outright weirdness.

Gator Bait has outdoor action, WWF wrestling type wrestling scenes, naked women, a sophomoric script, speeding boat races, not much dialogue to confuse the viewer; in short a fine film for the high school freshman male who can get it checked out past the R rating. It is so grade "B" that it is funny. Every once and a while you must see one of this movies just for a few laughs.