During the VHS era, there was a serious demand for original films that could be rented at Mom and Pop video stores. They were low budget productions that had to have one of two different elements: a female cast with a barely existing wardrobe or an outlandish plot. Why did this market matter? Turns out the big Hollywood blockbusters didn’t have that long of a shelf life. They were popular for the first few weeks. After a month or two, they’d migrate back into the “oldies” shelf and barely get touched since they were now playing around the clock on HBO. The bizarre small films had the ability to keep being rented for a year or more if they were catchy enough and had an enticing box cover. RepliGator proved to be able to deliver all those things at once: a crazed concept, a cast in lingerie or less and a video box that made you eager to see if it can possibly live up the promised weirdness.
At a secret military research lab (down the road from a Stuckey’s), there’s been a breakthrough in troop transportation. They can now dematerialize soldiers and have them reappear in a different place. This sound great except during the process, the male soldiers are transformed into women. And not just any women, but models who with heightened libidos. This really upsets Col. Sanders (Carl Merritt). He’s dealing with media reports of the project creating a transgender force. People are going nuts at this development. When he arrives at the lab, he gets the background on the project from Dr. Kildaire (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s Gunnar Hansen) who also shows off his new X-ray Specs. Turns out that the replicator machine isn’t done with the people after the trip. The new women can be transformed into reptile creatures if they are “triggered” by too much pleasure. This isn’t good as the research lab gets overrun by the mutant scaly soldiers. Is this another military project that’s going to lead to the destruction of humanity?
RepliGator delivers on the weirdness. This is a movie that you can’t imagine the major studios making. I can’t see Meryle Streep working up a RepliGator accent. We’re given a movie that embraces a straight to video mindset. The film makes sure that we’re given the two things promised: hot women in skimpy outfits (or less) and those same hot women with reptile heads attacking scientists and soldiers. The film knows its audience since they rerun a nearly five-minute segment of a soldier’s bedroom fantasy and seeing the attending scientist (Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama‘s Brinke Stevens) without her lab coat. Nobody is going to complain about this “flashback.” RepliGator is a film that seems like it was made by Troma except less green oozing stuff covers the models. This would have been a must rental at the Video Bar. RepliGator is now a must buy for recreating ’90s videostore rental night at your home.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. Even though the movie was shot in a mix of 35mm and 16mm, the postproduction and special effects were done in standard definition video. The 1080p transfer upgrade looks rather sharp. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1. This might be the best the film has ever sounded over the decades. The movie is subtitled.
Commentary with director Bret McCormick and Glen Coburn gets into how McCormick made the film on tight production schedule.
Commentary with Sam Panico of B&S About Movies and Bill Van Ryn of Drive-In Asylum is a fun listen since both are fans.
Archival Making Of Featurette (4:49) has director Bret McCormick pointing out the film’s focus is on the actresses, the monsters and the special effects than the drama. He knew what his audience wanted when they were browsing the VHS shelves. We also learn how the film came together when they didn’t want to tear down the sets from a different film. They shot the film with short ends to save on costs. We see how they made the reptile heads.
Archival Bret McCormick Interview (6:22) was shot in 2013 for a previous release. They make it part of a newsreel. McCormick wanted to shoot as many films in one year like Roger Corman did. Time Tracers had the sets. He had the script written in a week and they shot the following week. They wanted to shoot the film in a weekend like Little Shop of Horrors. They shot it in four with a few extra days when they landed Brinke Stevens and Gunnar Hansen.
Original Deleted Opening Scene (3:42) opened with the general arriving at the secret site near the Stuckey’s.
Director Bret McCormick Interview (23:57) gets into how a kid from Ft. Worth, Texas decided he could make his own movie without going out to Hollywood. He embraced 8mm and made a werewolf film.
Producer Wynn Winberg Interview (8:16) has him talk about doing corporate and industrial films. Wynn met Bret and they talked about making low budget films. He joined on RepliGator after the shot the first four days. The film at that point was only 75 minutes long so he helped them get 10 minutes and land a few actors that could get it more attention in the rental market. He knew Gunnar from a previous project and Bret knew Brinke Stevens. The extra scenes were shot in 16mm since the whole project was being done in video for the post-production and release.
Actress Brinke Stevens Interview (7:26) remembers the afternoon she shot her scenes in RepliGator. She recalls the plot. She talks about how she’s acted in, directed and produced 200 films. Brinke was a scientist. She has a Masters in Marine Biology. She had experience wearing a lab coat. She didn’t get to work with Gunnar although they met at fan conventions.
Actor Carl Merritt Interview (6:49) talks about how he owned an advertising agency and worked with Wynn. He came down and played the general during the extra shoot days. He was excited to work with Gunnar. He didn’t know what the rest of the movie was about when he arrived on the set. Carl hadn’t acted before and Gunnar was a big help.
Actor Randy Clower Interview (3:16) has him forget his character’s name. He remembers he was the bad guy. He describes it as “Abbott and Costello Take An Acid Trip.” He likes working with Bret. He does point out that the woman have dino heads. Where did the RepliGator name come from?
Original VHS Trailer (3:00) lets us know there will be a topless cast.
Visual Vengeance Trailer (1:10) is tighter than the original.
Folded mini-poster is suitable for framing.
‘Stick your own’ VHS sticker sheet to decorate your Blu-ray box.
Visual Vengeance presents RepliGator. Directed by Bret McCormick. Screenplay by Keith Kjornes, T.G. Weems & Wynn Winberg. Starring: Gunnar Hansen, Brinke Stevens, Keith Kjornes. Running Time: 85 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: September 26, 2023.
