ere are the two things that make this a must see for Horror fans. First, it is directed by Tobe Hooper. How can you not see the follow up to Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Second, it features one of the earliest appearances of a young actor named Robert Englund. He isn’t much here, but he does go on to have a small career in the horror field. All you die hards might remember him from those little roles he played years later. Judd owns a motel/bead and breakfast in rural Texas and seldomly has guests. He’s a little odd and keeps a giant alligator as a pet next to the house. His neighbors are a brothel and he hates them because he got booted out one night, so when one of them tries to run away and stays at the hotel one night, he justifies Gods way when he feeds her to the alligator. Almost immediately, the hotel gets real busy. Buck (Englund) wants to get a room, but Judd chases him away. A family and their young girl stop in for a room, and Judd goes nuts on the husband and wife, while chasing the girl under the porch. Coincidently, the father and sister of the hooker hors devours from earlier turn up looking for her as well. There is a whole lot of dying in this film and there is a funny prop alligator. It was all shot on a sound stage so it doesn’t have that realism of TCM, but it is pretty good. Kim Henkel, from TCM, co-wrote this and it also has Carolyn Jones who played Morticia from the Addam’s Family. Marilyn Burns returns to work with Hooper again and William Finley of Phantom of the Paradise makes an appearance. This is a classic horror gem, although it isn’t in the same league as Hooper’s most famous piece. The scary part is that like TCM, this is based on a somewhat true story about a bar owner that was rumored to feed two ex-girlfriends to an alligator he kept next to his bar. The DVD features a documentary about Englund and his Buck role, a documentary about Joe Ball, the inspiration for this story, an audio commentary and the theatrical trailer. The transfer on this is pretty sharp and it is a good viewing of a midnight type film. (Dark Sky Films ) - Myk