This week’s Monday Pick is the classic “animals run amok” monster movie Alligator (1980). The film stars Academy Award nominee Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael Gazzo, and Henry Silva.

Alligator is a well written, tongue in cheek horror film centered on the old urban legend of alligators that are flushed down the drain and thrive in the subterranean jungle of the city sewer. The film was penned by writer/director John Sayles who helped write the 1978 Joe Dante Jaws homage Piranha and would also help to write the upcoming release of The Howling. Sayles crafts another horror classic that pits man against a marauding beast with an insatiable appetite.

Robert Forster stars as policeman David Madison who has been investigating some grizzly murders committed in the sewers of a Missouri city. Madison begins investigating further after a pet store owner’s remains ended up in the city’s sewage treatment facility. One other baffling discovery is a women’s small dog that appears to have grown in size substantially after it was reported missing.

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What makes a movie a classic? Is it some kind of social significance? Or, is it what the movie meant to people when it first came out? Or maybe its just fondly remembered for its amazing cheesiness and being so bad its good? I’m pretty sure Roger Corman’s Battle Beyond the Stars falls into that last category.

However, even if it happens to be made of 100% real cheese, that doesn’t stop it from also begin pretty awesome and, shall we say it, a classic. Now this film is getting the Blu-ray and DVD treatment it deserves with a super special 30th anniversary edition, soon to be released by Shout! Factory.

To begin to understand the scope of this film’s cult classic status, you have to take a look at the people involved in it. They represent some of the biggest names working in movies today. Back then, they were just a bunch of kids with an idea for a space movie.

Here’s a small list of those involved. See if you recognize any of the names: John Sayles, Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, James Horner, Gale Anne Hurd and, of course, Roger Corman. Oh yeah, James cameron also did the special effects for the movie. He’s come a long way since then.

Click throuhg for the full info from Shout! Factory. Look for Battle Beyond the Stars in stores on June 12th. Also after the break we’ve included the original trailer for the film as well. It’s not great quality but watch it and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

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