Repligator: Collector's Edition – Visual Vengeance (Blu-ray)

Release Date: USA, 1998
Director: Bret McCormick
Writers: Keith Kjornes, T.G. Weems, Wynn Winberg
Cast: Gunnar Hansen, Keith Kjornes, Randy Clower, TJ Myers, Carl Merritt, Brinke Stevens, Alan York, Rocky Patterson

Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 85 Minutes 26 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"At a top-secret military facility, a group of scientists and army brass work on the "The Replicator Project" which quickly goes awry when it turns all the male soldiers into gorgeous, scantily clad nymphets, who then morph into alligators when they reach the peak of sexual excitement!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.25/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "New, director supervised SD master from original master tapes".

Repligator comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 32.2 GB

Feature: 20.4 GB

The transfer used for this is in good shape; it is one of Visual Vengeance’s stronger transfers. That said, it is not without its shortcomings; there are times when image clarity is not as strong and black levels fare well. When it comes to colors and flesh tones, they look correct, and any compression-related issues are not a deal-breaker.

Audio: 3.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. This audio track is in good shape; there are no issues with distortion or background noise. That said, range-wise, things can be limited at times. Fortunately, dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a Visual Vengeance trailer for Repligator (1 minute 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), original VHS trailer (3 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), original deleted opening scene (3 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival making of featurette (4 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with director Bret McCormick (6 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Randy Clower (3 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Carl Merritt (6 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Brinke Stevens (7 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with producer Wynn Winberg (8 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Bret McCormick and Glen Coburn, an audio commentary with Sam Panico of B&S About Movies and Bill Van Ryn of Drive-In Asylum, reversible cover art with original VHS art, 'Stick your own' VHS sticker sheet, a folded mini-poster, one pair of branded 'X-Ray Specs', 2-sided insert, and a slipcover (first pressing only).

Other extras include trailers for Bio-Tech Warrior, Lycan Colony, and Time Tracers.

Summary:

Directed by Bret McCormick, who made eleven low-budget films over the course of twelve years. And as of this writing, Repligator is the last narrative feature film that he has directed. His only other directing credit is a documentary titled I See World Peace.

The narrative revolves around a group of scientists working on a secret government experiment that involves teleportation. Things go awry when the first test subject, a male, comes back as a hot woman. From there, things further spiraled out of control when modifications led to text subjects that came back as half alligators and half hot women.

Repligator quickly established its subversive tone with an over-the-top pre-credits sequence that's played strictly for laughs. This sequence does a phenomenal job laying the foundation for what follows. In fact, humor is an integral part of everything that happens in Repligator.

Without a doubt, Repligator’s greatest asset is its cast's enthusiastic performances. The cast even has a few faces that fans of horror cinema are sure to recognize, like Gunnar Hanson (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) in the role of Dr. Kildare, a scientist who invented x-ray glasses that allow the wearing to see people naked, and Brinke Stevens (Nightmare Sisters) in the role of Dr. Goodbody. Also, there is humor in most of the character names, like General Mills and Colonel Sanders.

Sure Repligator has all of the traits that are synonymous with low-budget cinema. And yet the result is a film that actually does a great job exploiting its resources for all their worth. Ultimately, Repligator is an absurd film that is way more fun than it should be.

Repligator is another solid release from Visual Vengeance that comes with a wealth of extras and presents the film in its best possible audio/video presentation, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer