First Impressions of Jim VanBebber’s Gator Green; Exclusive Image Gallery
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If you’ve been following the site lately, you’ve seen us mention Jim VanBebber’s Gator Green short film, which is screening along with his award-winning The Manson Family and will be included with the Manson Blu-ray coming May 7th from Severin Films.
VanBebber’s plan is to turn the short into a feature later this year, and yours truly was fortunate to catch it during the NYC showing of The Manson Family. Below are my first impressions along with an exclusive image gallery we nabbed to show you guys a little of what’s heading your way.
Jim VanBebber’s 15-minute short Gator Green is shaping up to be a real redneck gorefest. The piece represents just a sampling of what’s in store for audiences when the full-length film goes into production.
Related Story: Jim VanBebber Talks The Manson Family, Gator Green, and True 70’s Style Grindhouse Cinema
A murder-hungry ‘Nam vet (played by Jim) and his wheelchair-bound sometimes sidekick take sadistic glee in torturing, shooting and chopping up floozies and unsuspecting folks, only to feed their remains to the gators. These Gonzo-cum-Chainsaw family characters are a definite throwback to more insane cinematic times (read the 70’s). Hell, it seems like Jim is channeling the best psycho he can this side of Carl Panzram while his crippled buddy bugs out with his 100-yard stare, smoking cancer sticks through his tracheotomy hole. Best friends it seems since Henry and Otis both locked eyes during lockdown.
Speaking of real life serial killers, Joe “The Alligator Man” Ball was one of Jim’s jumping off points. Ball, a now legendary figure in South Texas, used to feed his female victims to alligators he kept in a pond out back. Of course, Tobe Hooper also found a kindred spark in Ball’s story for his gator opus Eaten Alive in 1977.
As Gator Green sits now, it’s wild and crass. A highlight is the location, which seems to be some backwater Florida alligator farm complete with real gators. Lowlights include the fact that no one can really keep up with Jim’s acting chops. He brings a lot of realism and energy to the role and to the slaughter. I have a feeling, too, based on the location and some of the lighting choices, the film could end up pretty stylized (a la The Manson Family) while still retaining a sort of grim realism exploitation films strive for due to the explictiness of the violence presented. Let the 3M blood flow!
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