Ramon the alligator is flushed down the toilet as a baby and grows into a gargantuan monster by eating the corpses of laboratory animals who have undergone dubious hormone experiments, thus providing all the ecological and social subtext that one could possibly wish for, even if one doesn’t normally go for films about giant alligators eating people left, right, and center—which is the inevitable and tragic result of Ramon’s decision that the outside world looks rather more interesting than the sewers. –IMDb
Far, far better than it needed to be to succeed. The John Sayles script has more wit and even a bit more depth than usual for a cheap monster flick and the performances match it with more nuance and style than normally found in the B-movie gutters (or, in this case, sewers).
Worst nightmare I ever had was because of this movie and the fact I saw it when I had temperature of 103, probably the sickest I ever felt. Then I went to bed and had delirious dreams highlighted by by Alligator nightmare. And I think that is the only time I've seen it; is it even available on DVD?