Customer Reviews

Alligator People

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A doctor uses a serum on his nurse, Jane (Beverly Garland) to get her to re-live a trauma she has no memory of. A very strange tale emerges: When her husband Paul disappears on their honeymoon, Jane traces him to a Louisiana plantation deep in the swamps where no one will tell her what happened to him. She insists on staying and discovers Paul is around but can't find him. Why? Because mad doctor George Macready is performing bizarre experiments with alligators (and people) and Paul is turning into an alligator! Lon Chaney Jr. co-stars as a hook-handed assistant with a hatred for "gaters" because one bit off his hand and Frieda Inescourt ("Return of the Vampire") is the mistress of the plantation trying to cover up the awful horrors as Garland gets more and more inquisitive. There's Deep South atmosphere to spare and creepy crawlies in the swamp as Garland runs around screaming. She's good as Jane and really put through the mill here. Obviously, this is no classic but it's a fun 50's creature feature for collectors with laughable make-up effects and a fun turn by Chaney Jr. with that hook-hand. No wonder Jane developed amnesia after this experience...when you see the "alligator-man" you'll know why. Gotta love it.

The Alligator People is an interesting little tale of suspense and misguided science. Lovely Beverly Garland is a nurse, who under hypnosis recounts the tale of the mysterious disappearance of her husband, to a pair of dead pan psychologists.

The story unfolds in flashbacks, and begins on a train, with newlyweds Joyce and husband Paul Webster (Richard Crane) celebrating their nuptials. Their happiness is short lived, when after receiving a telegram, Paul suddenly departs the train, and disappears into the night. Joyce's search for him is fruitless, until months later she uncovers a lead that takes her to a Louisiana plantation know as "The Cypresses".

The atmosphere in the muggy, muddy bayou is full of danger and foreboding, as Joyce arrives there with a creepy caretaker Manon, played by Lon Chaney Jr. The lady of the manor claims to know nothing of her husband, and an apprehensive Joyce is instructed to spend the night locked in a guestroom.

There really isn't much action, but there is some suspense, as what we all suspect has happened, is slowly revealed (remember the title?). Husband Paul, suffering the side effects of an experimental medical treatment, has acquired reptilian characteristics.

Beverly Garland's performance holds your attention. Her character is intelligent and determined. Richard Crane is sympathetic as Paul, but it is Lon Chaney Jr's "electrifying" performance that puts some spice and sparks into the picture.

Definitely a B movie, but not a bad one. For a taste of old time horror, you could certainly do much worse.

This movie is good, because it is old, and black and white. Plus it has a cobalt bomb, and an angry cajun! The angry cajun tries to take advantage of the not so hot black and white chick. I give it the "Most secure radioactive material award"!

I always find that I enjoy immensely these 1950's efforts in scienc efiction and horror. They seem to have a freshness about them which I feel is often missing from present day horror efforts. Coming right at the end of the 1950's horror craze for mutating monsters and atomic experiments gone wrong "The Alligator People" actually attempted to put a different slant on the old story of a mad scientist using human guinea pigs for his experiments.

What develops throught the 70 odd minutes of running time is an interesting and well set up saga that while no movie masterpiece benefits from great location photography in the eerie Florida backwaters and Bayou and a great central performance from Beverly Garland. "Alligator People" tells the slightly original tale of a scientist who supposedly stumbles upon a miraculous cure for all sorts of horrific injuries through a new serum extracted from Alligaotrs. Unfortunately this great cure has some nasty side effects which result in the victims slowly turning in to mutant alligators. Beverly Garland's husband is such a victim and he abandons her on their honeymoon in the hope that a possible cure has been found at a remote scientific lab in the Florida wetlands.

Beverly Garland really is the whole film and delivers a very stronge performance as the abandoned wife who is relentless in her search to find the real reason why her husband has disappeared. The introduction to the story where she comes to the plantation and is kept away from finding out the real truth about her husband by his family are excellent and give this film more of the feel of a mystery saga than a horror tale. The scenes of the florida wilderness, moss covered trees, swamps filled with potentially deadly snakes and alligators are extrememly well done and set the pace and atmosphere for the piece. The production also benefits from a over the top performance by Lon Chaney Jnr in the role of the drunken caretaker who in the end of the tale is responsible for Garland's husband Paul being turned into a Alligator monster beyond all hope of saving. Hammy the performance might be but it really develops the whole storyline and keeps the action flowing.

The makeup job in the alligator scenes for the most part is well done. The earlier section when Paul is only partially reptilian are very eerie and in their way are far more effective than at the conclusion of the story when the experiments have gone wrong. I think alot of modern critics make the mistake of always comparing special effects and makeup efforts of old films to more recent efforts which is unfair and quite unnecessary .
"The Alligator People" while not a leader in the special effects department for any decade still is well done and sets a very scary mood.

If like me you enjoy trips down memory lane in film making when things were done far more simply than in motion pictures today will no doubt enjoy "The Alligator People". Surprisingly it seems to be a not well known horror tale and does appear to be largely forgotten today but I would recommend it to you as an enjoyable and well acted horror outing for a quiet night at home. Enjoy!

A scientist tampers in God's domain and experimental benevolence leads to tragedy in this '50s sci-fi thriller. A serum derived from the common alligator can repair the disfiguring injuries suffered by accident victims. Granted, this is a new wrinkle in an old garment. The cure includes unforeseen after-effects over time, as the patients change into "alligator people." The science is pretty fuzzy, but it serves as an excuse for the plot. Beverly Garland is the determined wife, searching for answers to what is tormenting her husband. He survived a plane-crash because of the miracle serum. The guy skips out on their honeymoon after receiving a distressing telegram, and disappears. The film brings Lon Chaney, Jr. back from career oblivion as a drunken Cajun who lusts after Ms. Garland, hates 'gators, and generally raises hell. Lon's acting shows he sees the bizarre humor of it all. The setting down in the swamp heavy with Spanish moss is a weird touch. The fright makeup is a crocodile-shaped head mask and a rubbery lizard sweatshirt. Notice the gap between the shirt collar and the neck of the head mask. The interim stage of metamorphosis is more eerie. It consists of scaly skin and twisted human features. Except for Lon, the cast and director grimly proceed with a straight face. As old sci-fi flicks go, this one is less familiar, but collectors need it to complete their home library. Others, beware 'gators in the night. ;-)

Recently re-screening this film again, for the first time in about 36 years, I was surprised to find that it is about as good as I remembered it -- that is, not very! But it remains a fairly enjoyable example of grim Fifties B and W horror. A well-meaning scientist has discovered a miraculous method which enables humans to recover from devastating injuries in the same way some reptiles do. Wow! But there is, of course, one little side effect -- it also turns them into semi-alligators. Beverly Garland turns in a good performance as the gutsy heroine, and so does Lon Chaney Jr as a brutish drunk. The atmospheric swamp setting is also a plus. The big payoff scene, in which the unfortunate hero gets an overdose of radiation and becomes an almost total alligator (complete with alligator head) is memorably outrageous.

Lon Chaney Jr.'s role stood out in this movie as the drunken swamp rat Manon, who lost his left hand to an alligator. His hatred for the critters is evident as he runs over one with his truck and stands by the swamp one night with his pistol, blasting away, but not hitting a damn thing! At this stage in his life, Chaney probably had playing a drunk down pat since he was reportedly drunk while filming a lot of his movies.

The Alligator People is a typical campy 1950s horror flick, but it's good fun to watch on a Saturday night with a bucket of popcorn.

The scenes in the Louisiana swamp and at the plantation add a spooky ambiance to the movie, which really helped it along.

A fun movie to watch. This is a classic sci-fi B-movie from the 50's in black and white with a scientist and his wild experiments between humans and alligators... all the elements of a fun and entertaining movie to watch. That's what these drive-in movies were all about. Too many people look for too much realism, or some deep meaning or fantastic special effects by today's standards. This is pure 50's, drive-in, B-movie, sci-fi fun at its best. Dont expect anything more or less. What they make today just doesn't compare to the look and feel these movies give you when you're watching them. The kids will have fun watching this one too. Enjoy it!