Product Description

A young wife (Beverly Garland) is abandoned by her husband on their wedding day. Distraught, she traces him to his ancestral home in the bayous of Louisiana, where, amid the swamps and deadly undergrowth, she discovers a terrible secret. Her husband was saved from death by an experimental medical procedure involving serum derived from alligators and now he's developing horrifying side-effects. She'll face any danger to help him, but soon discovers her love may not be enough.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65736 in DVD
• Brand: GARLAND,BEVERLY
• Released on: 2004-09-07
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 74 minutes

Amazon.com
When Jane's husband disembarks from a passenger train immediately after their wedding and disappears without a trace, troubling questions are raised. How could his face, mangled beyond recognition in a plane crash during the war, have healed without any scarring? And what unspeakable acts took place on the alligator-ridden bayou plantation he left as an address? Wonderfully haunted, The Alligator People explores the mystery with skillful pacing, generally decent dialogue, and only intermittently laughable special effects. Miscegenation, anxiety over radiation and atomic science, homoeroticism, distrust of doctors and medicine, fear of the American South--all the major cultural obsessions of the late '50s are either tacitly or explicitly represented here; perhaps that's why the far-fetched scientific premise that underlies the plot makes a weird resonance despite its utter implausibility. The ubiquitous Lon Chaney is on hand, and his performance as a drunken swamp rat with a penchant for violence is a hoot; but the real star of the show is Beverly Garland, whose inspired lead, alternately detached and histrionic, decidedly puts to rest the myth of the inelasticity of early sci-fi and horror performers. A winner. --Miles Bethany

Customer Reviews

DVD Version
I will not delve to much into the movie itself as it has been pretty well covered here. While i do not see a comparison to The Fly as one contributor did, i do think this may have been a precursor to Swamp Thing, as regeneration of body tissue and limbs is the idea of the mad scientist. Gator genes used on humans? You know its gonna go bad. And Lon Chaney Jr., although in a lesser role is a real treat. The DVD qulaity is spectacular and the Widescreen presentation is truly widescreen aspect, no anamorphic deception on this one as on so many of these old classics. If you like the old sci-fi/horror of the 50's this is a pretty decent movie and as said, a very nice print.

some movies just have to be seen...lol
The Alligator People is more of a mild hoot, than a horror film. One of the grade C-flicks, not good enough to be a B-Drive In film! Still, it's a delight to people who love old B&W horror films. This film must be loaded with more phobias and prejudices per square inch than any other horror film of the period, yet instead of insulting people (too much, lol) it all gels into one great time.

Two doctors are talking at the start of the film, and one is telling he has just heard a story under hypnosis that he can scarcely credit. Jane (Beverly Garland), his receptionist, recounts the tale, which the doctor plays for his colleague. Jane had married a man from the Southern US, and while on their honeymoon, they were sitting on a train. He receives a frantic telegram, gets off at the station to place a telephone call, only to have the train pull off with his waiting Bride. The Bride gets off at the next stop and tries to find her groom, but he has vanished.

After years of searching, she finally tracks down the ancestral home of his family. His domineering mother does not welcome Jane, but Jane won't go away without answers to her questions. At times, as Jane prowls the bayous the movie is quite hauntingly lensed. However, dialog is stilted, frustrating, rushed, the acting is OTT or so understated it borders on laconic, and the special effects, well, as I said are grade C. Toss in the great Lon Chaney as a drunken lecherous redneck swamp-rat, a perfect bizarre touch to one strange film that seems to succeed in spite of itself!

Great fun for a cold rainy autumn night.

It Came From the Swamp !
"The Alligator People" is a typical, 50s, low-budget horror film that provides some fun for fans of the genre ( fans like me ! ). It would be an understatement to say that special effects and make-up have made a quantum leap in movies since 1959, the year that this film was released theatrically. Today, many viewers will find the title creatures more amusing than horrific.

At the same time, "The Alligator People" does benefit from a couple of good performances and a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. Beverly Garland stars as a young nurse who marries a handsome pilot, only to have him disappear on their honeymoon.
Her search for the missing groom eventaully leads her to a forbidding old mansion in the middle of a Louisiana swamp. The local residents are far from welcoming, not to mention various alligators and snakes that infest the area. She does indeed find her errant husband, very much a "changed" man thanks to the efforts of a mad scientist. The whole saga is told in flashbacks, as Ms. Garland relates her amazing story, under hypnosis, to her psychiatrist.

Beverly Garland is terrific in the lead, an attractive actress who deserved better projects than Grade B horror flicks. I must admit though that she has one quality that is compulsory for this type of movie--she sure knows how to scream ! Richard Crane is the unfortunate husband, spending much of the film looking like he has the rash from hell ! Veteran heavy George Macready is the "mad doctor", although his performance lacks the maniacal spark that would have added to the fun. Horror film icon, Lon Chaney, is "worth the price of admission" with his super, over-the-top role as a demented, alcoholic swamp denizen, who "hates dem gators"--it seems that one of them chomped his hand off! His scenes with Ms. Garland are classic--his intentions for her totally dishonourable. For Chaney fans, this title is a "must".

The movie has plenty of atmosphere, whether the scene takes place in the swamp with "dem gators", snakes and deadly quicksand, or the spooky old mansion where medical experiments are backfiring in the worst possible way.

"The Alligator People" was a black and white, Cinemascope production, and the DVD captures all of its widescreen "glory". Except for the occasional line, I found the picture quality to be excellent--the sound what you would expect. Several trailers for this film, and other Fox thrillers are included.

Yes "The Alligator People" has "quickie, exploitation flick" stamped all over it, and the title monster is undeniably goofy. However, for fans of old horror/sci fi movies, there is more than enough here to keep you entertained. Besides--look at the title--were you really expecting "Citizen Kane" ? !

A very sad footnote--Ms. Beverly Garland passed away on 5 December 2008. While most of her films were of the "B" variety, she went on to a long and successful career in television. She guest-starred on an astonishing number of TV programs, a tribute to her popularity and versatility. Ms. Garland will be missed.