The Alligator People (1959) User Reviews

Imaginative and VERY Weird

[mrb1980 · 6/10 · 8 September 2005]

You can criticize this film on many issues, including the cheap special effects, the melodramatic piano-playing, the outrageous overacting of Lon Chaney…but you certainly can't say that the movie doesn't have any imagination.

The movie is told entirely in flashback, as a woman under the 50s wonder drug sodium pentathol remembers her troubled past for two psychiatrists (Bennett and Kennedy) during an extended hypnosis session. Paul Webster (Crane) disappears suddenly on his honeymoon, and his wife (Garland) spends years searching for him, finally ending up at a mysterious (and very damp) plantation called The Cypresses in the bayous of Louisiana.

Frieda Inescort plays The Cypresses' tyrannical matron, and is accompanied by her unhinged hired hand Chaney (who else?), the local "swamp doctor" Macready, and an assortment of other household helpers. Everyone keeps telling Garland to leave, so of course she stays, and eventually finds her husband…who has been partially turned into an alligator (no tail, just lots of scales)! It seems that Macready has been trying to help accident victims with some kind of alligator extract, and while the victims recover, well, there are some pretty bad side-effects. Besides being scaly and green (presumably, because this is a B&W movie), Crane also has a very deep, rumbling voice, which apparently happened when he received too much alligator hormone.

Macready has a bright idea that he can "cure" Crane through "massive radiation from a cobalt bomb", the usual fun 1950s radiation treatment. But when Macready says, "No more than 30 seconds…I determined that with my test alligator!", you know something is going to go wrong. At the critical moment during the treatment, Chaney bursts in, punches out the doctor, and manages to electrocute himself on Macready's space-age equipment, but not before Crane has been turned into a true "gator-man": big alligator head and scaly chest. The gator-man does, however, still have his neatly pressed trousers and belt on.

Crane runs into the swamp, followed by Garland (who apparently still loves him, even in his reptilian condition). A monstrous explosion destroys The Cypresses, and the gator-man promptly disappears in a convenient quicksand pit, leaving Garland to sit screaming in the middle of the swamp. Cut to Bennett and Kennedy, who have listened rather incredulously to the whole story…then simply decide to do nothing about the situation, thus ending the movie.

I have to admit, I've never seen a movie with a remotely comparable plot. Garland is her usual steady self, Crane hams it up as the gator-man, and Chaney…well, he chomps through the scenery with great enthusiasm. Macready, apparently thinking he may never again get the chance to play a mad doctor, becomes intensely philosophical at every turn, often staring off into space. Kennedy and Bennett spend most of the movie being baffled by Garland's story, then after discussing it to death, just ignore the whole affair! Even with all of its weird ideas and strange acting, I liked The Alligator People. The bayou settings drip with perspiration and humidity, and the story is very imaginative. Every time there's a slow spot, Chaney seems to burst in and liven things up. I just wish that the filmmakers had gotten a slightly better alligator suit.

"Dirty, stinkin', slimy gators!"

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 21 February 2005]

• While honeymooning on a train, a couple receives several telegrams of congratulations. But when the husband, Paul Webster (Richard Crane), receives one telegram that seems to change his mood. He refuses to let his wife, Joyce Webster (Beverly Garland), see the telegram or tell her what the problem is. At the next stop, Paul disembarks to make a telephone call. But as the train gets underway again, Paul is not on board. Frantically, Joyce begins her search for her husband. There are few clues to go on. It's as if he never existed. She finally gets a lead that takes her to a house in the middle of the Louisiana bayou. The people in the house appear to be hiding something. Joyce has to find a way to get past their lies and discover the truth. What is her husband's secret and why is he hiding in the swamp?

• Before I saw this movie for the first time, I had read some really bad things about it. I had also seen images of some of the very cheesy special effects. The movie is much better than I had been led to believe. And even though the special effects are laughable, they have a certain charm about them that I find endearing. For such a low budget movie, this is one of the most beautifully shot black and white films I've ever seen. I realize that everything is stage-bound, but it has that look that I love about these older films. The sets in The Alligator People are comparable to those from the older Universal classic monster films.

• For the most part, the acting in The Alligator People is a step ahead of most other low budget films. Beverly Garland is completely believable as the heartbroken wife. She creates a character that I found it easy to care about. On the other end of the acting spectrum, Lon Chaney, Jr. gives one of the most embarrassing performances of his that I have seen to date. His drunken Cajun was a little too close to home and makes watching it that much more sad. The attempted rape scene (shocking for a film in 1959) has to be a real low point for Chaney.

• The Region 1 DVD features one of the best images I've seen for such a low budget, obviously B film. The widescreen print is simply gorgeous. It's too bad there are no real special features.

The Alligator People (1959) ***

[JoeKarlosi · 7/10 · 9 September 2007]

With a crazy title like "The Alligator People" this late '50s shocker is much too vulnerable to jokes and attacks, and that's unfortunate because it's actually much better than you might think, and the subject matter is taken quite seriously. Beverly Garland plays a newlywed wife named Joyce who despairs when her husband (Richard Crane) ducks off the train they're honeymooning on to make an urgent phone call, and then is never heard from again. Desperate, she tries without success to locate him until she eventually gets a lead that he could be at a house secluded off in the swamplands of the Louisiana bayou. Once there she is made aware of unusual experiments gone awry which involved her husband, and faces the horror that he is gradually turning into a scaly reptilian creature. His mother (Frieda Inescort, who's pretty bad in this) tries to discourage Joyce in her search and at first does not give her a welcome reception.

Miss Garland is quite believable and sincere in her part, and this is a nice-looking black and white film shot in the cinemascope process, showing off some nice imagery in the land of alligators and snakes. Also adding to the experience is Lon Chaney, one of the uncouth local Cajun men who sports a hook in place of his left hand, having been a victim himself of an alligator attack. He never lets these "dirty, stinking gators" forget it either, as he constantly gets drunk and fires his gun at them, and tries to run them down with his jeep when they cross the road. One of the best lines in '50s schlock cinema may be when Lon yells to the human victim of the story: "I'll KILL you, Alligator Man... just like I'd kill any four legged gator!!". Chaney is also involved in a violent rape sequence, which is pretty shocking for those times.

The scaly makeup for Richard Crane in its early stages is pretty effective, but when he emerges in full alligator-headed form later on, the first instinct is usually to laugh. But this is a '50s monster movie, after all, and many creatures of this era have been bizarre. Once you get past the initial sight of the Alligator Man, the result actually comes off not too bad at all. This is an enjoyable movie of its type for the period, and also comfortably short at only 75 minutes. *** out of ****

It's just not easy bein' green.

[reptilicus · 27 July 2001]

You have to like a movie that offers the heroine (Beverly Garland in this case) running through a swamp during a rainstorm wearing high heels. Okay, to be fair watch this scene carefully and you will notice her heels change into sneakers in the long shots. Anyway, this very unusual plot offers a scientist (George Macready who was the villain in the 1945 Columbia serial THE MONSTER AND THE APE) who believes he can help crippled people to grow new limbs by injecting them with serum from alligator glands. Guess what happens. Richard Crane (from TV's "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger")is a war hero who was literally blown apart but who healed overnight thanks to the serum but something goes wrong and he start mutating into a . . .but then you saw the title of the movie didn't you? His new bride (Beverly) follows him to the forboding bayou mansion where his mother lives (Freida Inescourt from RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, 1944) and soon uncovers the truth about the bizarre experiments. She tries to tell hubby that she will stand by him no matter what but that's kinda hard when every day he looks more and more like a 'gator. Also around to complicate things is Lon Chaney Jr as Mannon, a drunken Cajun (without a French accent) who hates alligators. Lon wears a hook on his left hand that he is constantly adjusting on camera. he also shoots at some (real) alligators from all of 10 feet away and misses! Sure the premise is silly, but if injecting a person with alligator glands can turn them into a gator remember that George Zucco created a werewolf by injecting a man with wolf blood in THE MAD MONSTER (1944). If THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE had been made 15 years earlier I'll bet it would have come out of Monogram or PRC. Give it a try, you just might find yourself having fun.

Ms. Garland walks the walk!

[shepardjessica-1 · 7/10 · 12 September 2005]

This typical "drive-in" flick of the late 50s is actually fairly complicated that gets very interesting in the last 45 minutes. "Starring" the totally under-appreciated Beverly Garland (a scream queen of the 50s) and Tuesday Weld's mom in PRETTY POISON in the 60s, this sly "gator" tale is walked through Cajun swamps into unknown realms where George MacReady and Lon Chaney, Jr. live every day. Thankfully, Ms. Garland (beautiful, talented, and finally on the color MY THREE SONS episodes) is SO believable in her character's plight about her husband's "condition" ..you're sucked it.

Best performance - Ms. Garland. A 7 out of 10. The husband (who looks the same to me ..even when he's "afllicted" is good), but the Mom, the servants, the HOUSE. It has all the ingredients that make "B" movies fascinating with a lot of help from Beverly Garland playing a lead Chara ..along with Bruce Bennett and various types. Recommended for it's breed of cat.

What a fun little horror picture!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 14 February 2022]

Joyce Webster (Beverly Garland) is a nurse who has repressed memories that come forth under the influence of sodium pentathol. The resident doctor, who has heard this tale before, attaches Joyce to a polygraph so he can know if she believes she is telling the truth.

Joyce tells a tale of horror that begins on the train after her marriage to Paul Webster. Paul gets a telegram, looks crestfallen, gives no explanation to Joyce, and gets off at the next stop, never to return. Joyce then pores through Paul's things looking for some clue as to where he was originally from. She finally finds an old address in a swampy part of Louisiana and goes there.

Why does Paul's own wife not know where he is from? The pair met in Europe where Paul was a soldier, so they had not had a chance to meet each other's family yet. The other odd thing is - Joyce came back to America before Paul was discharged, and at one point she was told by doctors who said they were treating Paul that he had been mangled horribly in an accident and was not expected to live. Yet months later he appears in great health, rather evading Joyce about the whole accident issue. When Joyce arrives at the "old dark house" that was supposed to be Paul's childhood home, she is obviously not wanted, and the woman who owns the house claims no knowledge of any Paul Webster but locks Joyce in her room for the night as though she had something to hide. What goes on here? Watch and find out.

This horror film has it all - old dark house, a damsel in distress, a mentally unstable hired hand who desires said damsel, a doctor who is more sad than mad, the mystery of a person who disappeared in thin air, and last but not least costumes that are so bad they are good. For the thinking person there are a few things to chew on. Why would anybody build a big expensive home in a swamp? Do doctors in 1959 not know that a polygraph is not actually a lie detector? And then there is the debate brought up in so many 50s horror/scifi films about science going too far, reflecting on the horror of the nuclear age. I'd recommend it, but do understand that the trick to enjoying these 50s horror films is to not think too hard about plot holes and inconsistencies. The cheese is part of the charm.

Not too bad.

[13Funbags · 5/10 · 2 June 2017]

This movie is definitely above average for a sixty year old horror flick. It actually has a plot that makes sense and isn't full of holes. That's rare for the genre. It does have some dumb moments. Like Lon Chaney shooting at alligators that are about ten feet away and constantly missing them. He screams to them that he will never stop killing alligators but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Of course when it's dark outside it's actually brighter than the day time, that's never cool. The woman "stumbles" through the "dark" swamp, easily avoiding and stepping over everything except the alligators. That's a bit lame too. The alligators appear to be real but they never try to attack anyone so I don't know. Other than those dumb parts, it's not too bad. Give it a shot.

To Beverly, Bruce & Lon: 'See You Later, Alligator!'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 25 February 2009]

The very good last third of this film and an outstanding ending made this movie worthwhile for me to watch. One has to be patient in some of these classic films, as many of them begin rather slowly.....but there is a reward if you stick with it.

This story is told in flashback as a woman "Joyce Weber," played by Beverly Garland) is given an injection and relates to two doctors the amazing story of what happened to her and her missing husband.

Garland did well and looked terrific. She was a little over 30 years of age at the time she made this film. Sadly, she just died a few months ago (as of this review) at the age of 82. She has a long resume of movies and TV shows.

Lon Chaney plays a goofy role, a man who is obsessed with shooting alligators after one had the nerve to eat his hand. He makes a play for Beverly in one scene, trying to get her drunk and have his way with her. Can't blame the poor slob.

Bruce Bennett, who plays the main doctor here, also died recently, passing away at the age of 90 in 2007. Bennett did some great 1940s films like "Mildred Pierce" and "Dark Passage," plays the main doctor. George Macready, whose best days were behind him, too, ("Gilda" is my favorite film of his) is the other doctor, who is there to witness "Joyce's" story as it is told under some sort of truth serum.

Lesser-known Richard Crane plays the "Paul Crane," the alligator man.

The title of the film is a bit misleading. "Alligator People" imply plural - more than one, but there really is only one alligator man in this film, and he only looks like a guy with a bad sunburn and acne! At the end, though, Crane dons a rubber suit with an alligator head that will have you howling - in laughter, not fear! The other alligator-men are only shown as patients lying in their beds. It's all part of a man-plays-God experiment in which the good doctor is trying to help people who are desperate straights.

Without giving the last 25 minutes away - which was very good - along with particularly excellent ending that had some intelligent twists to it - suffice it made up for the earlier slower moments.

Science and medicine go astray in the swamps of Louisiana.

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 4 November 2001]

A honeymoon is cut short when a maimed war hero(Richard Crane) seeks healing. The newlywed bride(Beverly Garland)tracks her husband down in a Louisiana bayou getting injections of a serum from alligator glands. A mad scientist tries to heal cripples with his bizarre experiments. After awhile the injected mutate into...well you can guess by the movie's title. Veteran actor Lon Chaney Jr plays a crazed Cajun with a left hook(pun) and a strong aversion to 'gators'.

Great scenery and background score. Special effects are pretty neat. Garland is beautiful and flawless in this Sci-Fi thriller. Notable support from George Macready, Bruce Bennett and Frieda Inescort. This is an attention grabber and well worth your while.

The Gator's gonna get ya!!!!

[tamstrat · 6/10 · 12 May 2005]

This is actually a pretty good horror flick from the late 50's when it seems that all of God's creatures were being mutated somehow by radiation. This movie differs from that premise and that's what makes is unique and fun to watch. Beverly Garland plays a young woman on her honeymoon when her new groom suddenly disappears from a train. She desperately tries to find him and her search leads her to his home in the Louisiana Bayou where she confronts terror from all different levels. The movie is fast paced and the storyline good, I really enjoyed it. Lon Chaney, Jr. is a hoot as a drunken cajun who tries to rape the young bride. The ending is a surprise as well. Enjoy!!!!

Great Fun!

[femme_fatale5367 · 4/10 · 23 September 2006]

This is the kind of movie I used to watch when I spent Friday nights at my best friend's house and we stayed up all night eating junk food and watching monster movies on TV. Beverly Garland, queen of the 50's B flicks, is great as the worried wife and George Macready (later known as the tyrannical Mr. Peyton on Peyton Place) is doing his best with what he has to work with--hey, they were just working folks with bills to pay! All things considered, it's a cut above most of its genre. No surprises; the usual 50's post-bomb musings about playing God, cheesy costumes, and all that comes with this kind of story. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Surprisingly good 50s sci-fi fun; incorrect credit in DVD synopsis

[shop7070-1 · 8/10 · 15 October 2006]

I heartily agree with the comments provided by reptilicus from Vancouver, Canada (and I appreciate the "high heels" heads-up, and the various actors' cross-refs).

I recommend this movie for its creative application of pre-60s sci-fi/horror canon: eerie melodrama, sympathetic characters, strictly implied gore, rough & toothless scientific explanation, and absolutely no pretensions to credibility, 'cause we're all just here to have fun anyway. Great use of bookends, and of ominous bayou atmosphere.

Note that the synopsis on the DVD case (20th Century Fox, released September 7, 2004) incorrectly lists "Lon Chaney" as our heroine's husband. Mr. Chaney actually plays the drunken Cajun, and Richard Crane plays the husband.

Should be seen in Cinemascope

[twanurit · 6/10 · 6 May 2001]

This 1959 Fox picture was actually filmed in Cinemascope; I've never seen it that way. The television and video version are severely cropped from aspect ratio 2.35:1 to 1.33:1 - you're missing almost half the picture. I'm sure they will correct this if it ever comes to DVD. We need see the expansive mansion and exotic swampland locales in their entirety, as well as the giddy climax of the alligator man's LONG, horizontal snout. Top-billed Beverly Garland (here a brunette) is very good as a woman seeking her missing fiance, now holed up in a mansion with a doctor (George MacCready) who's trying to cure him (he was in an accident) with reptilian serum. The man's domineering mother (Frieda Inescort) also resides, protecting and hiding her son from all, including Garland. Lon Chaney is superb as a drunken, one-handed hunter who detests alligators. The music is also eerie and effective. However, the film's plotline begins to fizzle out, with the fiance escaping from the laboratory and not doing much and the film sinks, like quicksand.

Beverly Garland rises above the swamp

[jnselko · 5/10 · 16 February 2005]

This is one of those films where the performances of one of the stars greatly outshines the movie as a whole. I am speaking, of course, of Beverley Garland. She manages to bring this misfire, which would otherwise be about a "2" up to respectability singlehandedly.

Even though she must have realized this movie was a disaster as soon as she saw the Alligator Man costume, she never condescended to either the role or the actions around her. She was/is one of the truly under-appreciated actress's of our time. She almost never got to be in a true "classic" movie (and when she was, she was never the Star), but she always was believable and sympathetic.

Perhaps it was that she was not "Hollywood" pretty, but she was/is a beautiful woman, and she must be a nice one too, because it comes through in all of her roles. (In fact, if she is not nice, then she is a tremendous actress indeed).

Considering that Lon Chaney and George Macready were in this, the movie itself is quite a disappointment. The idea of the Alligator serum being able to rejuvenate damaged tissue is a good one (although the writers could not have known it at the time, there actually is something in Crocodilian blood which greatly accelerates the healing process and halts the spread of infection).

The movie is worth watching, because Beverly Garland is always worth watching.

Fun Film

[Michael_Elliott · 11 March 2008]

The Alligator People (1959)

*** (out of 4)

Fun monster film has a wife (Beverly Garland) goings into the swamps to try and find out what has happened to her missing husband. Once there she's pretty much greeted with coldness but soon she realizes the terror that has happened to her husband and it's only going to get worse.

THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE is a pretty fun monster film that manages to have a nice cast doing fine work and there's just an overall good feel to the entire thing. This was obviously done in the same mode as THE FLY and like that film there are certainly some flaws to be found but overall there's no denying that monster fans should have a good time with it.

I honestly think the best thing in the picture are the performances with Garland doing an extremely good job in the role of the wife. Lets face it, horror films are often victim to actors just phoning in their performances but that's not the case here because Garland really does the dramatics good and especially when she realizes that her husband is turning into an alligator. I also thought Lon Chaney, Jr. was very good and certainly entertaining in his role as the swamp man with a hook for a hand. His drunken, violent clashes with everyone is certainly fun to watch and you really do believe him in this role. Both Bruce Bennett and Richard Crane are good as well.

THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE is a little misleading since there really aren't a whole colony of alligator people but this just slightly takes away from the fun. The film takes a while to get going but once everything starts to fall into place is when the fun takes over and it leads up to a highly entertaining ending.

Fix my arm - and make it snappy

[Mr_Goose · 7/10 · 3 September 2009]

This one is from the "anti science" sub genre of 50's SciFi. A scientist attempts to learn the secrets of cell regeneration with somewhat mixed results.

While this is all a pretty obvious attempt to cash in on the success of The Fly, it is good fun. The plot (even without seeing the poster) is 101% predictable.

In what seems like a sensible medical experiment, the doctor tries a serum distilled from the thyroid glands of alligators. It clearly will help accident victims re-grow lost limbs.

No doubt, you have already guessed one of the scenes..

"Look darling, the doctors have made my arm better"

"But you have a bloody great heinous alligator's head".

Trouble is - we can all laugh at 50's movies now, but this one gave me nightmares, along with The Incredible Shrinking Man.

THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE (Roy Del Ruth, 1959) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 17 May 2008]

Having watched this as a kid, I’d been toying with the idea of purchasing the cheap (and bare-bones) Fox DVD ever since its release a few years back; I’d been trying to get it from other sources, too, and I finally managed it recently. Unfortunately, while the video quality was pleasing enough (being Widescreen and all), the sound proved less satisfactory – due to synch problems and occasional audio dropouts. In any case, I was glad to re-acquaint myself with the film after all these years…even if it didn’t quite live up to my recollections of it being some kind of minor genre classic!

While the title is rather too much of a give-away and could well induce ridicule by non-hardened fans, it’s an effective hybrid of sci-fi and horror clearly patterned after THE FLY (1958): in fact, it was reportedly commissioned specifically to fill the lower half of a double-bill with that film’s first sequel! The central narrative is unnecessarily framed – and, consequently, slowed down – by scenes in which heroine Beverly Garland recounts her incredible experience to a couple of psychiatrists: on the night of her marriage to a young man who had miraculously survived a plane crash, he runs out on her without so much as a word; she starts looking high and low for him until she stumbles upon an enigmatic address situated deep in the swamplands of Louisiana; of course, she goes there and is met with outright hostility by the lady of the house (Frieda Inescort) who claims to have no knowledge of the man in question!; since Garland has nowhere to stay, Inescort is forced to put her up for the night – with the condition that she doesn’t stray from her room and that she leave the next morning; however, that night, the heroine sees her host leave the mansion in a car at dead of night and, then, hears someone playing the piano downstairs (a silly sequence, and such a cliché!) – so, she determines to stay and unravel the mystery of “The Cypresses”; the morning after, she meets a local scientist (George Macready) sent by Inescort to find out just how much Garland knows.

Needless to say, before long, the leading lady comes face to face with the awful truth: Macready’s cure involving a serum extracted from the hormones of alligators(!) has the unfortunate side-effect that its recipients’ skin starts to turn scaly and their countenance becomes generally reptilian – to be fair to the doctor, his aims were humanitarian rather than morbid curiosity (such as was the case with the somewhat similar SSSSSSS [1973], in which a man is turned into a Cobra). Also involved is Lon Chaney Jr. as a burly handyman on Inescort’s property: having had his hand bitten off by a crocodile (it’s been replaced by a hook), he’s frequently given to alcoholic binges – spiced with vitriolic rants – during which he lays waste to every “gator” that crosses his path (most hilariously of all, he runs one over with his truck while in Garland’s company!); naturally, Chaney doesn’t take kindly to the titular creatures either…especially after his attempted rape of the heroine is thwarted by her husband’s intervention. Predictably, just when Macready is trying the newest and most dangerous experiment to try and revert the transformation, Chaney bursts in and, as per the norm in this type of flick, literally brings the house down: Macready is knocked out, the hero’s over-exposure to radioactivity turns him into a full-fledged croc (at which sight Inescort – his mother – obviously faints), while Chaney is electrocuted when he tries to attack the monster (eventually causing the lab to explode); the latter flees into the night (with Garland following), fights a host of real alligators, and finally drowns in quicksand! Back to the couch, the two psychoanalysts decide not to treat Garland (who actually performs the duties of a nurse at the same clinic!) as a patient – since she’s only able to recall her horrible ordeal under hypnosis.

Roy Del Ruth (best-known, if at all, for his fast-paced and light-hearted work of the 1930s) seems an odd choice here – though he had had another genre entry with PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954): while his relative inexperience within the field tends towards a general flatness, he still manages a few weird touches – such as the wardrobe devised to hide the features of The Alligator People. Best of all, the director invests the bayou setting with plenty of atmosphere (the cinematography is by DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE [1931]’s Karl Struss, no less) – in fact, the film’s highlight is perhaps a night-time sequence in which Garland chases after her husband (whom she’s just bumped into since her arrival at the plantation) in the rain, braving attacks by myriad swamp creatures before she’s saved by Chaney (who lives in a nearby shack). Richard Crane isn’t exactly a compelling presence but, thanks to the effective make-up, his plight does elicit audience sympathy. Even so, the crocodile suit seen at the climax is so fake as to border on Camp: it would have been better had the character turned into a common “four-legged gator” rather than a scaly creature that walks upright and is fitted with a pair of pants…but that would have made him indistinguishable from the ‘real’ ones (and I do recall feeling disappointed when the ill-fated hero of SSSSSSS somehow got shrinked to the size of a snake)! Garland, as I had also noted in my review of NOT OF THIS EARTH (1957), makes for a spirited and credible lead here; Chaney (past his prime but not yet reduced to nothing parts) has a lot of fun with the admittedly one-dimensional ‘gator-hater’; perhaps to counter the latter’s hamminess, Macready wisely underplays the Mad Scientist role – incidentally, his “Swamp Buggy” is pretty cool!

Lon is the Manon!

[BaronBl00d · 4/10 · 30 January 2005]

Experiments in the bayous go afoul as patients begin to turn into...duh, duh, duh(drum roll please)..ALLIGATOR PEOPLE. This is your fairly predictable, poorly scripted, fun science fiction/horror movie from the 50's. Beverly Garland, the Scream Queen herself, marries Richard Crane, gets on a train on their honeymoon, and he abruptly gets off...no trace left. Through some tough investigative work, Garland finds him and his secret in Louisiana. There she meets some strange characters. A woman that treats her like she is a child invading her privacy. A servant girl that speaks about her mistress as being evil. And who could forget Manon...a gamekeeper(something like that) who lives in a shack down the road. Manon is played by a heavy, inebriated-looking Lon Chaney Jr. Lon has little to work with here in an almost thankless role, but make no mistakes - he is the best thing about this picture. Watching him utter ridiculous lines like, "I'll kill you Alligator Man, just like I kill 4-legged gators" has to be a definite highlight. This film has little in the way of special effects. The alligator people look like guys that haven't slept in decades. George Macready plays the doctor in charge of the experiments. Though Lon wildly over-plays his part, Beverly Garland is almost subdued for her. She gives a decent performance working with less than stellar material. The framing story is interesting if unnecessary. All in all not a terribly bad picture but not good science fiction either. It's primary saving grace is its humour - both the minor intentional kind and the numerous unintentional kind. Cracky, it's a real hoot!

Not welcome in a strange land

[unbrokenmetal · 7/10 · 18 July 2015]

It's easy to ridicule a movie like this when you see a guy with a plastic alligator head running around. But that means ignoring its serious qualities on the other side, and these are really impressive for a B movie! First of all, the general atmosphere is well created. Beverly Garland as Joyce, used to the modern city life of the 1950s, arrives in the wilderness, scared of snakes and alligators, it's a bit like being shipwrecked on an alien planet. The horror develops not simply by action like alligator attacks, it's rather the strange swampland environment that causes fear. Cinematographer Karl Struss was responsible for masterpieces such as Rouben Mamoulian's 'Jekyll & Hyde' or Cecil B DeMille's 'Sign of the Cross', by the way. Quality work on the camera is no coincidence.

Secondly, the hostility of the people. Lon Chaney plays a maniacal loner, full of hate against 'gators' as well as people, he even attempts to rape Joyce in one scene. Also at the estate, Joyce does not receive the welcome she expected; her husband avoids her and his mother wants to send her back to the city on the next train. In fact, the only kind, well mannered person in the movie is the mad scientist who conducts experiments with radioactivity. The psychological set-up for the story works very well, even if let down by the special effects towards the end.

Maybe the surrounding narration with the 'true story' revealed under hypnosis is unnecessary, but other than that, this is a great B movie that stands out from the rest of its kind.

Attack Of The Walking Luggage!

[evilskip · 4/10 · 1 October 1999]

Another late 50's science run amok flick.Seems that on her wedding night Mrs Paul Webster's husband vanishes after getting a telegram.(That'll do a lot for a young bride's confidence).He leaves almost no trace.

After weeks of searching the bride finds an address in his college records. Turns out to be the family home in the middle of an oppressive swamp.After being rebuffed she finally learns the truth. Paul was mangled badly in an air crash some time before they were married.A doctor/scientist used a radical treatment using alligators to "cure" Paul. But the cure backfires (won't those fool scientists ever learn?).Paul is turning into a walking Samsonite (alligator luggage).

Trying to reverse the affects a cobalt ray is used. But thanks to a hook handed swamp man after revenge the experiment goes horribly wrong.Paul is turned into a walking alligator.the fight is on.Will Paul survive? Will his wife forego her happiness to hatch little gator eggs in the swamp?You have to watch to find out!

Now you can't take this movie seriously.The acting is fine especially Lon Chaney as Manon, the evil hook handed worker.Bev Garland is very convincing.(She went on to play Mrs Steve Douglas in My Three Sons.So who cares, right?).The swamp is very oppressive ,realistic set.The alligator suit is a howl. But the makeup leading up to the full transformation is very good.

Just a bit below average and worth a watch if you aren't ironing the cat.

Gator Madness!

[julianwest74 · 7/10 · 22 September 2018]

I first saw this movie when I was about 7 years old, at a matinee double feature with "The Return of the Fly." I got scared out of my mind!! Even today, I think that "The Alligator People" has an eerie ambiance that belies its B-movie origins: the hypnotism therapy, the mysterious plantation, Lon Chaney Jr.'s gators, and the tormented lead character. This is a good little movie. It scared me so much that I ran all the way home from the theater -- in the middle of the afternoon!

Unintentionally funny horror monster flick...typical 1950s style.

[Burntout · 5/10 · 28 November 2006]

Another mad scientist/monster movie from the 1950s where we have people who are slowly becoming alligators. Not gonna bother much with the plot for you b/c if you bother to see this you'll see that they enjoy explaining crap to you over and over again (seriously, how many times does Lon Chaney explain the reason he has a hook hand?)…which actually kinda makes it an unintentionally funny film and most definitely hokey. The special effects are not very special at all and the only redeeming quality other than the so bad it's good acting is Lon Chaney's portrayal of a drunken Bayou man who lost his hand to an alligator and has a big beef with them reptiles. Too bad he wasn't in more scenes, but the few he is in makes up for a lot of the other deficiencies. Not a bad way to waste an evening. It's only 74 minutes long and if you enjoy monster movies then you might as well see it with a few brews and a couple of good friends who are in the know.

A nifty 50's horror creature feature romp

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 3 October 2007]

Chipper newlywed Joyce Webster (a typically fine and robust portrayal by the ever lovely Beverly Garland) gets dumped by her husband Paul (dashing hunk Richard Crane) on their wedding night. Joyce tracks Paul down to a remote swampland area of Louisiana and discovers much to her dismay that Paul is slowly mutating into a hideous alligator man hybrid. Director Roy Del Ruth, working from a silly, yet sincere script by Orville H. Hampton, maintains a constant pace throughout, treats the admittedly absurd premise with dead seriousness, and does an expert job of creating a flavorful brooding bayou atmosphere. Lon Chaney, Jr. contributes a lively turn as gruff, hearty, lecherous hook-handed local yokel troublemaker Manon, plus there are nice supporting performances by Frieda Inescort as Paul's stern, but loyal mother Lavinia Hawthorne, George MacReady as earnest physician Dr. Mark Sinclair, and Douglas Kennedy as helpful psychiatrist Dr. Wayne MacGregor. Cranes deserves extra praise for effectively evoking sympathy for the grotesque, yet pitiable Paul. Karl Struss' crisp black and white cinematography, the rousing climax, Irving Getz's booming overwrought score, and the uncompromisingly downbeat ending further enhance the entertainment value of this immensely fun nonsense.

See Ya Later Alligator

[AngelHonesty · 7/10 · 10 January 2020]

The movie dragged on a bit before finally getting to it's point, but I really liked how it followed the mystery of trying to find out what happened to the main characters husband. I was greatly impressed with the fact that they used real alligators in the movie. I also enjoyed the makeup and costumes for the Alligator people. I found this movie had a little bit of an Alfred Hitchcock Psycho feel to it, making it enjoyable and fun to watch.

Not total crap!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 31 March 2008]

ALLIGATOR PEOPLE is one of dozens and dozens of 1950s schlock horror films. Most of these involve giant bugs or mammals--this one involves human-alligator hybrids! For what it is, this film is actually pretty engaging. Now this isn't to say that this is a great film (it sure isn't), but it is better than the average film of this type. It seems that the movie probably had a bit bigger budget than usual for the genre, as the special effects were a tad better than I'd expected.

Beverly Garland stars as a young woman determined to discover what happened to her husband who disappeared on their honeymoon. What little evidence there is leads her to a freaky house in the middle of nowhere in the bayous of Louisiana. Despite everyone there insisting that they know nothing, Garland is determined and eventually discovers the truth--her hubby is an alligator man--like a man with patches of gator skin!! All this leads to a funny finale, where her hybrid husband undergoes another medical procedure--after which, he looks simply amazing!! You have to see it to believe it!

Overall, this film is a bit more literate and intelligent than you might expect for the genre. I liked the way the story came out and much of the story is about as plausible as you can make a gator man story! However, periodically, the film just got extremely stupid--and I mean REALLLLY stupid! My favorite part was when Garland got off the train in the middle of no where. There was no one at the station and the only other thing on the platform was a wooden crate emblazoned with signs such as "Warning--Radioactivity" or "Cabalt--DANGER"--and yet someone just left it sitting there to await eventual pickup!! Worse yet, when Garland can't find a ride, she just sits on top of the crate! I also was amazed at how badly Lon Chaney, Jr.'s acting and role was. Most people in the film behaved as if this were a bigger budget and serious film--Chaney acted like he was in an Ed Wood, Jr. film AND he'd just been given an over-dose of acid! In real life, Chaney was an alcoholic--you wonder if maybe this affected his performance.

This film is entertaining yet bad. Not painful bad, but so funny that you can't stop watching bad. As one who likes this silly genre, I was definitely not disappointed--enjoying all the silliness you'd expect from this sort of thing.

By the way, at the end when our fated hero is fighting with the alligator in the swamp, look carefully. If you slow down the film, you can clearly see that the gator's mouth is taped shut!