Rating: 
Summary: It Came From the Swamp !
Review: "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" ? !
Rating: 
Summary: BRIDE OF RE-ALLIGATOR....
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Rainy Night in Louisiana.
Review: 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. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: "I'll kill you Alligator Man!"
Review: Based on a true story (okay, it's not), The Alligator People (1959), often confused with the film The Crocodile People (okay, there's no such film), relates a completely fantastic tale (well, maybe not fantastic, but pretty darn good) of what happens when a scientist tries to utilize the regenerative properties inherent within the genetic make-up of reptiles on humans, with unexpected results (the title of this film should give you a hint).
The Alligator People was directed by Roy Del Ruth, a man who's forte was tense crime dramas for Warner Brothers in the 30's, then lavish musicals for MGM after that, and was also responsible for what many consider to be the worst biography made yet in The Babe Ruth Story (1948), yeah, the one with William Bendix, but I digress...the film stars the very attractive and highly prolific Beverly Garland (remember her role in the definitive 1979 film Roller Boogie) as Joyce Webster, a recently married woman whose husband Paul, played by Richard `Rocky Jones, Space Ranger' Crane, ran off during their honeymoon, after receiving a mysterious telegram (boy, talk about your cold feet, although you're suppose to run off BEFORE you get hitched, fool)...anyway, not one to take a fairly obvious hint, Joyce begins a long and fruitless search for her beloved, one that finally leads her to some lovely swampland somewhere in the south, Louisiana, I believe. It's here where she discovers Paul is holed up on a plantation of sorts, participating in some weird and wacky experiments conducted by scientist Dr. Eric Lorimer (played by Bruce Bennett, who's appeared in some 120 plus features throughout the 30's well into the 60's, but I recall him from the films The Cosmic Man and Fiend of Dope Island). On the `mad scientist' scale, Dr. Lorimer rates pretty low as he's not really mad or suffers from a god complex, but his experimentation, while appearing successful early on, has recently begun to exhibit serious scaly side effects (say that three times fast) on his human test subjects, and now he's remorseful and working to fix the problem. Lessons learned, I suppose...finally we have Lon Chaney Jr., appearing as Manon, a caretaker/handyman (of sorts) who works on the plantation, but spends most all of his time either drinking his homemade hooch and/or tormenting gators. I suspect his hatred of alligators has something to do with the hook for a hand (ahh, a classic case of CHS, short for Captain Hook Syndrome), and I was right...at least he's still got that one good hand for shooting his gun at gators, and that hook comes in handy for those pesky itches and handling sides of beef...what awful secrets does Joyce uncover about her husband, his murky past, and the inhuman experiments being performed deep in the alligator and snake infested swampy morass they call home? Whatever they maybe be, you'll never get them from me...but you can probably figure it out for yourself, unless you've been into Manon's bathtub booze...yick...
I thought The Alligator People was really good, in terms of a B movie. The title pretty much gives the plot away, in my opinion, as the story offers little in the way of shocks or surprises. Beverly Garland was quite good, basically supporting the entire film on her shoulders, and I got a kick out of seeing her running through some fairly nasty and dangerous swampy pools with live alligators. She's got more guts than I...she's also very easy on the eyes, which certainly helps. Richard Crane did okay, but I thought his gravelly croc/man voice was pretty funny (along with his varying degrees of make-up and costumes). As far as the character of Dr. Lorimer, I prefer my B movie scientists to be a bit more mad...he sure talked the talk, spewing technical mumbo jumbo at a pretty constant rate, "The oscillating jiggy-ma-bob produces an equivalent of one billion kilovolts of energy!" He did drive a rather cool swamp buggy, and managed to get his hands on a good amount of radioactive material (maybe the stuff wasn't that closely regulated back then), so I give him a bit of credit. Lon Cheney Jr's character of Manon was a lot of fun to watch, but doesn't have a lot of screen time. What he did have, he made the most of, playing the dirty, drunken, lecherous, gator hating, inbred, cayenne pepper snortin', backwoods Cajun hillbilly to the hilt. One thing was for sure, he sure hated them gators...as I've said, the plot is pretty predictable (and silly), offering few, if any surprises, but it does move along fairly well (the film runs approximately 74 minutes), and stays on track. The direction of the film was professionally done, handled by someone who knows his business, but lacked a hard to define quality I look for in good science fiction (I know, I know, the film is billed as a horror flick, but I felt it leaned more towards sci-fi). The special effects were pretty low budget, especially the rubbery alligator suit donned by Clark (as mentioned by another reviewer). I really wasn't expecting much in this area, and that's exactly what I got...all in all, a well-done cheapie film that's fun as long as you don't look at it too hard. I will say, even though the plot was middling at best, I did find interesting the part at the very beginning, and at the very end, as the middle is presented in flashback form, providing a nice little twist.
The wide screen transfer provided on this DVD is exceptionally good-looking, and nearly flawless. Added to that is two separate audio tracks, one mono and one stereo. Special features include an original theatrical trailer, and trailers for other Fox releases, including The Fly, (1958), The Fly (1986), The Omen (1976), and Phantom Of The Paradise (1974). Also, the cover artwork is really cool...look at it...go ahead...you know you want to...
Cookieman108
Rating:
Summary: Saw a review copy - ridiculous fun in the bayous
Review: Cult horror maestro Lon Chaney appears in 1959's `The Alligator People' as a husband who abandons his wife (played by Beverly Garland) on their wedding day after receiving a frantic telegram. Years later she finally tracks him down to his ancestral home in the bayou's of Louisiana where she discovers that a medical procedure that saved her husband from death has turned him into an alligator mutant. The movie is overacted, over-the-top and ridiculous, but I could not help but enjoy every ridiculous minute of it. Overall the picture quality of the main feature is acceptable with only some minor scratches, but the same is not true of the trailer and accompanying trailers for both 1958s "The Fly" and "The Omen." The Vincent Price movie trailer has multiple scratches, dirt and color saturation and the picture of the Gregory Peck trailer is washed out and blurred.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best stupid monster movies ever.
Review: I love this freakin' movie. It is the most ridiculous story in the world, but what fun to watch. Partly because I am a horror movie junkie and I tend to be a sucker for any kind of monster. So here's a movie with an Alligator man. How cool is that. The fact that this impossibly stupid idea is treated with the utmost seriousness, as if it were just as epic a horror concept as Dracula or Frankenstein, is what makes the movie so cool.
I once read an interview with (lead actress) Beverly Garland where she said that she and the lead actor could barely get through their performances because they kept busting up laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of their dialogue. They only played it off by trying to make it look like they were biting back tears. Knowing that makes watching the movie even more fun 'cause you can clearly see it. Every time Ms. Garland's lips start trembling, or she covers her mouth with her hand, or turns away from the camera while attempting to carry on a serious discussion about the man she loves turning into an alligator, you know she's just barely succeeded at containing another laughing fit.
The fact that everybody went ahead and made the movie anyway shows what great sports they all were, and that they were having a genuinely fun time making this crazy movie.
Add to that a truly lunatic performance by Lon Chaney, the goofy looking Alligator man itself, a bunch of zombie-like surgical patients who look like they are wearing bathroom urinals on their heads, and you have a genuine cheese-fest of gonzo horror hilarity.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, there is a great scene in the middle where Beverly Garland (who looks extremely sexy) goes running outside, into the swamps, trying to find her monstrous husband. A heavy rainstorm starts. There are several wild animals to snap at her heels and many sharp branches to snag her clothing. In classic pulp story fashion, the pretty girl ends up soaking wet and barefoot, her clothes torn to shreds. Evil old Lon Chaney finds the poor, nubile, drenched thing, and carries her off and attempts to have his way with her. Then of course she is rescued by the scary, half-mutated Alligator Man. Whatta great flick!!!!
Rating:
Summary: DVD Version
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Gonna Hook Me A Gator!
Review: Lon Chaney jr. hates alligators. One of the horrible reptiles ate one of his hands (now replaced by a nifty hook), and Lon's held a grudge ever since! Enter Jane (Beverly Garland), searching for her runaway groom. She ends up in the swamplands of gator-country, where a mad scientist is injecting war vets with alligator serum. Uh-oh! His patients are getting mighty scaly! Jane must face the awful truth about her husband and his involvement in these hideous experiments! She must also face Lon jr! Watch out for that hook! ALLIGATOR PEOPLE is every bit as good as it's title implies. Worth a quick peek on a sleepless night...
Rating:
Summary: Takes you back to the days of the drive-in theatre
Review: Lots of 50's "horror" shows are "comedies" when compared to today's fright flicks. "The Alligator People" is a perfect example. This movie "swamps" you with its plot (a doctor experimenting with alligator serum turns humans into alligator people) and effects (you have to laugh at the alligator costumes). I rate it 4 Stars because it classically fits the mold of the 50's horror, giving it cult appeal. Lon Chaney, minus a hand bitten off by an alligator, tries to take advantage of Beverly Garland. Secrets in the bayous of Louisiana. A cool all-terrain (including bayous) vehicle. Seventy-four minutes of B&W fun! Appropriately included in "Trapped in Paradise", another 20th Century Fox film. Check the flick on the TV behind Nicholas Cage.
Rating:
Summary: Minor Thrills in Gator Country...
Review: 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.
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