Alligator People [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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.

'The Alligator People' is a film rarely seen in the UK - for most of us, our only familiarity with it is a single still reproduced in Dennis Gifford's 1973 book 'A Pictorial History of Horror Movies', which was the most frequently reprinted chronology of the genre in the UK (staying in print up until the mid eighties at least). In short, if you've ever seen the famous 'Star Trek' episode entitled "Arena" (which features James T. Kirk up against a guy in a rubber suit with the head of a carnivorous dinosaur) and loved it, then you'll really get off on 'The Alligator People'.

Although it is relatively obscure, this is not exactly grade Z stuff, but it is solid - if not gold standard - b movie fare. It's short, black and white, competent up to a point and highly amusing. What distinguishes it from truly bad SF/Horror of the same vintage is that it's not a tedious narrative, although it can hardly be called pacy. So if you love the true classics of the era (such as 'Creature From The Black Lagoon', 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' and 'Forbidden Planet'), this won't bore you - you'll have fun with it. Possibly the best comparison is to say it's weaker than 'I Married A Monster From Outer Space', but still worth seeing.

The plot is relatively original and the southern states setting - complete with lots of great shots of the actors wandering about amongst real alligators (how they ended up not being bitten by the reptiles baffles me, but I suspect the 'gators who star in the film lived on an alligator farm - which is a bit upsetting and sad - as they seem to be used to people toddling around in their saurian midst) - reminds me of those sultry dramas Tennessee Williams used to write, But while he was big on things like homosexuality and cannabalism, this movie sticks to radical medical experimentation instead. But I won't tell you the plot...

If you're a fan of classic silver age Marvel comics, I think you'll probably agree with me that there's a strong probability that Stan Lee saw this film, as the central 'scientific' idea behind the action of the movie crops up in early issues of Spider-Man that featured a supervillain called The Lizard. In fact, if and when The Lizard makes his debut in a future spidey film (his alter ego, Dr Curt Connors, has already appeared in the Raimi/Maguire spider-man flicks), I have no doubt that the mis-en-scene will be very similar to 'The Alligator People'.

Overall, the picture on the DVD is good, nice clear black and white. Lon Chaney Jnr only overacts a bit and as ever makes me wonder why such a corpulent guy was ever considered to be the right sort of build for horror roles (he's neither very tall and broad or cadaverous, both ideal body shapes for the genre)...oh yeah, he luckily inherited his dad's kudos, when by comparison he was a non-starter. The other actors are workmanlike to very good, with the southern matriarch's accent noticably slipping from time to time while the female lead projects authentically despite the absurdity of the storyline. Extras include a superb trailer which encapsulates the film brilliantly (and yes, it's loaded with marvellous melodramatic spoilers). The trailer also features footage not in the film, showing the Alligator Man lurching about iconically in the swampy forest (source of that still I referred to above). Magic!

Will it make you laugh? Yes, of course, but not in a 'so bad it's good' way, but in a nostalgic 'they don't make 'em with such charm these days' manner, which is very welcome.

I've always known about this film, but never seen it before purchasing this DVD. First things first.. An excellent Anamorphic widescreen scope transfer, mint condition, sound and picture, and a price anyone can afford. There are even a couple of trailers thrown in for other Fox Horrors. I have to be frank, I loved this awful film. The story/plot is bonkers (It's covered well by the 2 other excellent reviews by by S.Andrews and D. McGillivray (any relation to David?). The acting very variable, from the terrible by Frieda Inescort, to the dull by Bruce Bennett and Doug Kennedy (2 days work, boys?), to the professional as always George Macready ("Do I have to do this"?), and the wonderful OTT dirty, lecherous, violent Lon Chaney Jnr. Oh...Beverley Garland! Yes, one of my favourite "B" actresses in the lead top billed role. She does her best with the script and her scenes in the nightime rainswept swamp are pretty powerful. Some halfway decent shocks and pacey direction from Roy Del Ruth, and the clear print make this potential turkey fun to watch. Don't analyse...Enjoy.