Beverly Garland, Bill Bradley, Bruce Bennett

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 ...( read more  read more... )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

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27% liked it

1,043 ratings

Unrated

Directed by: Roy Del Ruth

Release Date: January 1, 1959

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DVD Release Date: September 7, 2004

Stats: 42 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (42)


  • April 30, 2009
    Two and a half stars based entirely on it's sheer camp [kamp] factor. Cheesy fun that might scare the youngest among us. (Did I just say "youngest among us"?!)
  • May 6, 2009
    Goodday My Dear Friend.
    I am Mrs Nita Negranza. A citizen of Philippines.i have something important i want you to handle, pleuse get back for more Details. thru my private email is negranzaa@yahoo.com.ph
    Thanks God bless
    Mrs Nita.
  • October 1, 2008
    hummmm! isn't it funny or real zombie that man!!!
  • April 15, 2007
    Saw this back in the day when the Sci-Fi Channel still played stuff worth watching. It's bad, really bad but a must for anyone who likes b movies.
  • September 1, 2006
    so far theres been bird ppl, snake ppl, mushroom ppl, cat ppl, puppet ppl, slime ppl, winter people, crazy people and now alligator ppl, wat next
  • May 28, 2006
    Decent 50's horror outting, but the ending doesn't pay off.

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