Science Fiction
Horror
Mystery
Under therapeutic hypnosis, a seemingly well-adjusted young woman tells a fantastic story, verified by lie detector, of her forgotten marriage to a man who disappeared on the day of their honeymoon, and of her search for him which takes her to a lonely mansion in a remote section of swampland tenanted by snakes, alligators, a drunken one-armed lout, a mysterious doctor, and a cold-hearted elderly woman who lives alone in a brooding manse.
Directors
Beverly Garland
Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin
Bruce Bennett
Dr. Eric Lorimer
Lon Chaney Jr.
Manon
George Macready
Dr. Mark Sinclair
Frieda Inescort
Mrs. Lavinia Hawthorne
Richard Crane
Paul Webster
Douglas Kennedy
Dr. Wayne McGregor
Bill Bradley
Patient 'Number Six' (uncredited)
Hal K. Dawson
Conductor
Dudley Dickerson
Porter
John Frederick
1st Male Nurse (uncredited)
Ruby Goodwin
Louann
Ken Kane
Third Male Nurse (uncredited)
Boyd Stockman
Alligator-headed Paul
Lee Warren
2nd Male Nurse (uncredited)
Directors
More like this
User reviews2
Review
Featured review
_**Deep in the Louisiana bog is a cryptic estate with reptilian secrets**_
A woman (Beverly Garland) seeks her missing husband (Richard Crane) deep in the bayous of Cajun Country. She ends up at a mysterious plantation with an unfriendly host, a questionable doctor (Bruce Bennett) and a crazy man with a hook-hand living in the swamp (Lon Chaney Jr.).
"The Alligator People" (1959) is a B&W horror/tragedy that starts with Southern Gothic meshed with the set-up of Dracula (a stranger stays overnight at an ominous secluded abode) and builds on that with elements of Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau.
While this was shot in Los Angeles, the filmmakers do a good job of making it seem like the swampy backwoods of Louisiana with the B&W photography helping in the illusion.
Lon Chaney Jr.’s cracked character is a highlight, an accident waiting to happen. Sure, the special effects leave something to be desired, but you know that going in. It helps that the cast take the proceedings seriously and the live alligators are a plus.
The film runs 1 hour, 14 minutes, and was shot at 20th Century Fox Studios, Century City, California.
GRADE: B-
Wuchak20 Feb, 2022
Top picks
TV shows and movies just for you
Box office
Budget
$300,000Gross worldwide
$0