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MOVIES THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE
I had been waiting to see this for a long time. Way back when I started watching bad horror movies addictively. That's because its trailer was featured in the compilation movie Horrible Horror, and the Alligator person costume was hysterical. I finally got my hands on a copy, and it didn't disappoint. A newlywed couple is on a train, and the husband has a confession to make to his wife, when he gets interrupted by a telegram and hurriedly runs away, leaving his new wife no explanation. Since then, she's been tracking him down all over the country. One tip leads her to the Bayou of Louisiana. The plantation called Cypresses was shown as his residence on his college records. However, when she finally does get there (with the help of a hook-handed drunk played by Chaney), she finds that it is a dead end. Or is it? Something is very suspicious about this place... could it be the Alligator People??? So it turns out that the doctor is using serum extracted from alligators to help humans heal from horrible wounds. Her husband was one of his guinea pigs after his plane crash. The serum worked fine on healing wounds, but it came with hideous side effects - the subject slowly becomes more and more like a gator. This is a poorly made movie, but it provides the laughs (unintentional, of course). Lon Chaney is always adjusting his hook (which is obviously over his hand). The wife is running through the swamp, in the rain, in high heels! The dialogue is horrendous, as are most of the deliveries. Beverly Garland (the wife) is the only one who did a decent job. Chaney gives one of his worst performances here as the gator-hating drunk Cajun without the accent. It all is worthwhile, though, once you see the fully realized Alligator man! He's ferocious! He's cold blooded! He wears khakis! See him wrestle a real-life alligator (and realize how horrible his alligator-skin really looks!) See him break his wife's heart! This, and much more in ... The Alligator People! Quality: 3.0 Visuals:
3.0 Intensity: 4.5 Laughability: 5.0 reviewed
2004
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