The Alligator People is a 1959 sci-fi horror film about a woman in a hypnotic state who recounts a terrifying experience from her past life that began with her husband’s mysterious and sudden disappearance.
Directed by Roy Del Ruth (The Terror; Phantom of the Rue Morgue) from a screenplay by Robert M. Fresco, Orville H. Hampton and Charles O’Neal. The 1952 Bridey Murphy media sensation presumably influenced the hypnotic regression plot element.
The movie stars Beverly Garland, Bruce Bennett, Lon Chaney Jr and George Macready.
The Associated Producers film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Scream Factory released The Alligator People on Blu-ray on May 28, 2019.
Plot:
Suffering from amnesia, nurse Jane Marvin (Beverly Garland) undergoes sodium pentathol treatment to try to regain memories of her past and then recounts the events she has forgotten. She had married a man named Paul Webster (Richard Crane), and her name had been Jane Webster. While on their honeymoon, Paul got off the train and vanished.
After a private detective fails to find him, Jane discovers an address in the Louisiana bayous. But she is told by the owner, Lavinia (Frieda Inescort) that no one named Paul Webster has ever lived there. Due to the lateness of the hour, Jane has to spend the night. Later she follows the sound of piano music, but the man playing runs away before she can see him.
The next morning, Lavinia confesses that Paul is her son; later, Jane meets Doctor Mark Sinclair (George Macready), who explains that years earlier, Paul had been badly disfigured in a plane accident, and Doctor Sinclair had treated him and several others with a serum of reptilian hormones in hopes of regenerating his limbs. This treatment had the unfortunate and unanticipated side-effect of slowly turning the recipients into reptiles…
Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Buy The Alligator People + The Cabinet of Caligari + The Fly + House of the Damned on DVD from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube:
Cast and characters:
Beverly Garland … Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin
Bruce Bennett … Doctor Eric Lorimer
Lon Chaney Jr … Manon
George Macready … Doctor Mark Sinclair
Frieda Inescort … Mrs Lavinia Hawthorne, Henry’s Wife
Richard Crane … Paul Webster
Douglas Kennedy … Doctor Wayne MacGregor
External recommended reviews:
Exclamation Mark
1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
Horror Movie a Day
Rock! Shock! Pop!
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