THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE (1959)
I didn't recognize her, but Beverly Garland also starred in 1957's Not of This Earth. Man, she is the cat's pajamas. Sorry, I think I started in the middle of this review. Let me back up a bit. The Alligator People is a hard film to describe. The story is relayed via narration. An amnesiac nurse (that would be Garland as Jane) is sent on a sodium pentothal trip to recover repressed memories. Her psychiatrists decide later that these memories are better left repressed. What does she divulge while under psychoactive hypnosis? I don't want to reveal too much. This flick functions as a mystery, and part of the fun is stumbling upon plot twists along with the main characters. I guess I can tell you that alligators are involved. That much is obvious. The less obvious stuff has to do with a secluded plantation, a radioactive cobalt ray, and gratuitous limb regeneration. Oh, and Lon Chaney Jr. as a hook-handed drunkard who hates alligators as much as I hate paragraph breaks.
I need to rave more about Beverly Garland. She anchors The Alligator People. That's not to say that the other cast members aren't up to snuff. They are, especially Chaney. It's strange to fathom that he was only a handful of roles away from his last, as he's certainly spirited here. Pun intended? You be the judge. I highly recommend this one, mainly because there is a payoff. You want to see a gator dude run around the wetlands of Louisiana, and that's precisely what the film offers. Are the make-up effects silly? Yes. And they are magnificent. Ironically, I was reminded of The Fly. Fox distributed The Alligator People on a double bill with Return of the Fly. Who do we have to petition to bring back double bills, preferably at drive-in theaters? No, Barbie and Oppenheimer don't count.
No comments:
Post a Comment