Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video (both):

Audio:

Subtitles:

None

English, none

• Poster

• Reversible Sleeve

DVD

• NEW Audio Commentary With The Monster Party Podcast Featuring James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe, And Matt Weinhold
• Trailer (1:38)
• Gallery (7:33)

Bitrate:

 

Description: A woman in a hypnotic state recounts to two doctors the details of a horrific experience from her past life that began with the mysterious and sudden disappearance of her husband.

***

Newly married nurse Joyce Webster (Beverly Garland) doesn't know what to think when her husband, Paul (Richard Crane), disappears during a train ride. She hires private investigators and eventually tracks him to an old bayou plantation, where the owner (Frieda Inescort) insists she's never heard of Paul. Joyce sticks around anyway and soon learns that local doctor Mark Sinclair (George Macready) has been using a life-altering alligator serum on the town's residents, and that Paul is among them.

 

 

The Film:

Nurse Jane Marvin (Garland), reveals under hypnosis that her real name is Joyce Webster and tells am incredible story as the film unfold in flashback. On honeymoon with her husband, war veteran Paul Webster (Richard Crane), a telegram is received, casuing him to walk off their train and disappear. She eventually tracks him down to a plantation mansion in the Bayou swamps and is unwelcome by the owner, Mrs. Lavinia Hawthorne (Frieda Inescort from RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE), who claims she never heard of Paul Webster.

As the Science Fiction/Horror B-movie cycle of the 1950s went on, they got an unexpected boost from new kinds of film presentation. Though that did improve the already “very basic” screenplays, it gave the filmmakers new room to do the same old things. Roy Del Ruth’s Alligator People (1959) is among a small handful of these films made at 20th Century-Fox and oddly still shot monochrome. This time, a married couple (Beverly Garland and Bruce Bennett) are happily married when he suddenly disappears. From the title, you can imagine he lands up in a “swamp” (now referred to as wetlands and/or rain forests) and is converted into the title species. However, there is more to this than just the dark depths of the unexplored and that includes bayou man Lon Chaney Jr., though some of the dreamlike happening kick in before “roughing it” occurs.

Excerpt from FulVueDrive-In located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Alligator People gets a modest transfer to Blu-ray from 101 Films.  It is single-layered with a lower-end bitrate. The 1080P image is quite pleasing though with solid contrast layering in the original 2.35:1 Cinemascope frame.  It's quite clean with only a few speckles and frame-specific marks. This Blu-ray isn't a max'ed out transfer but fans will find it serviceable, bordering on impressive.

The Shout! Factory IS a max'ed out transfer looks appropriately darker, better contrast and a shade more consistent grain. It does have a few speckles throughout - not unlike the 101 Films 1080P. It edges ahead although many will not be picky about the subtle superiority. It looks fantastic on my system. 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample - Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

1) 101 Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP 2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

1) 101 Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP 2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linear PCM (16-bit) 2.0 channel for the Blu-ray of The Alligator People. There are meager effects. The score is by Irving Gertz (Plunder Road, It Came From Outer Space, Blonde Ice and The Deadly Mantis among others) The high-end exports crisply and there is minor depth noted. No subtitle options and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

The Shout! Factory offers 24-bit mono and stereo DTS-HD Master tracks in the original English (although my software and machine pick the second up as Italian?! - it's not). It again advances against the 101 Films Blu-ray. The Shout! Factory includes optional English subtitles (see sample below) and is a Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.  

Extras :

Nothing except a folded poster in the case, which has a reversible sleeve and there is also a second disc DVD.

Shout! Factory continue their superiority with a new audio commentary with The Monster Party Podcast featuring James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe, And Matt Weinhold having fun and extolling the film's attributes. It's fun. There is also a theatrical trailer and stills gallery with posters and glossies.

101 Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 

Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
The Alligator People has Beverly Garland who we love, and it also has a very cool title, but it remains one of the cheesy of the creature-features - but, for many, this is also a positive. If you are like me and collect 50s + 60s science-fiction / fantasy / creature-feature films on Blu-ray then, this bare-bones effort is one to own. The price isn't unreasonable and it has 1080P and uncompressed audio - plus they try by adding the poster, reversible sleeve and DVD. Love the cover too.

Well, the Shout! Factory is, easily, tops for this wonderful nostalgic creature-feature gem with many a lad's crush, Beverly Garland (The Neanderthal Man, New Orleans Uncensored, The Miami Story, It Conquered the World, Chicago Confidential, Not of This Earth, Twice-Told Tales),. The US Blu-ray is the one to have in your collection!

Gary Tooze

April 22nd, 2017

May 29th, 2019