THE FLY was a big hit for 20th Century Fox in 1958, so it was natural that they'd follow it up with more CinemaScope science-fiction; in this case, the low budget and black and white film THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE, directed by Roy Del Ruth (PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE). Beverly Garland was already a staple in B-grade monster pics, appearing in everything from 1953's THE NEANDERTHAL MAN to Roger Corman's IT CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956), and here, she's perfectly cast as the heroine. The film's other big genre star is Lon Chaney, who by this time in his career was physically disheveled and mostly seen as the cantankerous heavy in supporting parts, as his leading man status was way behind him.

Nurse Jane Marvin (Beverly Garland, THE MAD ROOM), reveals under hypnosis that her real name is Joyce Webster and tells an incredible story as the film unfold in flashback. On honeymoon with her husband — war veteran Paul Webster (Richard Crane, HOUSE OF THE DAMNED) — a telegram is received, causing him to walk off their train and disappear. She eventually tracks him down to a plantation mansion in the Bayou swamps and is not welcomed by the owner, Mrs. Lavinia Hawthorne (Frieda Inescort, RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE), who claims she never heard of Paul Webster. Joyce insists on staying, and soon discovers her hubby looking leathery and scale-faced as he creeps around the mansion and its swamps in a trenchcoat. It seems that Paul was the victim of a nasty plane crash and ended up being burnt with a body full of broken bones. Trying to prompt a full recovery, a scientist experimented on him using a special regenerative formula extracted from alligators, but unfortunately, the results are transforming him into a reptile.

Scripted by B-movie mainstay Orville H. Hampton (RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP), THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE is very slow moving and its basic storyline of a scientist's failed experiment and the man trying to hide the hideous result from his beloved wife was used in the aforementioned THE FLY the previous year (this actually played on a double bill with that film’s immediate sequel: THE RETURN OF THE FLY). Although the make-ups on the lizard-skinned victims (the early work of the brilliant Dick Smith) are effective, the full-fledged "alligator man" looks ridiculous, especially when wrestling a real gator. The film does have a nice mood to it, as it's set amongst a gothic Americana of Louisiana's dingy swamplands, inhabited by gators and snakes. With his unconvincing hook hand (the result of a gator attack), Lon Chaney is an absolute riot as gator-loathing Manon. Living in a shack and making a hobby out of shooting reptiles, he's constantly drunk and even tries to rape Joyce — when that doesn't work, he gives her a left hook! Chaney's shouting of "I'll kill you Alligator Man, just like I kill any four-legged gator" has gone down in infamy with fans and is featured in the trailer. Character great George Macready (THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA) also stars as the good-intending scientist responsible for the mess (he's dressed like Colonel Sanders and has a trio of male nurses garbed in matching white t-shirts and slacks!) and former 1930s Tarzan Bruce Bennett (who passed away in 2007 at the age of 100!) gets high billing, but is only seen briefly as a doctor analyzing Joyce's hypnosis.

THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE was previously only available in unwatchable pan and scan versions that many monster movie fans have suffered through over the years until Fox finally released a proper widescreen DVD in 2004. With the film recently made available on Blu-ray in the U.K. and Germany, Scream Factory has now licensed it from Fox for its domestic Blu-ray premiere. It’s presented here in 1080p HD in its original 2.35:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio. Aside from some very minor speckling on the print source, this is clean and beautiful transfer. The black and white image looks crisp and well-detailed, with both the white levels being impressive and black levels being deep, and there is excellent separation of shades. The English audio comes in an fine DTS Master Audio 2.0 track, playable in either mono or stereo, and optional English subtitles are provided.