The Alligator People

Nurse Jane Marvin undergoes sodium pentothal under the care of two psychiatrists, moving her toward a memory that isn't her own. As the drug takes effect, she begins to relive moments from Joyce Webster's life rather than her own. The therapy sets the stage for uncovering a vanished husband and a haunted past.

Joyce and Paul Webster marry and begin a honeymoon. On the honeymoon train, Paul receives a telegram and rushes off to make a phone call, and when the train pulls out, Paul is missing without a word. Joyce begins months of private investigation to locate him.

Joyce employs private detectives and searches for Paul, chasing leads across towns. After months, she lands a crucial clue—the Cypresses Plantation address that Paul had entered on his college enrollment forms. The search intensifies as she tracks this new lead.

Joyce travels to Bayou Landing, Louisiana, to pursue the lead. There she meets Manon, a handyman who agrees to drive her to the plantation. The journey marks a turning point toward the plantation’s unsettling atmosphere.

Joyce introduces herself to Lavinia Hawthorne, the plantation's stern mistress. Lavinia accuses Joyce of lying and tries to have her ousted, but she reluctantly lets Joyce stay the night when she realizes Joyce has no way back. Tension builds around the hidden past.

That night, Joyce hears piano music and goes to investigate. A shadowy figure at the piano turns out to be Paul, mutated and reptilian; when Joyce enters, he flees. The horrifying reveal deepens the mystery of Paul’s fate.

The next morning, Dr. Mark questions Joyce about the strange events. Joyce refuses to leave until Lavinia tells what happened to Paul; Lavinia breaks and confesses that Paul is her son. The truth about Paul’s origin adds a disturbing twist.

Joyce follows Paul into the swamps and is menaced by alligators and a giant snake. Manon rescues her, carrying her to his shack, where he assaults her until she is knocked unconscious. The danger heightens the sense of a cursed family history.

Paul bursts into the scene and fights Manon, ultimately incapacitating him and taking Joyce back to the house. The tense dynamic between Joyce and Paul underscores a fragile hope for reversal and reconciliation.

Back at the house, the maid Lou Ann cares for Joyce while Paul pressures Dr. Mark to administer an untested cobalt treatment to cure his condition. Mark agrees to give him the treatment, driven by a mix of science and desperation.

The next morning, Mark explains his experiments with reptilian hormones designed to regenerate limbs. He reveals Paul was badly mangled in a plane crash, and after receiving the serum, patients began to develop reptilian traits. The ethical boundaries of science are foregrounded in the horror.

Joyce insists on being present when the cobalt treatment is administered. She confronts Paul at the clinic, where he feels ashamed but is steadied by her love. The emotional tension culminates in a dangerous confrontation with the transformation looming ahead.

Manon bursts into the lab and destroys the control panel. The cobalt rays unleash the transformation, turning Paul into a bipedal reptilian monster. In the chaos, Manon is electrocuted and Paul’s voice is replaced by a reptilian snarl.

The machine shorts out and self-destructs the laboratory. Paul staggers away from Joyce and plunges into quicksand, sinking from sight as she screams in horror. The moment seals the fate of the afflicted husband.

Back in the present, the psychiatrists review the tapes of Joyce's ordeal. They conclude that her amnesia allowed her to suppress the horror and resume a normal life, choosing not to tell her about her past. The memory remains locked away from Joyce, shaping her ongoing life.