The Alligator People (1959)

Who's In It: Beverly Garland (My Three Sons, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Bruce Bennett (The New Adventures of Tarzan), Lon Chaney Jr (The New Adventures of the Wolf Man; just kidding), George Macready (Tarzan's Peril), and Richard Crane (Rocky Jones: Space Ranger)

What It's About: A newlywed woman (Garland) searches for her husband (Crane) who disappeared on their honeymoon, tracking him to a gothic mansion in a remote swamp where terrible experiments are being performed.

How It Is: The Alligator People is a strong mystery in a cool setting. A lot of the acting and characters aren't especially memorable, but Garland is quite good as the tenacious woman relentlessly searching for her missing husband. And Lon Chaney Jr is effective as an unpredictable, gator-hating Cajun. The gator-people makeup is effective too and even sort of terrifying. I suspect that some will find the final transformation silly, but I like it a lot.

The only thing I don't care for in the film is the weird and unnecessary framing sequence in which Garland has repressed her memories of the swamp and even has a new name. That raises a lot of questions that the movie doesn't care to answer and also reduces the tension in the main story, because we know how her story ends. But I do like that the framing sequence features Bruce Bennett as one of the doctors examining Garland's character. As Herman Brix, he played one of my favorite film Tarzans.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 scaly spouses.

Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

Who's in it?: Ken Clark (South Pacific); Yvette Vickers (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman); Jan Shepard (a couple of Elvis movies: King Creole and Paradise, Hawaiian Style); Michael Emmet (Night of the Blood Beast); Tyler McVey (Night of the Blood Beast); Bruno VeSota (Dementia)

What's it about?: Giant leeches. Attacking.

How is it?: Pretty uninspired for the most part. The main characters are a game warden (Clark), his girlfriend (Shepard), and her scientist father (McVey) who are investigating a report of strange animals attacking a poacher in the Everglades. The warden and scientist do most of the investigating; their girlfriend/daughter mostly makes sandwiches and takes daddy's side over a plan to dynamite the swamp  in order to destroy the unseen creatures. She's a horrible character not because she sides with her father, but because she's never allowed to express why she does. She comes across as nothing more than Daddy's Girl, so I lost all interest in whether or not Clark could repair his relationship with her.

As far as the two men go, though, their argument's one of the high points in the movie. It's not just a single conversation, but an ongoing discussion about ecology that goes through the whole story. Clark feels his main responsibility is to the environment; McVey is mostly concerned with saving human lives. Each man respects the other's opinion, but doesn't waver in his own convictions. I love stories that present both sides of a conflict equally well so that I have to think about which side I support.

A second thing to like about the movie is a subplot around a local business owner (VeSota), his wife (Vickers), and one of his customers/friends (Emmet). VeSota is a big, fat guy who wants to look tough in front of his pals, but sultry Vickers is bored with swamp life and resents her husband for keeping her there. She spends most of her time playing loud music in the bedroom in the back of VeSota's store and inspiring lust in his customers, especially Emmet. There's a steamy, Southern gothic feel to this part of the plot and it gets extra interesting when Vickers and Emmet go missing. The audience knows whether VeSota or the giant leeches are responsible, but the authorities (who mostly disbelieve the poacher's report) don't.

The last good thing I'll say about Attack of the Giant Leeches is about the completely ridiculous monster suits. They're classic in their badness, which makes them a lot of fun.

If I'm honest though, all of that is me grasping for something to like about the movie. It's mostly just people running around the swamp looking for monsters and occasionally being attacked by them. At only 62 minutes, it's still a little long.

Rating: Okay.

Ocean skyscrapers, Jurassic Park 3D, and other news

People vs Nature: The Fort

• As the climate continues to change and the world gets deadlier for humanity, a couple of Ukranian designers have conceived what they believe to be a structure so sturdy that God himself couldn't sink it. I know I've heard that somewhere before... Bold claims aside, I'd totally live in that place.

People vs Nature: The Swim

• A guy from Texas is planning to swim across the Pacific Ocean, from Tokyo to San Francisco. He's already made it across the Atlantic once.

People vs Nature: The Biopic

• James Cameron is producing a film about "the love between free divers Francisco 'Pipin' Ferraras and his wife Audrey Mestre, and the record-setting attempt that claimed Mestre’s life." Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Green Lantern) will direct.

People vs Nature: The Tour

• If you missed out on that Groupon trip to the Titanic wreck, you can still book a similar trip for regular price. Deep Ocean Expeditions will be happy to take you down to 10,000 feet or deeper. All you need is between $30,000 to $375,000 depending on location. The Titanic costs around $60,000, but you can get to the Bismark later this year for less than $48,000. The most expensive one is called 20,000 Leagues Under the Atlantic and allows tourists to "traverse the North Atlantic basin, picking out an undersea route from Europe to North America."

Remember those photos of the Titanic wreck?

• You can own them (and other cool images from the site) if you get the April issue of National Geographic.

So just what is down there at the bottom of the ocean?

• It's fun to think about, but no one knows. That's why James Cameron is going.

The US Navy wants Robo-Subs

• I mean, who doesn't? But the Navy's likely to get theirs.

Why giant squids have giant eyes

• Atomic surgery explains it and uses Gary Gianni illustrations to help.

Floating islands

• Unfortunately, not that kind. But some scientists think that islands that float on the water may be responsible for the biodiversity on Madagascar.

Speaking of isolated islands

• They don't get more isolated than Tristan da Cunha, roughly equidistant between South America and Africa in the middle of the Atlantic.

Hanging tents

• A company called tentsile has invented a cross between a tent and a hammock "to provide separation from wildlife, including insects, snakes and other predators but also from sand storms, earth tremors, cold or wet ground, debris or contamination." I do most of my camping at the Hyatt, but I still want one.

The River could join Terra Nova at Netflix

• Like with Terra Nova, nothing's signed yet, but Netflix is thinking about it. The River hasn't been officially cancelled at ABC yet, but c'mon. You know it's going to be.

If you want to watch something about a river... 

• I recommend Tarzan and the Great River, and tell you why at Flick Attack. Short version: it's a cross between Tarzan, Bond, The African Queen, and Apocalypse Now.

Tarzan trading cards

• This is going to be a busy year for Tarzan merchandise. Wish we could get a new movie or something though.

Reading List: Becky Cloonan's The Mire

• Know what I love more than comics about decrepit castles in swamps? Nothing.

Jurassic Park 3D

• You knew it was coming. Now you know when: 19 July 2013.

Pass the Comics: Frogman

[Diversions of the Groovy Kind]

Art Show: Too Many Dinosaurs!

The Great Fury



By Ken Kelly. [Illustrateurs]

Space Jungle Girl



By Gene Gonzales.

Jungle Girl



By J Scott Campbell. [Comic Art Community]

Man-Thing



By Tom Fowler. [Comic Twart]

King of the Dinosaurs



By Michael Berenstain. Michael is the son of The Berenstain Bears' Stan and Jan, which is where I sort of got the title of this post. When David was younger, we read a lot of those books to him and noticed that Too Many... or Too Much... was a recurring title formula. It was usually followed by something awesome like TV, junk food, or action figures. I have a feeling that Mama would have found something to disapprove of about T-Rex too. (I'm mostly kidding. While Mama was sort of a buzzkill, we obviously liked those books or wouldn't have read so many of them. And there's evidence that perhaps Mama was tolerant of Brother's dinosaur obsession.) [Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs]

Art Show: Sky Wolf's a lousy tracker

Sea Dragon



By NC Wyeth. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Mermaid



By Kep (though I can't tell if that's the photographer, PhotoShopper, or just the person who uploaded to Allday. [Swing with Shad]

After the break: a forest girl, mammoths, Red Sonja, a belly dancer, Sky Wolf vs the Heap, the Invisible Woman, and Rocket Girl.

The Princess and the Frog

Speaking of New Orleans and capturing its flavor, The Princess and the Frog does a mighty fine job in its Disney sort of way. From the main character's dream of opening a Cajun restaurant to the fairly-tame-but-still-spooky voodoo doctor to the adventures in the firefly-lit swamp, the movie does what Disney is so good at by emphasizing the locale's magical qualities while eliminating the negative aspects.

Even Mardi Gras looks like a fun, family-friendly celebration with all its parades and costumes and no one having to show anything in exchange for beads. Voodoo isn't exactly played up as a positive thing, but there's little blood in the way the Shadow Man practices it or any disturbing trances or mind-control. It's all skull-paint and spooky shadow-creatures; living voodoo dolls and talking masks.

The story itself is pretty good. Tiana is a young girl who's working hard to fulfill her father's (Terrance Howard) dream of opening a fancy restaurant. I appreciated - as I'm sure Disney expected me to - the focus on hard work and doing your part to meet your goals. In contrast to that ideal, Tiana's childhood friend Charlotte is the spoiled - but likable - daughter of John Goodman's character, a wealthy plantation owner (the movie's set in the '20s, so slavery isn't an issue; race-relations in general are never brought up either). Charlotte's never had to work a day in her life and fully believes in wishing upon stars. Tiana's father, on the other hand, always taught her that wishing only gets you so far, a message that Tiana's taken to heart. Unfortunately, she's now in danger of missing out on important things like love and friendship by neglecting to spend time with people. The message of the movie is about balance, and I can get behind that.

Voodoo, frogs, and what didn't work after the break.

Pass the Comics: Eisner Edition

Robot 6 has links to the five webcomics nominated for Eisners this year. The Abominable Charles Christopher is one of them (and also one of my favorite comics - digital or otherwise), but the others I've never read before now.

I still haven't gone through each one completely, but I've read far enough into them to get a feel for the story and whether or not I'll like it. The only one that didn't grab me right away was Power Out, but maybe I didn't give it enough time. Someone let me know if I need to go back and check it out again.

Here are the three new comics I'll be following:

Bayou



Bayou is the story of a young, Black girl growing up in the South when all it took to ruin your life was looking at a White person the wrong way. Though that period of history is important to wrestle with, the reason I'm talking about Bayou on the Adventureblog is that there's also a fantasy angle with wonderful - and horrifying - creatures living in the swamp. I haven't seen yet how they tie in with the social injustice aspects of the story, but I'm anxious to.

Sin Titulo



Sin Titulo doesn't immediately jump into the action, but it gets going very quickly. It's about a young man who learns that his grandfather has passed away in his care facility. While going through his grandfather's things, he finds a picture of a mysterious girl and becomes obsessed with finding out who she is. Things are complicated though when it becomes apparent that some of the facility's staff know more than what they're telling and are actively trying to prevent the grandson from learning more. It's a captivating mystery.

The Guns of Shadow Valley



The Guns of Shadow Valley is a horror western. That - and that it's nicely drawn - is all I really needed to understand about it to know I wanted to keep going, so I haven't dug too deeply. I plan to though, because it does a nice job of pulling you in.

Dracula visits the Planet of the Apes and fights Man-Thing

I apologize for the misleading subject line, but that was my first hope when I saw this cover; before I realized that it wasn't a team-up, but just a British collection of three, unrelated comics. Missed opportunity, guys. BIG missed opportunity.

I found the cover at Panelology, but don't blame him.

The 31 Monsters of Halloween: Swamp Creatures

Adventureblog Gallery: Sharks and Swamp Boats

Shark!



By Leo Morey.

Swamp boat



Concept art from Disney's The Princess and the Frog.