Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection)

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1. Ryan Costantino

   October 23, 2010 at 1:23 pm

   Review by Ryan Costantino for Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection)
   Rating:
   No matter how many times you see this movie it always seems fresh and original. Probably because when it was released it was! The Creature is one of the top 10 Movie monsters of all time. The scientific approach of this movie is today, laughable, but in its day it was a bold move to make evolutionary biology integral to a film’s plot. The early glimpses of the Creature allow for a buildup of suspense. Throughout the enitre film you feel that the Creature is the victim, even after its killed and mutilated. Equally important is Julia Adams whose white bathing suit must have been quite scandalous in 1954! And I wouldn’t be giving her her due if I didn’t say that in her day she was a knockout! The exploratory scene invovling the Creature and Julia Adams where the Creature tries to figure out what Adams is by first swimming stroke for stroke underneath her and then touching her feet is CLASSIC! The Creature is great, the violence done artfully, drawing on the imagination’s idea of what happened, a quick glimpse of a clenched hand in rigor mortis, a fishing net torn to pieces as the ship is rocked back and forth from below…A must have film for any Horror fan! “I’ll get the aqualung”!

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2. Bill W. Dalton

   October 23, 2010 at 12:48 pm

   Review by Bill W. Dalton for Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection)
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   This is the movie that gave us the phrase “man-in-a-rubber-suit” to describe the monster/alien/creature/whatever in the horror and science fiction films that followed it. And it actually was a suit made of foam rubber, then still a new product, that made the Creature so effectively scary. I saw this movie upon its initial release, in awesome 3-D, and it was a chilling thrill ride! I had never seen the 3-D process better presented and I had never seen anything like the Creature before! This classic is one of my top ten movies of all time in its genre.Film historian Tom Weaver provides a fascinating commentary on the movie. He describes the origin of the ides for the creature, points out some of the gaffs in the movie (such as the telephone pole in the background of the lagoon, the creature’s little pinky claw bending like the rubber it is, the distinct wet footprints of the creature on the deck of the Rita while it’s been previously shown that the creature never took foot steps; he slid his big feet on the deck!) but none of these flaws, and many others, make the film any less fun!There are cast and crew interviews with Julie Adams, Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, and others, that are interesting and informative. The production notes and still photos, scene index, several different versions of the theatrical trailers, biographies, etc., are very well done. The menus are easy to read and use. All in all, this is an outstanding DVD, and every fan of the Creature and of the `50s horror/sci-fi genre will enjoy it!

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3. Simon Davis

   October 23, 2010 at 12:04 pm

   Review by Simon Davis for Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection)
   Rating:
   “Creature From The Black Lagoon” would have to go down as one of the classic titles of the 1950’s horror/Sci Fi genre. Too often dismissed as drive-in fodder, this film is a real classic and is a film which grows more on me with each screening. Indeed I find more to like about this production all the time. It’s enduring popularity is a great testimony to its excellent production values, good acting, intelligent storyline, and the real claustrophobic atmosphere it engenders.”Creature” also boosts one of the most memorable of Universal’s great gallery of classic monsters in the form of the Gillman superbly realised by the genius of designer Bud Westmore. Coming quite late in the long tradition of Universal monsters the Gillman is right up there with such memorable creations as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Wolfman. He was to return to the screen in two sequels “Revenge Of The Creature” and “The Creature Walks Among Us” however it is for this original effort that he is justly remembered. The story in reality is a simple one. A rare find of a clawed hand that has no relationship with any known link in evolution is unearthed during an excavation in the Amazon jungle. The possibilty of a sensational find prompts a group of scientists to set out on a expedition to find the rest of its body only to discover themselves having to deal with a live ancestor of this fossil in the form of a strange underwater Gillmam. Much to their distress they find themselves trapped in the eerie and mysterious Black Lagoon having to literally fight for their lives against this creature who is not only aggressive towards those that disturb his Amazion shelter but begins killing off the expedition team one by one. He also takes a shine to the only female member of the expedition (Julia Adams) and proceeds to kidnap her and take her down into his underwater cavern. The end result of this is that not only is the Gillman captured and then escapes but he manages to elude his unwelcome guests and disappear into the swamp without trace.The production boosts a first rate cast for its kind and has the services of veteran latin actor Antonio Moreno in the role of Dr. Maia who originally finds the fossil and is responsible for the expedition being formed to find the rest of it. The main focus of the story is on the three way relationship between the characters played by Richard Carlson (veteran of many 1950’s Sci Fi efforts) Julie Adams and Richard Denning. The conflict situation between these three, Carlson wanting to protect the strange creature and Denning wanting to capture it and make money for the research institute from it, is very effectively done and as the crisis situation with the Gillman reaches its climax the sparks between them make for a very well crafted and realistic situation. Julie Adams, the love interest of the piece is perhaps best known for this role and her very memorable swimming sequence photographed by second unit camera man James C. Havens is magnificently done with the Gillman hovering just under Miss Adams in the shots with a strange combination of playfulness and menace. These scenes are probably the most famous from the film and indeed all the extensive underwater photography is excellent.The overall look of “Creature From The Black lagoon” is really unforgettable and the suit worn by the Gillman is excellent and by far the best of its kind in all the “creature features” of the 1950’s. It looks realistic and like a real prehistoric skin and adds tremendously to the overall creepy appearance of the Gillman. Veteran director Jack Arnold who was a talented director of some of the best Sci Fi efforts of the 1950’s guides here with a sure hand and the tight closed in set of the mysterious lagoon combined with shots of the causeways of the real Amazon basin used here, give the film a real feeling of isolation and fear with the monster always lurking nearby ready to attack. Indeed the atmosphere of the lagoon goes a long way to instilling the terror into this story.I personally love these 1950’s horror and Sci Fi efforts and “Creature From The Black Lagoon” is one of the very best and is a personal favourite of mine. Its story when produced was an original one and the acting is undertaken with a seriousness about the material that places it above most of the other efforts of this period. For a thrilling piece of entertainment with a classic icon of horror cinema on display you can’t go past “Creature From The Black Lagoon” for a great viewing experience.

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