52. THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
52. THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
(1954)
Directed by Jack Arnold
Horror culture was alive and well in the 1950's. The advent of television hipped a new generation of disgruntled youngsters to the classic Universal monsters of the 1930's on boob tube horror shows hosted by the likes of Vampira, Zacherly and Ghoulardi. This inspired the first great magazine devoted to silver screen horrors, "Famous Monsters of Filmland" in 1958 and also dozens and dozens of monster related rock 'n roll tunes. But kids needed a new monster of their own and Universal managed to churn out another one with the internationally recognized "Creature From the Black Lagoon". Like the Universal monsters of old this creature could indeed end your life in a painful fashion but was essentially a sympathetic figure. Think about it. He'd been living in this peaceful lagoon minding his own business when in steams a ship of nosey scientists who discover his existence and try to capture him. On the ship is a beautiful woman and the creature, showing his romantic side, falls in love with her. Too far down the evolutionary scale to mount any sophisticated type of courting he does what lizard men will do and just carries her off. Folks have pointed out that this is really just the King Kong story with the gill man replacing the big ape but it's a tragic tale that bears repeating. Monsters are never lucky in love. Of course the creature suit, though innovative for it's time, is a wee bit dated these days, but I consider this the reigning king of the 50's creature features. The underwater scenes are top notch and must've been breathtaking on a Drive-In screen, especially in it's original 3-D. In true Hollywood fashion sequels were made but none are worth mentioning.
(1954)
Directed by Jack Arnold
Horror culture was alive and well in the 1950's. The advent of television hipped a new generation of disgruntled youngsters to the classic Universal monsters of the 1930's on boob tube horror shows hosted by the likes of Vampira, Zacherly and Ghoulardi. This inspired the first great magazine devoted to silver screen horrors, "Famous Monsters of Filmland" in 1958 and also dozens and dozens of monster related rock 'n roll tunes. But kids needed a new monster of their own and Universal managed to churn out another one with the internationally recognized "Creature From the Black Lagoon". Like the Universal monsters of old this creature could indeed end your life in a painful fashion but was essentially a sympathetic figure. Think about it. He'd been living in this peaceful lagoon minding his own business when in steams a ship of nosey scientists who discover his existence and try to capture him. On the ship is a beautiful woman and the creature, showing his romantic side, falls in love with her. Too far down the evolutionary scale to mount any sophisticated type of courting he does what lizard men will do and just carries her off. Folks have pointed out that this is really just the King Kong story with the gill man replacing the big ape but it's a tragic tale that bears repeating. Monsters are never lucky in love. Of course the creature suit, though innovative for it's time, is a wee bit dated these days, but I consider this the reigning king of the 50's creature features. The underwater scenes are top notch and must've been breathtaking on a Drive-In screen, especially in it's original 3-D. In true Hollywood fashion sequels were made but none are worth mentioning.
posted by scottra at 12:00 AM
2 Comments:
It is also possible MR. Refund, that the Gil Man was a highly sophisticated cat who was reduced to a savage beast when in the presence of the stunning Julie Adams.
That broad was amazing, and I fear that my only recourse would be to carry her off kicking and screaming to my lair as well...
Every frame of Creature is a treat to me, and I have to disagree, for me the suit still is 100% effective. I am still amazed to this day that they where able to capture such sophisticated wonderful underwater shots without giving away the secrets with bulky tanks hidden under the latex.
The Gil Man ranks right there with Frankey as my all time favorite creature design. Every repeated veiwing never fails to bring out the Monster Kid in me.
A rough but fun copy of CFTBL in 3-D fell into my hands this past summer, I'll have to be sure it falls into yours as well.
There really is something about this movie. One comment I made when typing up this original list I would now like to take back. The second movie, "Revenge of the Creature", is actually quite entertaining. For those who haven't seen it, the Creature gets captured and then, gulp, gets taken to Florida where he escapes his bondage and terrorizes beach people (and Lord knows beach people should be terrorized). If you like this sort of scenerio be sure to track down Del Tenney's rockin' "The Horror of Party Beach". You'll be lucky if you can ever fall asleep again...
Post a Comment
<< Home