Creature from the Black Lagoon

Rating:
Summary: Creature Feature
Review: If you are truly interested in this film, I suggest you look into the UNIVERSAL LEGACY SERIES CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON DVD set. In addition to the original film, it includes the 2 sequels, fully remastered and with an informative documentary.

The highlight of the 1950's horror scene is the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and its 2 sequels. This creature spooked audiences a good 10 years plus after DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, WOLFMAN and the others, so it is far more intense, although still tame by today's standards.

In CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON We are introduced to the creature, a 300 pound half fish/half man that never evolved fully in one direction or another. It kept to itself until a group of meddling scientists move in on his domain. He is exactly the proof needed by the science crew, but in the end, they are fighting for their lives over the science.

This is a fun film to watch but is still slow moving by today's standards. They are wonderfully preserved and look great. Even the most repetitive movie score I've ever heard sounds brand new.

The only major disappointment is that the CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON was originally shot and released in 3-D, but here presented in 2-D.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest rubber suit in the history of B-monster movies
Review: "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" is certainly a B-movie, but that does not stop it from being a great 1950s monster movie. At the core of this film is one of the coolest "rubber suit" monsters of all time. The creature was the last of the Universal monsters and whereas the rest of the pantheon was getting recycled in monster mashes like "The Ghost of Frankenstein," here was something refreshingly different in several key regards. "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" was set in an entirely different locale. Instead of dealing with castles and haunted houses in Europe we are looking at a boat sailing up the Amazon River. Instead of the monster appearing out of the mist, this one suddenly appears out of the murky water. Think about it: instead of things happening horizontally they are now happening vertically. In the jungle the danger usually comes from above, but this time it appears from below. Because it is a hot day in the steamy Amazonian jungle instead of a cold European night, the damsel in distress gets to wear a simple but compelling white bathing suit.

But even dressed in such attire she is not as compelling as the creature, whose costume was designed by Milicent Patrick. Jack Pierce's legendary makeup for Boris Karloff's monster in "Frankenstein" is still the high water mark for such things and the makeup and costume for "The Mummy" was awesome, but neither of those was a rubber suit like what we have here. This is just a great design of a humanoid creature with major fish-like elements. Ben Chapman was the Gill-Man, as the creature was called, when he was out of water and Ricou Browning for the underwater sequences. Director Jack Arnold took things so seriously that Browning had to hold his breath for up to four minutes during those underwater shots because any bubbles he emitted would not go out through the gills like they would on a real Gill-Man. Plus, cinematographer William E. Snyder gives us excellent shots both above and below the water: this movie knows they have a great suit and they show it off for all it is worth. I mean, come on, Gort is kewl, but that costume is as simplistic as the creature's is complex and it ain't made of rubber, so there.

The story of this 1954 film, which I first saw in a theater decades later in the 3-D format, begins when Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) discovers a fossilized hand with webbing between its fingers. While he returns to civilization to announce his discovery and put together another expedition with American scientists the creature destroys the camp and kills the natives. Returning back up the river are David Reed (Richard Carlson), Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning), Dr. Thompson (Whit Bissell), and the lovely Kay (Julia Adam), who things she is just a scientist who looks good in a bathing suit but who is really just monster bait. Unable to find any more remains at the original location, the group decides that the rest of the fossil must have washed downstream and become convinced that it will conveniently end up in the mysterious Black Lagoon. The native say that no one ever returns from that place, which only has one entrance (someone must have returned if they know that much, but I quibble).

Reed and Williams think they are involved in a love triangle with Kay, but Williams does not have a chance and the creature is Reed's real competition (and the creature is more animated than Reed). The scientists want to get the creature and bring it back alive, but the creature has other ideas and in the grand tradition of pretty much most Universal monster movies the men have to rescue the pretty woman from the poor, misunderstood monster. I know on some level this is just rehashing "King Kong," with several elements presaging "Jaws," but I have no problem taking this story on its own delightful terms.

If you pay attention you can tell what were supposed to be the neat 3-D effects in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," but what you will really be impressed by is the underwater photography, which is actually where this film was rather cutting edge for its day. After the surprising success of the original (it made over $1 million in its original release), a pair of less than stellar sequels were produced, "Revenge of the Creature" in 1955 and "The Creature Walks Among Us" in 1956. But that is true of every Universal movie monster except for the Frankenstein series, where "The Bride of Frankenstein" is actually superior to the original. So just check out this classic black & white monster movie and leave the sequels to gather dust.

Rating:
Summary: Should have included a Field Seqential 3-D version!
Review: Not that many people are aware of the Field Sequential 3-D.
This is a 3-D TV system that uses special shutter glasses that can be purchased here through Amazon in a set that includes 3 DVD's using this process. This system Is the only way to view a 3-D film effectively on TV to date. The result is about 90% close to the effect you will see in a theatre showing.. like IMAX and Disney and Universal.
These glasses are made of sturdy plastic and clear not these cardboard red and blue pieces of garbage, so you can view the film without constricted to seeing red and blue colors and with this system you will see more actual 3-D depth with the films true colors.. It's really amazing!
For some odd reason the big studios haven't adapted to include a separate version of a 3-D title in this great format.
Films like:
"House of Wax","Kiss Me Kate","Friday the 13th Part 3", "Robot Monster, "Cat Woman on the Moon", "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Jaws 3" are all now in 2-D DVD, but were originally shown in 3-D and could have been included using the Field Seqential 3-D system on the same disc with the 2-D version.
In Japan in the late 80's there were a few 3-D titles released using Field Sequential and can be found on e-bay converted to DVD and VHS.
Why aren't the studios producing these now!
I boycott any film DVD release that was originally intended to be seen in 3-D that's only presented in a 2-D version or anaglyph (Red and Blue Glasses).

Since this is out of print maybe we can hope that Universal will wake up and produce a new version containing Field Seqential 3-D!
The studios should really be awaken to this great 3-D system.

Rating:
Summary: Good thing it was made in the 50's
Review: This movie is one of the best horror/scifi/monster movies ever! Its shows how good monster movies could be even after the Golden Age of Universal's horror into the fifties where there were more chessy than classy monsters terrifying audiences. A marine humanoid goes after a human girl for whom he is attrached to. May sound hoaky but this movie is nothing of the sort. If it had been made today, it would proably be another crapfest like "Sabertooth" or "Reptilian" made by the Sci Fi channel. The characters wouldn't be likable (Yeah I think Mark's a jerk) and the Creature would just have no pride. This movie was good enough and the Creature is cool enough to be included alongside Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, the Bride of Frankenstein and the Phantom of the Opera. To stand alongside such a classy work of Gothic art like Dracula or the first two Frankensteins is pretty good. This movie got me into old horror movies. Now I am a classical horror fanatic thanks to this movie. Above are the eight characters I think of when I think of horror