Movie Review: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Synopsis: After discovering a fossilized webbed hand that could prove a direct link between land and sea animals, a team of scientists travel by boat up the Amazon to see if they can find more of the skeleton, eventually anchoring in an area referred to as the Black Lagoon. In addition to discovering more of the skeleton, they find something even more impressive, a living specimen of the creature. However, the Gill-man takes an interest in the only female member of their group, putting their lives in danger as they attempt to capture it.
Who's in it? The movie stars Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Mereno and Nestor Paiva.
Review: It has been more than a decade since I took the time to watch Creature from the Black Lagoon and I realized two things - I remembered not liking it all that much but also couldn't remember the reason why. So, since it was too cold and cruddy outside to go for my walk at lunch, I decided to re-watch the movie instead.
When it was all said and done, I concluded the movie was way better than I remembered, though I also was reminded why I like many other classic monster movies better.
I'll start out with the good things. First, Gill-man (Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning) is a reasonably realistic monster. He has the right look and the science to back up his existence.
He's also less than a victim than I remembered. The humans who showed up uninvited in his habitat weren't innocent but also probably wouldn't have known he existed had he not stalked Kay (Adams) and was carrying out plenty of unprovoked attacks. It didn't necessarily make me root for the protagonists who could have just left with photographic and fossil evidence rather than sticking around, but I wouldn't describe them as the bad guys either.
My biggest complaint about this movie, and one of the reasons I wasn't a fan of it before, is there is a lot of filler. The 78-minute movie could have easily cut out most of the first 15 minutes and started with them on the boat. Plus, the diving scenes and swimming scenes seemed dragged out (though Gill-man swimming with Kay was admittedly one of the best scenes).
I also kind of wish they would have just left out Gill-man's obsession with Kay. I mean, she's an attractive woman and everything, but she is human and while he walks on two legs, he is more fish than man, so I don't know what the plan was there. Maybe he was just interested in her because the men in her group liked to leave her all by herself.
Final Opinion: OK, after re-watching the movie with fresh eyes and an open mind, I am willing to admit this film deserves its description as a monster movie classic. There are still a few things I would have changed about it, but it is a film I would recommend taking the time to watch if you haven't seen it.
My Grade: B+
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Here are some reviews of other classic monster movies:
Movie Review: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Movie Review: The Giant Behemoth (1959)
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