Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

This famous Universal picture features the giant gill man, who has risen in infamy to take his place with the Wolf Man, Dracula, and Frankenstein's monster.

On a dig in the Amazon, Dr. Maia (Antonio Moreno) discovers the fossilized skeletal remains of a hand that has webbed fingers. He takes it back to a biological institute, where hunky doctors David Reed (Richard Carlson) and Mark Williams (Richard Denning) await. Reed is the good guy, but Williams runs the institute and is out for fame and fortune, Mother Earth be damned. Accompanied by Carlson's girlfriend Kay (Julie Adams), the group return to the site in a rust bucket of a boat. Someone or something has killed the natives left to guard the site. The group puts a strange theory together that the rest of the fossil must have been washed down to a local lagoon, called the Black Lagoon. Kay thinks it should be called "The Beautiful Lagoon" when they arrive- thanks, Kay, go lie down. As Carlson and Denning put on aqua lungs and bicker, we see a strange creature in the water, a half man and half fish. The creature starts offing some of the boat's native crew. The film then falls into an unfortunate routine: the burly men come up with a plan, gill man outsmarts them and kills or maims somebody, burly men come up with new plan, etc. Toss in Reed and Williams fighting worse than George Jefferson and Flo, and you have a cult horror sci-fi flick.

Some of the stuff here is silly. Adams' only role seems to be to look cute in a one piece and scream every time the stealth-like gill man gets on the boat, which is often. Denning and Carlson's arguing grates. At one point, to flush out the gill man, they poison the entire lagoon with a drug that renders aquatic life paralyzed for an hour or two! The gill man is shot twice with a harpoon yet still manages to live through it all. On the positive, the gill man's makeup is awesome. The suit is totally believable, and the effect is creepy. The suit seems pliable enough that the actor encased inside can still move around, and he gets involved in the action. James C. Havens directed the underwater sequences and did a great job. The shots are crystal clear, and even a silt-filled fight between the creature and Williams comes off well. Director Arnold does well on dry land, turning the lagoon into a claustrophobic trap when the creature blocks the exit with a dead tree. Arnold seamlessly blends studio shots with location filming.

All things considered, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" is not a bad film, but no classic. It is scarier and more entertaining than ninety percent of the horror and science fiction films that have come out since the mid 1950's. For nostalgia, you cannot beat it. Followed by sequels.

Stats:
(1954) 79 min. (6/10)
-Directed by Jack Arnold
-Screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur A. Ross, Story by Maurice Zimm
-Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell, Bernie Gozier, Henry A. Escalante, Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, Art Gilmore, Perry Lopez, Sydney Mason
(G)