Theatrical Poster
One of the original “guy in a suit” creature features, Creature from the Black Lagoon rightfully holds a very important place in the pantheon of Universal Monsters. It is a fascinating mix of science fiction and horror that would be further explored in many of the drive-in classics that were to come in the next few decades. It was also a film that would put its mark on low budget film making for generations. Its influence can be seen in everything from the movies of Roger Corman right up to Jason from Friday the 13th, and his lumbering stagger toward the hapless victim.
The story is pretty simple. Dr. Thompson (Whit Bissell) finds a fascinating fossil that looks like a human hand with webbing between the fingers. Taking it back to the university that he works for he gets funding for an expedition back up the Amazon to excavate the rest of the skeleton, in the hopes of unearthing the fossils of a new species of creature. When the expedition arrives at camp they find Dr. Thompson’s helpers slain and the camp in shambles, being the scientists that they are they move on with their research in spite of the setback.
Unable to find the rest of the remains ichthyologist David Reed (Richard Carlson) lets everyone know that he thinks a part of the rock face they are working on may have been wash away and that the remains they are looking for may have made their way to where the tributary of the river dead ends. Their guide lets them know that there is such a dead end, called Black Lagoon. Mark (Richard Denning) is the money behind the trip and goes along with David’s theory and the group is on their way to the Black Lagoon.
The two scientists dive below the surface looking for rocks that might date to the same time period as the fossils that they are trying to find and pique the interest of the “Gill-Man (Ricou Browning when he’s in the water and Den Chapman when he’s out of the water).” Not quite as much as Kay (Julie Adams) does when she goes swimming a bit later. Quickly the story turns into a battle of wills between David, the scientist who wants to take the Gill-Man alive to study him, and Mark who would rather kill Gill-Man and have his put in a museum. Needless to say Mark ends up shooting Gill-Man with a spear gun and the creature goes on a rampage.
This is an iconic piece of film and Universal does it justice on the Legacy Collection edition. The transfer is phenomenal for a film made in 1954, which is especially evident in the underwater shots. I can’t imagine that when this film was made it was really something to behold, and honestly it stands the test of time. There are moments when the film is dark and bizarre and just the way all good sci-fi horror should be.
Unfortunately like most of the Legacy Collection they went for quantity of films of quality of special features. Though it is really cool to have copies of Revenge of the Creature, and The Creature Walks Among Us, in the same collection, I would have loved to have had more in the way of featurettes concerning the creature’s design and the production of the film. What we do get is a trailer (which in my opinion is quickly sinking to the level of “Animated Menus” as far as a special feature) some production stills and posters and a commentary track with a film historian, which like the commentary on Bride of Frankenstein is interesting, but a little stale.
Jack Arnold the director went on to make some other pretty great b-movie fare, including the lackluster sequel Revenge of the Creature, This Island Earth, Monster on Campus and Tarantula. This movie is well worth the time and it deserves its place in the cannon of horror classics. I guess I just wish that the Legacy Collection DVDs had a little more meat to them.
