9. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Dir: Jack Arnold
Cast: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno
Now I often given this film a pretty hard time. I think it's cheesy, melodramatic and somewhat dry, but you just can't deny it's importance in the genre and for it's showcase of another classic Universal Monster.
Directed by veteran horror/sci-fi director Jack Arnold, this 50s Universal monster movie made quite a splash scaring audiences back in 1954 due do it's terrifying title creature known as "The Creature" or sometimes "Gill Man". With a fantastically crafted monster suit I guess this film didn't need much else to win over the heart's of horror fans.
Set in the Amazon this film tells the story of a group expedition looking for a supposed "missing link" after an unidentifiable skeletal hand is discovered. Sailing aboard a tramp steamer, the group discovers the remains of an earlier research team and soon enough fall prey to the clutches of the lagoon's creepiest inhabitant "The Creature".
Now as cheesy or so-so as I may say this film is, I think a lot of classic horror fans could at least find some suitable entertainment here. Like I said the costume is fantastic so I guess you could say this film looks pretty good, as that was always an important aspect to Universal's monster movies. Why even Universal's worst were far better than most other horror movies of the time. So just because I don't really like it doesn't mean you shouldn't check it out, it was probably one of the last notable monster movies before sci-fi took over the rest of the decade.
Fright Fact: There's supposedly been a remake in the works for a while with a script penned by none other than Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) whose father was a co-writer on the original film.
Horror Highlight: any scene with that slimy creature, this was the best I could find.
No comments:
Post a Comment