The Creature From The Black Lagoon is given the Legacy treatment
by Universal, and it is well deserved. All three Creature movies have been
released in a handsome box set that's loaded with special features and it won't
bust your budget. Released in 1954, and directed by Jack Arnold, The Creature
From The Black Lagoon begins when Professor Carl Maia discovers the fossilized
hand of an unknown humanoid creature deep in the Amazon jungle. He seeks advice
from scientist at a local marine research institution, leaving his trusty
assistants at the dig site. Fascinated by the discovery of an apparently unknown
species, the scientists decide to mount an expedition into the Amazon to try and
retrieve the entire skeleton. Meanwhile Mark Williams (Richard Denning), the
overly ambitious leader of the team, wouldn't mind mounting Kay Lawrence (Julie A
dams), the token female scientist, as well. But Kay only has eyes for David Reed
(Richard Carlson), a rugged diver.
Once they arrive at the dig site, the team discovers that the two men Maia had
left behind were savagely killed in their tent by some kind of animal. This
being the Amazon, they could have been killed by anything, and so the team
presses on, going upriver to the fabled Black Lagoon, where they are stunned to
find this amazing Gill Man in the flesh. And the Gill Man makes a discovery of
his own: namely Kay, and he likes what he sees. Soon the team finds themselves
fighting for their lives while Kay is busy warding off the advances of a scaly
suitor who won't take no for an answer. The Creature From The Black Lagoon is
the first and the best entry in the Creature movies. Even after 50 years,
"Creature" still holds up very well, thanks to Jack Arnold's superb direction,
which creates sympathy for the Gill Man. The Creature's desire for Kay struck a
chord with movie audiences, invoking the classic tale of Beauty And The Beast.
The 18 minutes of underwater photography are also still impressive. Rico
Browning, who performed in the Creature underwater swimming shots in all three
films, is a marvel to watch.
One year later came Revenge Of The Creature, which opens with another team being
sent into the Amazon, this time to capture the Creature. Unlike the team from
the first movie, this bunch, led by diver Joe Hayes (John Bromfield) is well
prepared to handle the Creature. Setting off explosions in the Black Lagoon, the
shock waves knock the Creature out, putting him into a coma long enough to
transport him back to the Ocean Harbor aquarium. The staff at Ocean harbor, led
by scientist Clete Ferguson (John Agar), wants to study the Creature, as well as
make a quick buck or two. At first, it doesn't look as if the Gill Man will ever
wake up from his coma, but once he does, he makes it clear that he isn't very
happy being kept prisoner at a wet freak show. Chained at the bottom of a pool, i
t isn't long before the Gill Man develops a crush on ichthyologist Helen Dobson
(Lori Nelson), and starts plotting his escape so he can woo Dobson, his new
unwilling love. Also capably directed by Jack Arnold, Revenge Of The Creature is
a fine sequel that further explores the Gill Man without rehashing the same
story from the first film. Shot at Florida's Marineland, which offers a
refreshing "real-world" location for the action, "Revenge" also has a young
Clint Eastwood in his very first (yet brief) film role.
In The Creature Walks Among Us, we have yet a third research team seeking out
the creature--this time in the Florida Everglades, where he escaped to after the
second film. You know, if I were the Creature, I'd probably be a little pissed
off at all of these eggheads trying to hunt me down so they could "examine" me.
It makes you wonder if they would just leave the Gill Man alone, nothing bad
would happen, right? Alas, this new bunch does not leave the Gill Man alone, and
after the Creature suffers third degree burns during a battle with team members,
surgeon William Barton (Jeff Morrow) discovers that the Creech's gills are badly
burned; yet he's still getting air from a pair of lungs. The scientists operate
on the Creature, enabling him to use his lungs full time. However, this results
in the Gill Man becoming a landlubber. From this point on, he can only breathe
air. If he tries to go into the water, he will drown. The Creature Walks Among
Us is not as good as the first two Creature films. More time is spent on the
soap opera-like goings on between Morrow, his wife Marcia (played by Leigh
Snowden) and Thomas Morgan (played by Rex Reason, who also starred with Morrow
in the 1950s SF classic This Island Earth), while the Creature is reduced to a
supporting role in his own movie.
As mentioned before, the Creature DVD set is superb. The picture is crisp and
clean and the sound is very clear. There are no Closed Captions, but the films
are equipped with great subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired. The first
Creature film has a documentary Back To The Black Lagoon, which is a
marvelous retrospective on the original classic film. There is also an excellent
commentary on the first Creature disc by film historian Tom Weaver, who is
concise and informative. Weaver is joined on the Revenge commentary by star
Lori Nelson and Bob Burns, a film historian and owner of one of the coolest
collections of SF Horror and fantasy film props around. Both Weaver and Burns
also have an enjoyable commentary on the Creature Walks disc. There are also
production photos, and original trailers. The Gill Man is considered to be the
last of the classic Universal monsters; deservedly taking his place in the
pantheon of frightful creeps of yesteryear. This enjoyable DVD box set easily
shows why the "Chreech" remains such a popular movie monster even after fifty
years. --SF
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