31 Days of Horror Reviews 2018: Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon was the last solo Universal Classic Monster movie and the only one to be made in the 1950s. Since this came out during the Atomic Age, the film represents a shift away from the supernatural of its previous monsters, with the exception of The Invisible Man and Frankenstein, to a more scientific approach. At 1h 20min, it’s the longest Universal Classic Monster solo entry movie.
REVIEW
The story is very simple: a group of scientists while exploring in the Amazon discover a fossil belonging to an unknown creature. They’re search leads them to Black Lagoon where they discover a living specimen that has survived for millions of years. The creature, dubbed Gill-man, ends up killing the crew members one by one leaving only a few survivors and seems to develop some kind of attachment to the female scientist. It ends with Gill-Man getting shot and vanishing into the depths of the lagoon.
Every classic film has their own unique charm to them and this ones happens to be the underwater scenes. Even for a black and white film, the shots of the marine life beautiful and do add a sense of mystery and suspense to the creature.
Image from Creature from the Black Lagoon
Image from The Shape of Water
The film has had a big influence on filmmakers, most notably Guillermo del Toro and quite possibly Steven Spielberg. Del Toro is easy to see due to the attention he gives Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies and his recent film The Shape of Water, which explores the romantic side. Steven Spielberg may not have said anything about the film, but we can see it’s influence in the opening scene of JAWS when we see the shark’s first victim from its point of view. A similar shot can be seen in Creature from the Black Lagoon when Gill-Man swims with Dr. Lawrence.
Image from Creature from the Black Lagoon
Image from JAWS
The film may not be as great as the previous classics I’ve reviewed so far, but it runs at a decent pace and keeps you interested throughout.