LET’S GET PHYSICAL: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) ****

FORMAT:  4K UHD (REWATCH)

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

(As posted on October 22nd, 2010)

When I was a kid, I saw Creature from the Black Lagoon on TV and it about scared the shit out of me.  I remember vividly the scene where the Creature slowly climbs aboard the ship, and walks towards Julia Adams with his scaly hands stretching outwards.  I can still remember being scared because I thought the Creature was REAL.  I knew Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man were all guys in make-up.  The Creature on the other hand, was a fucking Creature.  The tip-off that he couldn’t be a man-in-suit monster was the fact that when he breathed, HIS GILLS MOVED!  That proved right there (well, to a six year old anyway) that he was real.  Watching the flick now as an adult, the movie is still a blast.

 

A scientist discovers a mysterious fossil along the Amazon that may prove to be the missing link between man and fish.  He gets together an expedition to head down an uncharted part of the Amazon known as the Black Lagoon to look for the fossil.  They get more than they bargained for when they find a living breathing Gill Man who has a penchant for murdering men and macking on hot women.

 

First and foremost, the movie’s success is due to the Creature himself.  He’s truly one of the greatest monsters of all time.  And that claw of his is positively badass.  When he slaps that sonofabitch onto your face, you’ve fucking had it.

 

But Jack Arnold’s direction is another major component as to why the movie works so well.  He nicely balances the romance stuff between Richard Carlson and Julia Adams with the Creature attacks, and keeps the flick chugging along at a steady clip.  The underwater sequences are excellent too.  Usually, a movie gets bogged down whenever there are too many scuba diving scenes (like in Thunderball), but here, the underwater stuff is almost as good as the scenes on land. I think my favorite underwater scene was when the Creature swims alongside Adams and admires her figure.

 

And you know, so much has been written about the Creature’s libido that it would seem like overkill for me to even go there.  But I’ll go ahead anyway.  Let me begin by saying whereas Dracula just wanted to neck, The Creature wanted to take you back to his pad.  Plus, he doesn’t care what species you are, he’ll still tap that ass.  I mean he is prehistoric, and it’s been about a million years since he’s gotten some, so he’s probably horny as a motherfucker and willing to fuck anything that smells remotely like fish.

 

What makes the Gill Man’s libido so scary is that he is part man/part fish.  But they don’t tell you what part is the man and what part is the fish.  Or if he has fish parts or man parts.  I mean when King Kong courted Fay Wray, we knew there was no way for them to really consummate their relationship.  With the Creature though, we’re not too sure.  It was the ‘50s so they couldn’t really explore this facet of the character too much but if you’ve ever seen Humanoids from the Deep, you know what these suckers are capable of.

 

Creature from the Black Lagoon was also one of the biggest 3-D hits of its day.  I only wish Universal retained the original 3-D effects for the DVD.  Maybe since 3-D is all the rage yet again, Universal will come out with a 3-D version.  And yes Universal, in case you’re reading this; I WOULD double-dip and buy a 3-D DVD of Creature from the Black Lagoon.  (AND Jaws 3-D while we’re on the subject.)

QUICK THOUGHTS: 

Creature from the Black Lagoon is the crown jewel of Universal’s ‘50s horror cycle.  It also happens to be one of the best films of the ‘50s.  I’m not talking just about the horror genre here.  I mean it’s one of the best movies of the entire decade.  I’ve seen it so many times that I don’t really have much more to add, except that it’s always a pleasure to have another chance to enjoy Julia Adam’s performance, as she is one of the best prototypical Scream Queens of all time. 

4K UHD NOTES:

This was the first black and white movie I’ve seen in 4K, and I was interested in how it would look.  The picture is excellent.  Nearly every frame is razor sharp, and the underwater scenes really pop.  Even the stock footage shots only contain minimal grain.  The Blu-Ray 3D version is also included as a bonus, but I just wish Universal had added a good old-fashioned blue and red anaglyph 3D option, since I don’t have a 3D TV.