Title: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Director: Jack Arnold
Runtime: 79 minutes
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Creature of the Black Lagoon is another one of the original Universal monster films, and another one that doesn’t quite deliver on the high praise it receives. Creature has a few memorable moments, including some excellent underwater suspense scenes, and some classic still frames (the creature carrying Julie Adams as he exits the water is one of the best), but it is definitely one of the lesser Universal monster classics.
The problem with Creature is that it feels like the same 15 (or so) minutes get repeated about four times, and the only story progression is done in the other 20-minutes. There iss too much “rinse and repeat”, and which makes for a slow-moving plot that is far from memorable.
One thing I really enjoy is the creature himself. He looks genuinely creepy thanks to a wonderful costume. Does it still suffer from the “man in a rubber suit” syndrome? Of course. But, given the era this was made, it’s quite impressive to see what Universal is able to pull off in terms of the creature itself.
The Wolf Man is still my favorite of the Universal monster movies, but I’ve got The Mummy and The Invisible Man left to see (not to mention re-watches of all of them on my new Blu-ray collection), so we’ll see if it holds on to that top spot in due time.
Branden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS covers to rent and watch alone in the basement. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Branden started seeking out the classics of cinema, and began to develop his true passion for the art form. Branden approaches each film with the unique perspective of having studied the art from the inside, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in acting. He has been a film critic since 2010, and has previously written for Inside Pulse Movies, We Love Cult, and Diehard Gamefan. His biggest achievement as a film critic, to date, has been founding Cinefessions and turning it from a personal blog to a true film website, housing hundreds of film and television reviews, and dozens of podcasts.
