CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON Retrospective: The Last Great Universal Monster
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Scientists track a prehistoric monster in the South American jungle while it tracks them…
“As a film, the original Creature is part horror, part action, part romance, all wrapped up in an adventure story that takes us far away from civilization and into a world at the edge of history.”
The last of the classic Universal Monsters, the beast from 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon is an amphibian humanoid at the center of a 3D monster horror film. The first in a trilogy, the story of the first movie followed a group of scientists who encounter the Gill-man in the waters of the Amazon. Of special note is that legendary composer Henry Mancini created the scores for the first and third film in this series.
The original movie also inspired the 2017 Oscar-winning movie The Shape of Water. Director Guillermo del Toro says that his childhood memories of Creature from the Black Lagoon made him want to see the Gill-man and the film’s co-star succeed in their romance.
The video below looks over the history and the legacy of the Creature of the Black Lagoon. You can also scroll down for more info about each movie in the series.
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CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON Retrospective: The Last Great Universal Monster | Matt Draper
A look back at Universal’s Creature From The Black Lagoon franchise, including an analysis of Jack Arnold’s original classic film, the increasingly strange sequels of Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us, the history of the Creature’s design by Millicent Patrick, and the history of the many failed attempts to remake Creature.
“As a film, the original Creature is part horror, part action, part romance, all wrapped up in an adventure story that takes us far away from civilization and into a world at the edge of history. And at that edge stands the creature, an image of horror, fascination, and attraction that refutes our characters’ beliefs about the world and ultimately makes us question who we should root for in a battle to survive. There’s something that’s just so charming about the Creature movies as time capsules of the atomic era and its fears.”
About Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
The first in a trilogy—and originally released as a 3D movie—Creature from the Black Lagoon was starred Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, and Whit Bissell. The movie was directed by Jack Arnold and produced by William Alland, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. The Gill-man was played by Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning underwater.
About Revenge of the Creature (1955)
The Gill-man is captured and sent to the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, where he is studied by scientists. The movie starred John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield and Nestor Paiva—and also included Clint Eastwood in his first movie. The Creature was played by Tom Hennesy on land, and played by Ricou Browning underwater. The movie was directed by Jack Arnold and produced by William Alland.
About The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
The last movie in the classic Universal Monsters films, The Creature Walks Among Us follows the Gill-man’s escape from Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida. Badly burned in a fire, the Gill-man is captured and surgically altered to remove his gills and force him to need air. The creature now struggles to deal with his changed physiology, even as the scientists continue to torment him.
The Creature Walks Among Us starred Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Leigh Snowden, Gregg Palmer, and Maurice Manson. The Creature was played by Don Megowan on land, and by Ricou Browning underwater. The movie was directed by John Sherwood.
Wait—is Guillermo del Toro building his own monster universe?
In 2017, the movie The Shape of Water—clearly inspired by Creature from the Black Lagoon—took over Hollywood’s attention. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, the movie got 13 Oscar nominations, winning in four categories: Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Director, and Best Picture.
And there’s a chance that it’s just the beginning of del Toro building his own monster universe.
Of course, decades ago, the Universal Monsters movies were part of one of the first (or is it the first?) shared cinematic universe. After all, there were a few movies where Universal’s different monsters crossed paths—from Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) and House of Frankenstein (1944) to House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
A few years ago, Universal Studios tried to bring back their Universal Monsters into a shared universe—and it did not go well. A bunch of announced plans sort of got shuffled aside.
That said, it’s been said that maybe director del Toro is now actually working out his own monster universe. And given how the Universal Monsters are mostly adapted from available sources, he might even be bringing those monsters together.
Let’s take a look for a moment at his 2017 Oscar-winning movie The Shape of Water. A romance story involving fish-man and a human woman, the movie was obviously inspired by the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. In fact, he has expressed how he saw the Universal movie during his childhood—and how he had wished that the Creature and the woman could have made things work.
Cut to some years later, when del Toro was now a movie director known for such monster pop movies as Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Pacific Rim (2013), and more. Apparently, there was a point where Universal asked him about remaking Creature of the Black Lagoon. But when he pitched it as a love story, the studio passed on it. Which is why he went on to instead make The Shape of Water.
Now, with one (sort of) Universal Monster movie down, the director is now at work on his version of a Frankenstein movie. That film’s producer, J. Miles Dale, told IGN that del Toro’s upcoming film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic science fiction / horror novel is just the latest installment in the director’s cinematic monster universe:
“At one time, he was going to do the Monster Universe with Universal…and he didn’t. We feel like Shape of Water was kind of a version of a creature. So now, here he is doing his own Monster Universe.”
Back in 2012, del Toro told Slash Film:
“I have a Frankenstein fetish to a degree that is unhealthy and I’ve been talking with Sara Karloff about other projects. I’m just a Boris Karloff super-fan and fan of Frankenstein, the story. It’s the most important book of my life, so you know if I get to it, whenever I get to it, it will be the right way.”
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Universal Classic Monsters: Debuts of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, and more
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More related links
Why Bride of Frankenstein Is the Greatest Universal Monster Movie (MovieWeb)
New Details About Universal Monsters Land Revealed Thanks to New Trademarks (Theme Park Tourist)
Universal Monsters Channel and More Coming to Freevee as New NBCU Free TV Package (Syfy)
New DRACULA Comic Launches a New Series of Universal Monster Comics From Skybound — GeekTyrant (GeekTyrant)
Universal Monsters: Which Creatures Still Work in the 21st Century (Den of Geek)
Weird Monster Movie Adaptations, From Rocky Horror to Bubba Ho-Tep (CBR)
The most memorable portrayals of Dracula (Yardbarker)
'Phantom of the Opera' closes after 35 years, and nearly 14,000 Broadway shows (NPR)
10 Movie Monsters Inspired by Frankenstein (MovieWeb)
Every Classic 'Invisible Man' Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best (Collider)
Best Black and White Monster Movies, From The Wolf Man to Nosferatu (CBR)
'FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN' (1943): An 80 Year Legacy (PopHorror)
From the Deep: On the Staying Power of Creature from the Black Lagoon | MZS (Roger Ebert)
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