(1954)
It's taken me 10 years to collect all six of the Monster Legacy Collection sets but with my recent additions of The Invisible Man and Creature From the Black Lagoon I finally did it! I love and recommend these sets because of the painstaking effort they put into restoring and presenting each series comprehensively. Fascinating commentary from film historians is provided for every film.
Though released a good 2 decades after the first Dracula and Frankenstein movies, Creature From the Black Lagoon is now considered one of the classic iconic monsters from the black and white era. This is primarily due to the exquisite design of the "Gill-Man" creature, created by Disney animator Millicent Patrick, though she wouldn't get any credit for it for 50 years.
There's nothing profound to the story following a group of scientists and crew members tracking down a legendary missing link species in Brazil. Aside from a rudimentary crash course on evolution most of the film is padded with lush underwater scenes. Originally released in 3-D, the story takes a back seat to showing off 3 dimensional underwater frollicking.
The monster sure is a cool sight to behold but he isn't particularly frightening. His kills are either shown offscreen or else he administers a quick but efficient face palm of death.
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| Take that expendable native guy! |
JPX pointed out the irritating trumpet blare whenever the creature makes an appearance in his review. Not only is this true, but the creature makes many, many appearances. CFTBL is a prime example of a movie where the monster's potential to scare is greatly reduced by too much screen time.
See also Crystal Math's review.
10 comments:
So excited to hear your collection is complete, what a great accomplishment!
Awesome! I believe Octo and I saw this in 3D in the theater with our rents.
Not in 1954, obviously. I think it was at the Bristol theater that had the couches. I'm sure Octo can confirm or deny…
I read that it was re-released in the 70's with the blue & red 3D glasses. I would love for it to be released again in theaters with today's 3D technology.
My review didn't convey how much fun this is to watch. It's the perfect lazy rainy day film (although sadly I can barely remember what rain is like). It made me fondly recall the old Channel 56 Creature Double Feature days from my childhood.
This is the quintessential Creature Double Feature movie for me, even more than Godzilla or Kong.
Agreed this would be perfect for rerelease in 3-D. Congratulations on completing your collection!
DCD is right. This was released as a double feature with It Came from Outer Space in old fashioned red/green 3D. Probably at the very much missed Bristol theater but I'm not totally sure.
My very first 3D "comin atcha" experience was the fossilized Creature claw (that they discover first) sticking out of a rock. It was coming right at me.
I have a vague recollection of seeing this many, many moons ago (I was probably 12 or so), but it sounds like it bears rewatching.
I had a CFTBL action figure when I was little, and he was my favorite (see, he glowed in the dark), but I don't think I've seen this since the age of six or seven. I definitely need to watch it again. Thanks for the reminder.
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