We’re back with another look at another legend in the Universal Monster series. It’s around this time where the entire franchise was slowly burning out. When looking at the franchise, around this time is when the studio was doing monster team ups and comedic films involving the comedic duo Abbott and Costello. They couldn’t quite capture the spark that was prevalent during the 30s and it was time that the series was dying out. The 50s were rife with B-Grade horror films, while some good ones came out of it. Creature from the Black Lagoon is considered one of the last great films of the Universal Monster Series.
1. The Missing Link
One might think that the Creature is an entirely original concept to be a part of the franchise. Considering that the prior and famous entries were based on highly regarded books of horror that made an impact on pop culture at the time. What makes this one different literally was that it’s based on an ancient legend of half-fish and half-human creatures that were living in the Amazon. No written work just word of mouth and local legend from a distinct area. And that’s whats going on with the movie.
We see that Dr. Maia has found a severed hand of an unknown creature as he’s excavating in the Amazonian jungle. With the discovery, he assembles a group of scientists to find and uncover the new creature within the biome. Unbeknownst to them that the creature with the same claw is alive. I think this is probably the closest thing to a Universal Monster film that tries to be grounded in some sense. You have Frankenstein that uses science but it’s presentation is very bombastic considering the subject matter.
I like the overall cast of scientists that make the voyage to find the seemingly fossilized creature. All of it is setup that they want to discover something that would be groundbreaking since they believe that the creature is like a missing link and what benefits they can reap from it. Like, of course we see that the movie is about the creature, but the scientists have ambitions that may be troubling. We see that Doctor’s David and Mark who are the complete opposite as far as what they want to do when they encounter the creature.
Both are different with how they approach the danger when they encounter it in the lagoon. One wants to study it while the other wants to kill it since he believes that it poses a threat. Of course, we get a woman that’s along with the group of scientists. Kay is the obligatory “Beauty” in this film, I’ll elaborate more on that angle when I talk about the real star of the film. With the way the human characters all have plans for the creature, I think the film is about the idea of conservation. I might as well talk about the creature since he ties in the with central theme.
Just before I do that, if there’s one thing that I at least like in the film is the actual underwater scenes. Despite being 70 years old, the underwater shots do look impressive. I can imagine that a lot of choreography went into it when the actors swam and dived with scuba gear. I think being in the water works as a basis for any horror film not just this one. Practically making it impossible to know where the creature is and to give us a possible point of view shot of what the creature is looking at.
2. Gill Man
What makes Gill Man a completely different monster is that he’s not like the others in the entire franchise. He doesn’t speak and he’s not a product of a mad science experiment or a supernatural being. Gill Man is a creature that happens to exist when everything around him has evolved beyond him. He’s very animal like since he only exists within the biome that he inhabits. Like he doesn’t spread terror like The Invisible Man or is a malicious being like Dracula from the prior entries.
So going back to what I was going on about the idea of conservation, mostly what Gill Man is doing to have a kill count is that he feels that his environment is being messed with. It’s justified since the characters are invading his space and attempting to pry him out of the water. He’s the “Beast” with Kay’s “Beauty”, and what I mean by that is that he mostly kills the male characters while he’s in complete awe when he sees Kay swimming in the swamp.
What’s interesting about the character is that two actors portray the character when he’s on land or boat and when he’s in the depths. Ricou Browning and Ben Chapman portray the creature when he’s in different surfaces but when the credits appear, none of them show up. It’s a confounding thing where the creature hasn’t been credited as far as I know within the franchise, and I know that they want to keep the actor or actors a secret. With what they did especially Browning deserves at least some recognition.
3. Legacy
It’s such a shame that the creature doesn’t get that much recognition as far as being compared to the other monsters in the franchise. As I mentioned prior, this was considered the last great film of the series before it ended just two years after the film came out. While the other horror stars had their time with the various adaptations as the decades came and went, it seemed that there’s no love for Gill Man. That is until Guillermo del Toro had an idea to adapt the creature, to which the studio said no. What he directed instead was The Shape of Water and inevitably winning Best Picture in the Oscars.
I think in some way that Universal practically had this very niche idea of a horror film nailed down. Of course, we only discovered a percent of the oceans so it’s generally natural that we fear what’s under and when we’re alone in the depths. I feel that this film is partly an inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. We have the shots of the swimmer swimming in the water and a point of view shot of the creature or shark moving and seeing the target. While I don’t have the info to back it up, I can at least believe that there is some elements of this film appearing that one.
4. Overall
Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of the best representations of the Atomic Age of Horror.
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