Creature from the Black Lagoon

Plot synopsis:
Introduction: As the narrator reads the Genesis story of the Creation, we see images on the screen.Opening sceneIn the jungles of the upper Amazon, Dr Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno ) has discovered a fossilized claw. Excited, he explains to the native workers that he needs to go back to the institute on the coast to get help to dig out the rest of the fossil. Hidden from view, a claw, similar to the one found in the fossil, rears out onto a river bank, then slides back into the water.At the institute Dr David Reed (Richard Carlson) meets Maia, who seems surprised to find Reed in Brazil. Reed explains they're researching lung fish. The rest of the conversation centers around Maia remembering when Reed was a student.Maia asks Reed about why he never married Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams) He explains she's never been able to talk him into it. Maia then shows Reed a photo of the fossil he found and believes it is hundreds of million years old. Reed immediately takes an interest and wants to go back up river to recover the rest of the fossil.At the institute discussions occur about the meaning of the fossil, it is generally agreed it was an amphibian and probably very strong. Dr Williams (Richard Denning) agrees the fossil is a major find, and as one of the directors gives the go ahead for a larger expedition to go back up river and dig the rest of it out.Back at the campsite it is night and the workers are preparing to settle down for the night. One sees a creature enter the tents and kills both occupants.Sometime later the expedition is making its way upstream on the Rita, a battered motor vessel with little comfort. Captain Lucas (Nestor Paiva) explains how deadly and large all the life around the Amazon River is. The boat docks and the crew quickly discover the campsite has been destroyed and the men are dead. They consider it could have been a jaguar.
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Despite the situation the crew clean up the camp and work begins retrieving the fossil. After eight days no fossil remains are found. Reed figures that perhaps the fossil had been washed away from the river bank, and the remains might be located further downstream in a lagoon, The Black Lagoon. Capt Lucas explains that many people have gone to the lagoon over the years, but none have come back.Reed and Kay have a romantic moment as the boat is moved. They discuss their plans to marry and settle down together. The boat pushes towards the lagoon, it is a very tight fit through a section of the river, but it soon opens up to the lagoon. Reed Reed and Williams break out the aqua-lungs to dive the lagoon and investigate the local life forms. The men successfully complete their mission not realizing they are being stalked by the creature. Williams is jealous of the attention Kay is giving to Reed. To break the tension she goes for a swim.The creature swims along with her, mimicking some of her swimming moves, unsure what to make of the situation. At one point it briefly grazes her leg while she is floating on the surface. Rather than be surprised, she dives to investigate, further firing the creature's curiosity.Back on board, the boat is upset by the pressure being put on the net. Quickly they try to haul the net in, only to discover a huge tear in the net and what appears to be a fang or claw. Kay begins to wonder now exactly what might have touched her while swimming.Williams decides to go back down and hunt whatever is in the lagoon. Reed opposes the course of action, but is over ruled. While on the dive the two men catch sight of the creature and attempt to shoot it with a spear fishing gun. They hit it once but it escapes before they can capture it.Lucas tells the men when they get back on board that there was an old river legend about a gill man who lived underwater. Reed things he has photographed the creature but the images appear blank. On deck one of the men is attacked and dragged into the water by the creature.Lucas tells the team about a native poison he has which makes fish come to the surface. All agree it is a good idea and begin spreading it over the lagoon. After some time a huge number of fish float to the surface but no sign of the creature. They surmise the poison is not getting down deep enough and create some pellets to flush the creature from the bottom. They wait for hours well into the night with no result. As the survey the lagoon the creature, unaffected by the poison ,attempts to climb into the boat . He is frightened by the light of a lantern. They see a trail of bubbles leading to the bank. When they fix a search light on it, the creature suddenly rears up, roars and disappears.Reed and Willliams follow the creature, discovering a cave hidden by the bank. They begin tracking footprints through the sand. The creature doubles back on the men. Reaching the boat it kills one of the crew then attempts to kidnap Kay. Wounded and suffering the effects of the drugs, the creature collapses.Reed and Williams build a makeshift cage and contain the creature, then go back to document the cave and leave doctor Thompson (Whit Bissell) and Kay discuss what the future holds. The creature breaks free and attacks Thompson. He has the presence of mind to smash a lantern over the creature setting it on fire but is gravely injured.Williams wants to stay try and recapture the creature. Reed and the rest of the team argue that with four people dead, the best thing is leave with the evidence and data they have. Williams clashes with Lucas who pulls a knife on Williams and explains they are leaving right now.As the boat heads out of the lagoon, it is blocked by a snag that was not there before. It is assumed the creature did this to stop them from leaving. They try to clear the snag with a winch but the obstruction is too heavy. Infuriated, the creature breaks the links, bringing attempt to an end.Reed decides to try again using the aqualung. He and Williams again clash, this time ending with Williams being knocked out. Reed then goes over the side. While preoccupied with the work he does not see the creature until Williams appears and tries to shoot the animal with the spear gun. On the second attempt he manages to hit the creature, but loses him. The creature counter attacks and drags Williams into the depths. A life and death struggle continues till Reed, realizing the dange,r comes to the rescue. Defeated, the creature once again retreats to the depths, leaving a badly injured Williams floating on the surface.Williams is ultimately killed in the attack. The team decides to try the poison again, this time just to slow the creature down while they try to clear the snag. Reed goes back into the water armed with the poison and begins work on the snag. Reed waits for the creature to get to very close range and fires twice, enveloping the creature in the paralyzing poison. Reed tries yet a third time before succeeding.The plan works and the lagoon is cleared. Preoccupied by the activity they don't see the creature climb on board. The creature spots Kay and drags her over the side, taking her back to his cave. Reed follows armed once again with the spear gun. Reed finds Kay but the creature stops the rescue by attacking Reed. Two of the crew coming from the beach entrance of the cave open fire hitting him multiple times.The creature retreats back into the water badly injured. Reed stops the men from finishing the job, allowing the creature to slink back to the depths, possibly to die.chapman_glen@yahoo.com

Tags: cult, murder

Review:
Today, the film has an ever-so-slight environmental theme, given that at least one of the scientists prefers that the monster not be harmed, and given that humans obviously are encroaching into its habitat.Because so much of the plot takes place underwater and therefore lacks dialogue, and given a runtime of only about 78 minutes, there really isn't that much to this movie.
The film itself has become a cliche for the "man-in-a-rubber-suit" monster movie, and the "gillman" is now included in the pantheon of classic movie monsters -along with Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman.I was a teenager when I first saw this Sci-Fi/Horror gem on television in 1965--the film was already ten years old by then--and I loved it.
Surprisingly--even after a decade of watching technically sophisticated, state-of-the-art, unbelievably realistic prosthetic, animatronic, and computer-generated movie monsters--today's teenagers still love the old "rubber" prototype of all swamp monsters -"The Creature From the Black Lagoon".
We all remember this classic scene in the movie: the film's beautiful heroine (Julie Adams) decides to take a dip, unaware that the Creature is swimming below her.
It's getting stale, I know.)"The Creature From the Black Lagoon" was directed by Jack Arnold ("The Incredible Shrinking Man"), who (from 1952 to 1960) directed a series of fantasy/horror films for Universal Studios, including "Revenge of the Creature" -this film's sequel.
One of few truly great "creature" films, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is a surprisingly effective horror film concerning a scientific expedition up the Amazon to investigate an unusual fossil find--but instead of fossils the crew members encounter an underwater creature of considerable intelligence that is bent on their destruction.The script is a bit dated by modern standards, but the cast (particularly Julie Adams) is effective, and the creature is easily one of Universal Studio's most memorable creations.
As with most 3-D films, there is plenty of "coming at you" cinematography, and many viewers will be able to pick out such moments when seeing the film in standard black and white--but in addition to these, the film used 3-D in a remarkably subtle way; virtually every scene in the film is designed for 3-D, and the effect is exceptionally memorable in the underwater sequences.I remain disappointed that the 3-D version of BLACK LAGOON--not to mention such other 3-D films as HOUSE OF WAX, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, and DIAL "M" FOR MURDER--has never been released in 3-D format on video or disk; instead, we must make do with such bottom-budget 3-D flicks as THE MASK, CAT WOMEN ON THE MOON, and the like.
Out of Universal Pictures, Creature from the Black Lagoon is directed by Jack Arnold, and stars Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell.
Either way they need to act fast as the creature has taken a fancy to Kay, the sole female member of the expedition group.One of the better creature features that surfaced in the 1950s, Creature from the Black Lagoon was one of the film's made as part of the 3D craze that filtered out of Hollywood in 53 & 54.
But under Arnold's (It Came From Outer Space/The Incredible Shrinking Man) astute direction, atmosphere and unease is built up by ominous talk and sightings of the Black Lagoon-and only initial glimpses of the creature's scaly webbed claw; accompanied by the attention grabbing theme music.
Still, despite stiff acting and cheesy effects gimmicks, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is a nice trip back to the good ol' days of monster pictures.
He and his crew and cast made an above average, at times even moving, story of an exploratory group looking for fossils going to the Amazon jungle and, after finding a couple of people have already been killed, go a little further to find the Lagoon of the title (I think the 'Black' part makes the whole title, without it it doesn't pop out I should add).What everyone else did after the fact was to either do less, on par, or, in Spielberg's case, better.
But the original is still a very good example of what can be done with a script that doesn't treat its audience like total idiots - or, to put it another way, it may primarily be of entertainment for kids and younger viewers, or those simply looking for an adventure story that has major horror and fantasy overtones (no, not overtones, it's submerged like we're IN the water, aren't we) - and the actors aren't all stiff boards like in other 50's sci-fi schlock.
I might have a slight fault in how Carlson and Denning (David and Mark respectively, our two main male characters) look too much alike and that it's not until halfway through the film that I could tell them apart, but they are both good actors performing as well as they can, and Julie Adams, aside from also being convincing and a good screamer, is a sensational sight frankly (hey, I'm a warm-blooded guy, she's gorgeous, especially in the bathing suit, albeit that is one of the few moments logic seems to be not there, like, why is she even swimming after they've already seen those other guys dead in the tent but, eh, whatever).Maybe not *every* performance hits all across the board, but Arnold gets his actors right enough so that his pacing doesn't get mucked up.
But he and Ben Chapman (on-land scenes) make this creature a visible and viable threat on screen, only laughable 3 to maybe 5 percent of the time (and hey, 95% ain't bad!) and how Arnold shoots around him for the first half hour or so is inventive and ups the tension for when we finally see big Gill-o-monster on the water.I give a little extra boost to this rating, perhaps nearing classic status, for the final five minutes.
What seems to already be wrapping up in a satisfying way - we have to think the Creature will make one final stand against this band of people, and he does, despite being pumped through the gills (no pun intended) of some substance that's supposed to make him tired (it doesn't, but oh well) - turns into something Gothic and terrifying and the cinematography gets amped with darker contours and imagery (Adams on the rock layed out by the monster laying in wait) that is wholly striking and heart-racing.
As universal approached the 1950's they needed a new monster to follow in the footsteps of Frankensteins monster,Dracula,the wolfman,etc; they came up with the creature from the black lagoon a vicious yet sometimes playful monster,that likes a bathing beauty in the form of very beautiful Julie Adams(who looked very good in her little white bathing suit)the creature is sought by some scientists led by Richard denning and Richard Carlson,and whit bissell(teenage werewolf and teenage Frankenstein fame)along for the ride is sexy Julie Adams and boat captain Antonio Moreno,who likes to scare the alligators with his boat horn.the creature who is being hunted turns to the hunter.the creature was originally shown in 3d,and spawned two sequels and a popular monster model kit by aurora,that i had as a kid.the second creature movie was filmed in Florida,the creature joined the ranks of universal monsters and became a cult classic as well.10 out of 10..
Eye-popping underwater photography makes the movie "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" one of the best horror films released in the 1950's.
Del Toro said something about it being a perfect blend of form, design and shots which really makes sense because when the Creature is swimming around and soaking wet he looks truly real - - like an actual honest-to-God fish man, dead eyes and gawping mouth and the whole works.The plot on the other hand basically devolves into a serious of cat and mouse scenes.
Magnificent picture with sure sense of eerie atmosphere; it's first in a trilogy and features good acting and bone-fide screams provided by the creepy appearance of the creature that actually is a man in a gill suit incarnated by Ricou Browning .
******* Creature from the Black Lagoon (3/5/54) Jack Arnold ~ Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Antonio Moreno, Richard Denning.
I thought this lacked a bit of the atmosphere that Universal's earlier stuff had in abundance, but the story was pretty good and, although there were a couple too many speeches from scientist David Reed (played by Richard Carlson) the performances from a largely unfamiliar (to me, although I think I remember seeing Whit Bissell in a "Star Trek" episode) cast were not bad.
Director Jack Arnold did a pretty good job throughout of building suspense (there are a lot of scenes in which you expect something to happen and nothing does.) The whole "monster falls for beautiful girl" (in this case played by the admittedly lovely Julie Adams) is perhaps a bit cliché in this type of movie, and I did find it passing strange that the creature, who lives in this environment and should be perfectly adapted for it, didn't seem to swim any better than the scientists who were after it!
Of all the classic Universal Monster films, "Dracula", "Frankenstien", "The Wolfman", the creature has always been my favorite.For it's time it is a special effects marvel a fully functioning body suit was worn and swam in through many of the films underwater shots(new film technology was designed specifically for it.).As far as stories go there's not too much to tell, an evolutionary missing link(I'm between mermaids and Bigfoot) is found in the Amazon, and a team of scientists dynamite there way into the ancient Black Lagoon that's been sealed away from the main river for centuries.
THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON also seems to have inspired the marketing behind a certain film from 1975 directed by Steven Spielberg featuring a shark as a woman swims unaware that a monster is a few short feet away from her and the whole film gives an excellent sense of suspense sadly lacking in Hollywood movies nowadays THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is one of these movies you remember watching on TV one night many years ago and as the years go by can be easily dismissed as a silly monster B movie but after seeing it again I was genuinely impressed by it all the way from use of music to make up and deserves a status befitting of a classic horror film.
The plot indicates a deep, subconscious understanding on the part of the script-writers that someday man would experience his comeuppance for abusing the natural world.This is a solid, entertaining and fun horror movie, and you can watch it with a 12-year-old without fear that you are damaging the kid for life.
If that sounds uninteresting (and it iswe never even get a good look at either Polly Burson or Ginger Stanley, because both, for obvious reasons, are always filmed in long shots), Creature from the Black Lagoon is bound to disappoint unless Universal decides to dust off those 3-D specs.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon is a classic film and I was amazed all of the swimming scenes in this film because of the time it was made.
Great movie monsters such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman,, The Mummy, and The Phantom of the Opera (not to mention the big guys like King Kong), got remade a few times and I think that they have faced enough abuse to see them exploited and have comical/animated iterations of them.
Their hunt leads them to the paradise-like 'Black Lagoon' area - and trouble with an unexpected creature encounter.No doubt the movie was impressive when it came out, but for the viewer many decades later, it's a little dated.
I'm sure when it originally came out, this helped create a strong atmosphere ripe for fear and horror.For the modern viewer, this film is pleasant viewing - a decent way to spend 79 minutes in classic 50's monster-movie mode..
If anything, the creature was lonely and was smitten with Kay (Julia Adams), but that jerk Mark (Richard Denning) wanted to kill the animal.Of course, we can just take pleasure in everything else that happens in the movie: the corny music, silly dialogue, and obvious sets.
Like all good monster movies, the story is thin and easy to follow; and it basically just follows a bunch of explorers/scientists who travel to the Amazon to do research after finding a half-man/half fish fossil.The script and acting in the film are less than brilliant, but by the same standards; aren't bad either and certainly passable for this sort of feature.
Of course, the monster is purely fictional so it would be impossible for it to be truly realistic; but if there was a missing link between man and amphibian, I reckon it would look something like the creature in this movie.
Top notch horror tale that has not lost it's appeal over time....quite shocking for it's time in the early 1950s when it was released...I was 10 years old when I saw it at the movie theater and how do you describe being scared that bad.....Universal had worn out the Frankenstein/Wolfman/Dracula genre in the 30s and 40s and Creature was a welcome addition to the Universal monster stable.
There's something crisp about these b/w Universal features and "Creature from the Black Lagoon" is no exception.It's stoutly directed by Jack Arnold with extremely potent cinematography (especially the superbly executed murky underwater shots) and a robust to melodious patchwork music score.
Its man against nature as the group tries to capture, then escape, the creature whose gained a fixation on the lovely female scientist played by the beautiful Julia "Julie" Adams.
In this film, the creature looks like exactly what he is - a man dressed in a rubber suit!The dialog in here was generally "Class B" in nature and Richard Jenning as scientist "Dr. Mark Williams" was very obnoxious.
One of the better features here is the fact that the setting is quite inventive and unique with the action taking place in the Amazon which is a nice switch from the usual time-period films of the other monster movies.
Jack Arnold directed this memorable yarn about a scientific expedition into the Amazon(played by Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell, and Nestor Paiva as the captain) who are looking for fossils but instead come across a prehistoric(and still living) aquatic humanoid that they become determined to capture, though this creature is crafty and determined to survive, even as it seems to become infatuated by the lone woman aboard...
Adams takes a swim in the AMAZON????); the movie was shot in 3-D...and it shows (countless scenes of the spear gun pointing at the audience).The good things:  beautiful atmosphere; great music score; incredible underwater photography and an impressive creature.
For a low-budget monster movie, the photography is surprisingly good and there are some nicely-staged, scary sequences, always underlined by melodramatic "fright music." The grotto where the Creature presumably spends much of his time is a curio (the characters enter underwater, yet they exit by foot on land) and the macho vying for the woman is dumbly amusing (she doesn't seem to mind).
"This island earth" "Tarentula" and this film are nice B movies by Jack Arnold."The incredible shrinking man" ,on the other hand,is a genuine masterpiece,thanks essentially to Richard Matheson's book which he adapted himself for the screen.A big difference.But do not deny ourselves a good thing."Creature" has a fine black and white cinematography ,and its sequences in the black waters of the lagoon can grab today's audience,particularly the one when Kay swims ,followed by the man/fish.The characters are routine,the girl's part consists essentially of screaming,exciting Mark's jealousy and allowing a "Beauty and the Beast" trick,a poor man's King Kong.Special effects buffs will not get something out of it,but special effects do not necessarily make a good movie.Watchable,but you'd better choose "shrinking man" if you 've never seen an Arnold movie!aand make sure you see it before the impending remake!.
Aside from providing some quiet chills and impressive underwater photography, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON proves that it doesn't hurt to deliver your horror film with photogenic leads: Richard Carlson, Richard Denning and Julie Adams, all briefly clad to best demonstrate their physical attributes.
Furthermore, they can all give decent performances worthy of a better film.It's the underwater photography of a gill-man lurking in the Amazon waters while Miss Adams takes a brief swim that sticks in the mind after watching the film.
I love the older Sci-Fi & monster type movies, and had not seen 'Creature' in a very long time.
What can I say that hasn't been said already Creature From The Black Lagoon, it holds up, has a great story and I just love this film.
The Gill-man monster from the 1954 film "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" has become iconic in the decades since and I was curious to see how the film would stand up after almost 60 years (as of this writing).
The Creature was the last of the great Universal Monsters, and this film is certainly one of their best.
Today, `The Creature from the Black Lagoon' is equated with the great horror classics from the 1940s such as `Frankenstein' and `The Wolf Man'.
'Creature From The Black Lagoon' is undisputedly one THE great monster movies.
'Creature From The Black Lagoon' is one of the 1950s best horror/SF movies and I highly recommend it..
The forth Creature from the black lagoon movie the monster squad is also better.
"Creature From the Black Lagoon" has a very simple storyline, but the underwater scenes are fantastic for a 1954 movie.
"Creature From the Black Lagoon" may not be the best Universal Monster movie, but it's up there.
The creature from the black lagoon was a great movie.