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Creature
from the
Black Lagoon
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8
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9 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Pity
the Gill Man: a half-human, half-fish "missing link"
surviving in an isolated tributary of the Amazon. His pristine
aquatic world has just been invaded by a scientific expedition
led by a greedy entrepreneur. And among the interlopers is one
honey of a research assistant, a female whose readily apparent
attributes (swimming, for one) strike a fatal chord of longing
in the lonely Creature...
Featuring the best pre-Alien
monster suit in the movies, Creature
also boasts an ensemble cast of B-movie greats including Richard
Carlson (It
Came from Outer Space, The
Valley of Gwangi), Richard Denning (The
Black Scorpion), Nestor Paiva (Tarantula)
and the beautiful Julie Adams, one of the sexiest "scream
queens" of the 1950s (even if she only made one scary movie
— this one.) The
innovative costume and natural underwater grace of swimming
stuntman Ricou Browning really bring this movie monster to believable
life. Pacing is brisk; the creature action, above and
below the lagoon's surface, provides first-rate popcorn thrills.
As with the mighty ape in King Kong,
you'll find yourself rooting for the Gill Man more than the
humans. He's a sympathetic monster only trying to protect his
habitat.
As for his interspecies
"crush" on Julie... Who can blame him?
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| Creature
From The Black Lagoon
is one of the best black and white B-movie monster yarns
of all time.
It's lovingly presented on DVD by Universal, with a terrific documentary
to complement the picture. Film historian Tom Weaver's sometimes
breathless audio commentary —
it is a short movie, after all — is a treasure trove of
fascinating info. Get this one, folks. 3/27/01 |
| UPDATE
OOP for two years, the film has just been re-released (Oct. 19,
2004) by Universal in a 2-disc "Legacy Collection" along
with its sequels, Revenge of the Creature
and The Creature Walks Among Us.
You can read the EC review HERE.
The stand-alone edition, as reviewed here, was reissued in July
2007. |
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