Creature from the Black Lagoon (film)
"Creature from the Black Lagoon" is a 1954 horror film produced by Universal Pictures, capitalizing on the 3-D movie trend of the era, although it was rarely shown in its original format due to the trend's decline. The film follows a group of scientists on an expedition in a remote South American river, where they encounter a living specimen of a prehistoric creature—the gill man. This intelligent aquatic being resembles a human and poses a threat to the scientists as they invade its lagoon. The film is notable for its atmospheric tension, skillfully built up by the musical score, which heightens the anticipation of the creature's appearances.
The gill man, much like other iconic Universal monsters, evokes both fear and sympathy, particularly through his infatuation with the sole female character, played by Julia Adams. The film culminates in a dramatic climax, reminiscent of classic monster narratives. Its popularity led to two sequels, which expanded on the gill man's story but did not achieve the same acclaim. The film's influence persists in cinema history, connecting it to later works, such as "Jaws," which similarly plays on the fear of the unknown lurking beneath the surface. Overall, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" remains a significant part of horror film lore, known for its unique blend of terror and poignancy.
Creature from the Black Lagoon (film)
Identification Film about a prehistoric creature discovered in South America
Date Released in 1954
Director Jack Arnold
One of the most enduring horror films of the 1950’s, Creature from the Black Lagoon has joined the pantheon of all-time classic monster films.
Key Figures
Jack Arnold (1916-1992), film director
Universal Pictures made Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954 to take advantage of the 3-D movie craze. However, the craze was dying as the film was being released, so the film was rarely shown in its original 3-D format. Nevertheless, the black-and-white film proved to be one of the most successful horror or science-fiction films of the 1950’s, and it contributed one of the classic screen monsters to film lore: the gill man.
The film’s story is based on a theme familiar for its time: A team of well-meaning scientists (actors Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell, and Julia Adams) take a boat up a remote South American river, hoping to find additional evidence of an exciting new fossil discovery. Instead, they find a living specimen of the fossil’s species, one previously unknown to science, that traps them in a lagoon and threatens all their lives. Apparently a survivor from a prehistoric age, the creature is an intelligent aquatic animal that closely resembles a human man in size and form. The creature appears only rarely in the film, but H. J. Slater’s musical score builds tension by frequently signaling when he is nearby. As is the case in the best-made horror films, Creature from the Black Lagoon’s most frightening moments occur when audiences merely anticipate the creature’s appearance.
The gill man in Creature from the Black Lagoon follows in the tradition of the great Universal monster films of earlier decades, such as King Kong (1933), Frankenstein (1931) and its sequels, and The Wolf Man (1941), in being at once frightening and sympathetic. Although audiences can only surmise that the creature wants to kill the members of the scientific party for having invaded and threatened his domain, he is portrayed as a creature with human feelings, particularly because of his evident infatuation with the party’s sole female member, the beautiful Julia Adams. In the film’s most lyrical scene, the gill man performs a beautiful underwater ballet (well suited for 3-D) with an unknowing Adams, who is swimming near the surface of the lagoon. The film ends in a scene reminiscent of the beauty-and-the-beast climax of King Kong, with the gill man attempting to carry away the woman, only to be overtaken and killed.
Sequels
The popularity of Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired two quick, and less engaging, sequels. In the first, Revenge of the Creature (1955), the gill man proves not to have died in the original film, after all—much as the monster in Frankenstein survives his apparent death at that film’s climax. The gill man is captured and taken to an aquatic park in the United States, only to escape and endure an ending similar to that of the first film. In The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), the gill man is recaptured. After losing his gills in a fire, he is surgically transformed into an air-breathing creature. In this film he appears to die his final death, and so does the series.
Impact
The legacy of Creature from the Black Lagoon is assured by the familiarity of its title and by the instantly recognizable face of the gill man. However, its impact on film history is both deeper and subtler. The film is a direct ancestor of Stephen Spielberg’s 1975 thriller about a human-eating great white shark, Jaws. Both films frighten audiences by playing on their fears of the unknown—both figuratively and literally, fears of what lies just below the surface.
Bibliography
Fry, Ron, and Pamela Fourzon. The Saga of Special Effects. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977. Study of the technical aspects of special effects that includes a chapter titled “The Creature-Ridden Fifties.”
Skal, David J. The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993. Survey of the horror film genre and its impact on popular American culture.
Thorne, Ian, and Howard Schroeder. Creature from the Black Lagoon. Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett Press, 1982. Illustrated novelization of the film, with an essay on the film’s production that includes a discussion of its 3-D process.