Our last movie monster this week is one of the greats- the dreaded "creature" from 1954's classic B-movie Creature From the Black Lagoon. I expected this film to be one of those cheesy 50's sci-fi matinee movies, but what surprised me was that it's actually much, much better than that. Jack Arnold infused this film with scenes of real suspense and really made this creature an effective and sympathetic presence, more so than any of the human characters in the movie. A bunch of people go on an expedition to the Amazon looking for fossils of a mysterious sea creature and lo and behold, they find and are somewhat terrorized by the creature itself, who wants the female member of their group (Kay Lawrence) all to its own devices. It's kind of a King Kong story, but the movie is fast paced and holds up every bit as well as anything made today with a similar premise. There are scenes that are genuinely freaky (the one where the monster kidnaps the girl from the boat is still crazy startling), and a beautiful sequence of the creature swimming alongside his beloved from far underneath the water where she can't see him. I really recommend this one- it's a fun treat to end your monster movie week.
Original Trailer:
