VHS : Creature From the Black Lagoon

Rating: - The Creature From The Black Lagoon
Now here's the movie Dracula's match. This was good because, well, just the action and stuff. It didn't take any work to make this movie good. It was good from the first scene. I've liked it so much I get it and Dracula every weekend. This is one that fans can't (and I mean it like the galaxy) that you have to see it.

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Rating: - Great DVD
Since other viewers have already written about the story idea and where this film stands up on the black and white 50's sci-fi/monster ladder, I will limit my remarks to the DVD itself.

If you are indeed a 50's sci-fi/monster movie fan, you must get this film on DVD. Not only will you get to own the film but you get some extras. You get an excellent narrated run-thru of the film with particular areas of interest and errors pointed out. You get many side stories on the making of the film and the people therein. Other films of this genre are also given coverage. There is also a "Back to the Lagoon" featurette where other stories are told and interviews with surviving actors and technicians are presented. The highlight of this featurette for me, was the interview with beautiful actress Julie Adams. After some 45 plus years since starring in the film, father time has been very very kind to this still, very beautiful lady. The extras presented on the DVD make it well worth the money.

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Rating: - This is the quintessential monster movie.
As many times as this movie has been copied, filmmakers still can't seem to get it right. Considering that this film is considered a trend-setter, it's amazing how many rules this film BREAKS by today's standards. It breaks the notion that full shots of the creature and lots of blood and violence are needed to create a scare. In this film, all you need is a shot of the creature's hand and that piercing three-note musical motive played by brass instruments, and let the imagination fill in the blanks. It shatters the notion that monsters MUST be computer-generated--a guy in a suit CAN be scary. And it proves that black-and-white photography can be just as rich as color photography. The underwater sequences especially are both beautiful (almost surreal) and eerie at the same time.

And then there is the Gill Man himself. It's as if the writers took the best qualities of his predecessors and combined them into the last and best (IMHO) of the Universal monsters. Like The Mummy, he has lived long after he technically should have died; like Frankenstein's monster, he appears to be savage, yet shows intelligence and appreciates beauty; like Dracula, he is seductive. Just check out the scene where he swims with Julia Adams (unbeknownst to her, of course). I believe this is why he has achieved the status of a genuine icon, and deservedly so. Here's hoping he swims the waters for a long time.

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Rating: - Where is the missing scene?
This is, quite simply, a classic monster film. Even in a crummy movie, the Creature's design would be wonderful. Added to a heady mix like this, and it's easy to see why this film has pleased viewers for so many years. But I have one HUGE bone to pick with the release print. There has got to be a scene missing! When Richard Carlson goes swimming after the rotonone-drugged Creature, it's night. He surfaces in the Creature's cave (without an aqualung, so he couldn't have been underwater longer than four minutes)and then leaves the cave --- and it's broad daylight! Not only that, the people he left on the boat are now all on shore and obviously have been for some time (some are wearing diffeent clothes!) Some hamfisted editor bridged two disparate scenes here and made hash out of the continuity. Still, all minor quibbles aside,everything from this film from the actors to the score is highly enjoyable. The sequels aren't nearly as much fun (what sequels are ever any good, apart from THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN?), but the original Creature still packs a punch. Even King KOng himself might think of throwing Fay Wray over for Julia Adams!

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Rating: - The Creature Lives Forever!
This is the movie that gave us the phrase "man-in-a-rubber-suit" to describe the monster/alien/creature/whatever in the horror and science fiction films that followed it. And it actually was a suit made of foam rubber, then still a new product, that made the Creature so effectively scary. I saw this movie upon its initial release, in awesome 3-D, and it was a chilling thrill ride! I had never seen the 3-D process better presented and I had never seen anything like the Creature before! This classic is one of my top ten movies of all time in its genre.

Film historian Tom Weaver provides a fascinating commentary on the movie. He describes the origin of the ides for the creature, points out some of the gaffs in the movie (such as the telephone pole in the background of the lagoon, the creature's little pinky claw bending like the rubber it is, the distinct wet footprints of the creature on the deck of the Rita while it's been previously shown that the creature never took foot steps; he slid his big feet on the deck!) but none of these flaws, and many others, make the film any less fun!

There are cast and crew interviews with Julie Adams, Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, and others, that are interesting and informative. The production notes and still photos, scene index, several different versions of the theatrical trailers, biographies, etc., are very well done. The menus are easy to read and use. All in all, this is an outstanding DVD, and every fan of the Creature and of the `50s horror/sci-fi genre will enjoy it!