Review of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) by Kenneth E — 03 Nov 2015

I never understood the love for this film, nor can I understand why this is such a cult classic, being one of Universal's most popular monster flicks. "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" has an extremely ridiculous plot. To name just a few plot holes and/or inconsistencies:

A fossilized hand is found embedded in a rock outcrop in South America, but the actual creature lives two feet away in the lagoon, alive and thriving, to nobody's knowledge. A scientific crew starts as humble observers piecing together an evolutionary puzzle, but end up as full-fledged monster hunters, despite the fact that the creature eliminated nearly five close acquaintances. The crew also seem to have carried an entire marine squadron's worth of firearms on that little peaceful exploration vessel.

Kay (Julie Adams) is inserted in the narrative for the usual three reasons: 1) to be carried away by the monster in Act III 2) to have the loudest scream and 3) to be the object of affection for two competing men (Richard Denning's Mark and Richard Carlson's David.) Yet, ironically, Julie Adams is by far the best performer in the film, and it is a shame to see her talent squandered.

The creature itself is impressive, especially for its underwater-resistant prosthetics circa 1954. The creature has inspired more aquatic nightmare movies than can be counted, and is the template for countless halloween costumes in the decades since. Its grotesque fish-face, gulping side fins, and webbed feet remain the quintessential aquatic monster look, and for this reason alone I give the film some credit. Another shining aspect about this production is the state-of-the-art usage of underwater cinematography; while bringing a camera underwater and filming fish and swimming actors does not seem like an incredible feat in this day and age with Discovery Channel, such a task was incredibly difficult. The mysterious underwater scenes are the highlight of the film. It's a shame the story and plot were not given the same meticulous attention.