Creature from the Black Lagoon

The first time I actually felt scared watching a universal classic monster movie was when I first watched Creature from the Black Lagoon. Watching this movie for the first time amazed me, my mind was blown. The fact that it is a very beautifully shot film combined with those amazing underwater shots made the film so much more than a regular monster movie.
The fact that they filmed maybe half if not more of the movie underwater, and the camera actually moved and was portable in the early 50s astonishes me. The costume alone is amazing and beautiful, I hear it looked fantastic in color (too bad it was shot in black and white, but then again I still love it in black and white). The picture is so crisp that you can see the ripples in the sand as the two male leads hunt for samples at the bottom of the lagoon. The detail in the underwater images as the creature swims up and threatens the humans. But what really makes this film more intense than past monster films is that the action takes place underwater.

Being underwater is a whole new world. We know more about space than our own oceans. We can't breathe underwater, at depths it gets pitch black. Water is the ultimate way to get the audience tense. We have the creature swim in, able to breathe underwater and on land! The crew have a severe disadvantage. It's the water and the tension that it brings that makes me fall in love with this film. We can connect with the characters on how deadly it is to fight underwater and this film had some intense underwater scenes.

Creature is my favorite universal monster movie. I know, I know, some of you may be saying 'well what about Frankenstein?' Yes Frankenstein is an amazing film that is on the line of perfection (Honestly I believe that the Bride of Frankenstein is the most perfect movie I've ever seen) but just because it is an great film from a film point of view it does not make it my favorite. When I first saw this I saw it past midnight, was scared from the creature itself and the horrifying three note theme song that put dread into my heart, and almost immediately after I finished the film (oh and this was the night of hurricane Irene) I heard from outside my window the strangest noise I ever heard in my life; it was a mix of a screaming lemur, a yelping cat, and a terror scream of a girl. For a first time viewing I had a very memorable night, and yes I had a very difficult time getting to sleep.

This is also one of the few films I love re-watching, even if I immediately re-watch it after finishing it. I don't like re-watching films that much because I have a really good memory and I feel it spoils a movie if I know what is going to happen, and thus I don't have as much fun as when i first watched it. That is why for the majority of films I don't re-watch, however I feel like I always catch something new when re-watching this.

If you watch this from a DVD or Blu-Ray I highly recommend watching the film with commentary. The commentary is narrated by a film historian (Tom Weaver) who gives you amazing facts and information that will blow your mind about this movie. The biggest thing that blew my mind was that they filmed the above the water scenes and below the water scenes at the same time (above the water in the studio, and below the water in Florida) and the characters we see whenever the camera is under the water are completely different people from who we see above the water. Which is amazing because there is this scene where the female lead goes out and swims on the lagoon. The scene alternates between shots of her above the water and her swimming under water that I never noticed that that scene had two actresses and it was editing together so well that it still amazes me.

The last thing I want to talk about this film is the 3D. This film was originally released in 3D. What I learned from the special features was that the 3D they used on this film was actually very similar to the 3D we use today. Not the cheap blue and red glasses, but the blurry image coming together to form 3D. Now this movie, along with the rest of the first classic monster movies, was semi-recently released in Blu-Ray (which I still need to pick up) and they redid the 3D. From what I heard the 3D is supposed to be amazing! And I believe it, some shots would look amazing in 3D, and the whole swimming underwater would make them look like they were floating in the space in front of you. Unfortunately I don't have a 3D TV so I can't confirm this, but if you do then I would say buy it on Blu-ray at least and then you can have your 3D copy with that.

If you have seen this film what do you think of it? Did you enjoy it as much as me? I'm surprised it isn't as popular as I would like it to be, but it will get it's time in the spot light in the near future. If you liked this post and never seen this I say NAY! Go and watch it right now and see all the amazing aspects of this 1954 film.

RECOMMENDATION:  High