The Creature Walks Among Us is the last Universal monster movie that is from the "classic" era, and it does not disappoint. I really have to hand it to the writer Arthur A. Ross, one of the original writers on Creature from the Black Lagoon. This movie is so deep, and philosophical, engaging, and beautiful. This film actually has characters. Each character has a history, an arc, and feels fleshed out. I feel so bad for the creature in this film. Once I saw The End on the screen I screamed "Noo!" because I wanted more, I wasn't expecting it to end there and I wasn't ready to leave the film, that is how engaging this film is.
Before I even watched this film I was thinking whether I would like it or not. The whole concept of the story really turned me off, but I was mistaken. The concept of this story works so well that if this wasn't the end of the classic monster movies I'd say this film would have risen the bar, or at least have been on Frankenstein level. In every Lagoon movie the creature has been through so much torture from the scientists and people, but this is the film that really shows the creature's inner torture and in that the audience feels so bad for it. The fact that the movie decided to take away the aspect of the creature that made him so unique, his ability to breathe underwater, made him turn into a creature he has feared and fought.
Like I said this film goes deep into character. Not too deep, but deep nonetheless when talking about monster films. You don't see that much in monster films from today, but this one had every character have a role. It wasn't just the female lead screaming for her life, in fact the creature never fell in love with her. That and the female lead is married! An abusive husband, another male falling for her, but she doesn't like him! A creature turning human and can never be him again. This film oozes tragedy. Unlike the last creature film this one was really character driven and that's what I love most about it.
Now I have to talk about the underwater scenes. I cannot believe how gorgeous they were. The water they shot in must have been crystal clear because they were just gorgeous shots. I could see so much depth to them that it astounded me. In 2D it felt like the characters were actually swimming off the screen. Everything was clear underwater, the depth made it feel so vast and spacious. What I like about this is that like in the first Lagoon movie the underwater scenes are silent (for the most part) and it really brings out the feel of a silent movie. This film is definitely one where if you take away the talking you wouldn't lose anything from it. That is how good the directing, script, cinematography, and acting is. I did not want this film to end.
Another aspect of this film that I fell in love with was the score. It fit the movie so well. It knew when it was needed and when it should be silent to really grasp the character's inner feelings. It heightened the underwater scenes that, like the last film, were really intense when they had fights. This is probably, no it is my favorite out of the three creature films. I love everything about it, and I feel like the creature is the monster that had the worst shit ever done to him and this movie sealed it. He can never go under the water again. He has to live like every other human who has bothered and harassed him. Except for his enormous strength, which he shows off in the film's finale that will make you shocked and awed, he is not a monster no more. I can't think of something more tragic than that. Now what did you think of this movie? Which creature film is your favorite?
RECOMMENDATION: High
No comments:
Post a Comment