I never in a million years would have guessed this movie opens with the big bang.
Producer William Alland was attending a 1941 dinner party during the filming of Citizen Kane (in which he played the reporter Thompson) when Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told him about the myth of a race of half-fish, half-human creatures in the Amazon River. Alland wrote story notes titled "The Sea Monster" 10 years later, using Beauty and the Beast as inspiration. In December 1952, Maurice Zimm expanded this into a treatment, which Harry Essex and Arthur Ross rewrote as The Black Lagoon. Following the success of the 3D film House of Wax in 1953, Jack Arnold was hired to direct the film in the same format.
A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discovers a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one in the expedition, with whom he has fallen in love.
this movie is the last addition in the classic UNIVERSAL monsters lineup, and due to how late in the game this movie is i was skeptical of its quality. this movie isn't as instantly loveable as FRANKENSTIEN or DRACULA, but it definitely earns the title of classic monster movie. i always love a well shot black and white movie, and Jack Arnold really directed the fuck out of this movie. Filmed for under $500,000 and released in 3D (all that underwater photography made it perhaps the most effective use of 3D up to that point), And you never have to wonder where that budget went. At the time it must have really dazzled audiences who poured into theaters. Just consider, most underwater scenes folks saw up to this point was with miniature models, filmed inside pools or were even slow-motion dry recreations. Here, it looks like we just actually submerged underwater and are witnessing men struggle for survival against the creature.
the under water photography is absolutely beautiful, the green screened trips down the river look incredible, and best of all is how incredible the Gill man prosthetic's really are. The designer of the approved Gill-man was Disney animator Milicent Patrick, though her role was deliberately downplayed by make-up artist Bud Westmore, who for half a century received sole credit for the creature's conception. Jack Kevan, who worked on The Wizard of Oz and made prosthetics for amputees during World War II, created the bodysuit while Chris Mueller Jr. sculpted the head. the gills have a wonderfull flapping motion when the suit is actually underwater, and it gives him/it that extra touch of secondary animation that really makes him feel alive.
plot wise, this movie somewhat reminds me of KING-KONG. The movie wants you to be afraid of its creature and route for the humans, but naturally the audience (AKA me) starts routing for the Gill man to kick out these imperialist assholes. all the humans are fairly flat and uninteresting, and the Gill man is as close as we get to a relatable character. if your not scared of the gill man, the suspense element falls flat its a real slow burn before the titular monster is revealed. even once the titular creature shows up, this movie really isn't big on suspense. try as i might i can never really be afraid of this monster, which almost turns this into a kind of home invasion movie.
unless you have a hard on for underwater photography and bickering white folks on a boat, just leave my poor baby gill man alone.
mad respect to my (GILL)man, but i will have to pass/10
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