Aaah the 1950s. A period in America's cinematic history when mutant monsters gave form to the unspeakable terror of nuclear war. Paraniod delusions and shared trauma. Men in rubber suits. Good times. So how does the story of an archaeological expedition to the Amazon in the hope of making an important scientific discovery fit into all this? 

Well for starters there's the half-man half-fish creature tormenting our plucky gang of scientists. It's from another world, not space this time, but Earth's primordial past. Discovered during research into aquatic life, research that could one day be used to aid man's survival on other planets should the worst happen, the creature clearly represents the possible mutated fate of mankind after a second…

Monster movies received a second lease of life during the 1950s tapping into the fears of a nuclear age. Creature from the Black Lagoon is arguably one of the most famous creature features of the era, even if it doesn’t quite utilise the anxiety of nuclear paranoia in the same way other movies of the decade did. Instead, this shares more in common with King Kong - scientists in an exotic location attempting to capture a new species that falls in love with the lone female member of the exhibition party.

As with many of the Universal monster movies (particularly those of the ‘30s) there is a deep sadness to the monstrous creature making its demise a bitter rather than…

Part of...
Horroctober 2012

I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon"; a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it.
-Lucas

I always complain about 3D, but even I have to admit that watching Creature from the Black Lagoon in Blu-ray 3D on a projector was damn awesome. I was quite shocked at just how effective the 3D was right from the beginning of the film, especially the underwater scenes. The fish freaked me out a little.

The film itself still holds up well. Sure the film is one horror trope after another, but it's because of films like this that these tropes exist in the…

Universal, in the period between the 1930’s and 1960’s released some of the most world famous horror films of all-time. Releases such as Dracula, Frankenstein and an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel The Invisible Man made the company successful and the legacy of those films is still relevant to the day, due to all their iconic imagery and storytelling. At the time of their releases, cinema was a whole different industry, but it was improving and the ideas behind those films were getting greater and more revolutionary.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon, released in 1954, is easily the greatest Universal monster movie I've seen to this date. The story, which follows geologists on an expedition into the Amazon…

or.... The Sadness of the Manfish. The film encapsulates the many 50s sci-fi qualities that are very endearing. The woman is prime eye-candy, innocently swimming in what should be piranha-infested waters. Some aspects are fairly silly by modern standards, but the creature itself looks amazing. Aside from a few adjustments to better utilize movement, the film could be remade today with no changes to the costume and it'd still be affective. Knowing it was originally conceived for 3-D only alludes to the all-powerful assumption of a modern retelling sometime in the future. There's an idea that I believe could be justified in every way.

I'm also a sucker for 20th century myth-building- in this case, the unconquered landscape of the…

Wow !! This was a pretty damn fine Monster flick. Amazing Underwater photography and loads of it. Half of the film must have been under water. Amazing creature design truly made this Universal Monster iconic. Imagine if we didn't know ahead of time what the creature looked like. Once he is revealed I think there would have been true shock. Really amazing make-up and costume work. This film slowly becomes a hunt, but who is hunting who? The footprints of Jaws is written all over this film. A truly fascinating film that has obviously been inspiring many filmmakers for years and years. Julie Adams is Mega-Hot and that bathing suit reveal was fantastic. I imagine mothers covering their children's eyes…

During an expedition up the Amazon, a group of scientists are looking to find more evidence of a fossil that was discovered, but they come face-to-face with a hostile half-man, half-fish creature. Who takes a real fancy to the lady assistant of the group and kidnaps her after escaping the cage that the scientists had held him captive in.

This totally successful Universal classic creature feature is unquestionably a very influential imprint on the many horror / Sci-fi ilks that followed it. I have not seen the flick in ages, but the charm and polish was still there to considerate one of my all-time favourite Universal monster flicks. Originally, it was distributed in 3-D, but even without that gimmick it…