![]() ![]() The final film in the original series, The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), takes a unique and interesting spin on the now-familiar characterization of the Creature. The Creature costume and mask had been slightly redesigned to be less stressful for actors to wear, at the expense of the original menacing appearance - and air bubbles can now be seen rising from the Gill-Man as he swims! After the Creature is captured, the film goes in a more interesting direction, as the theme park workers mistreat and jeer at the Gill-Man, and he finds a new love, female scientist Helen Dobson. The first third of the film feels like a retread of the original Creature, but the attention to detail has already been diminished. The first of these, Revenge of the Creature (1955), deals with the efforts of a second expedition to the Amazon sent to capture the Gill-Man and what happens when he is held captive in an “educational” aquatic theme park. Two sequels for Creature From the Black Lagoon were released. David Reed’s beautiful girlfriend, Kay Lawrence. They are unaware that the amphibious creature known as “Gill-man” has been watching them-in particular, Dr. When they find out that the previous research team has perished at the hands of an unknown attacker, the crew begins to fear that a nearby “black lagoon” may have something to do with the unusual deaths. After a geology expedition on the Amazon discovers the fossil of a skeletal webbed hand linking both land and sea animals, another crew returns to the river to look for more parts of the possible human-sea creature hybrid. The creature from the black lagoon movie#This attention to detail created a unique atmosphere and memorably characterized Gill-Man but made the shoot tremendously stressful.Īlthough the 3D Creature from the Black Lagoon is a lesser-known movie monster classic, it is simply one of the best. The diver portraying the Creature in the underwater scenes had to hold his breath because director Jack Arnold stipulated that the Gill-Man breathed water, not air, which meant that there were no air bubbles coming up from the Creature during the swimming sequences. While filming, the actors playing the Creature were unable to sit for 14 hours of the day in the suit and often requested to be hosed down due to the overheating caused by the bodysuit and prosthetics. The interaction between the monstrous and the feminine converges to great effect in a movie that's lost none of its entertainment in 65 years.The creature was designed by Disney animator Millicent Patrick, but popular makeup artist Bud Westmore received most of the credit. The Creature From the Black Lagoon and its sequels are hokey, but that camp quality allows strings of subversion regarding gender roles to creep through. Instead, it is personal autonomy that is paramount. Like Marcia, relationships and love aren't important for the creature. ![]() Because he is being transformed into an actual man, being accused of murder is the final straw for him that compels the creature to return to the sea. This film also significantly downplays the romance between Gill-Man and woman, with the monster fleeing human society because he's about to be blamed for a murder. She wields a gun with expert precision, and it's strictly the men who perceive her as a sex object instead of the capable woman she demonstrates herself to be. More than Kay and Helen, Marcia is the most progressive woman in the Creature universe who doesn't need any man (or fish/man) at all. The Gill-Man holds no scientific promise for Barton, but is an object, no different from the wife he chronically abuses and controls. Like Michael Shannon's Agent Strickland in The Shape of Water, Barton isn't interested in anything more than his own selfish pride. He's also incredibly wary about his wife, Marcia (Leigh Snowden) falling into the hands of another man. William Barton (Jeff Morrow) hopes to kill the Gill-Man once and for all. In this final installment paranoid scientist Dr. ![]() The Creature Walks Among Us holds the harshest critique against men, the most powerful woman, and the greatest comparison to The Shape of Water. The creature from the black lagoon series#All nuance is thrown out the window here as the Gill-Man seems to just be obsessed with Helen because she's a female – illustrating claims many have laid out that the Creature From the Black Lagoon series perpetuates racial stereotypes regarding a foreign Other lusting after white women. This need to act as liberator continues with 1955's Revenge of the Creature, where the Gill-Man becomes little more than an observer to the mating rituals of a pretty student (already demoted in terms of skill level), Helen (Lori Nelson) and the two men who captured and keep the creature confined. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |