REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955)
Tagline: All-New Thrills! Shocks! Suspense!
(Sci-Fi, Horror, Black Lagoon Resident On The Loose) [PG]
Note: This movie was never given an MPAA rating, but I feel it would have been a PG.
I hope you ain't going to blow up my boat, Mr. Johnson. Like my wife, she's not much but she's all I have.
In this one Captain Lucas and some scientists decide the best thing for “the creature” is to return to the Black Lagoon and take it from there, to make money off it as an attraction at a marine life park. Of course, once there “the creature” manages to escape and take scientist Helen Dobson with him. Can Prof. Clete Ferguson and local authorities stop, the REVENGE OF THE CREATURE?
First off, Theatrically this movie was released in a double feature with CULT OF THE COBRA. The movie was shot in 3-D but many theaters opted out of that since the 3-D craze was starting to die off. These days almost every major movie is released in 3-D, so it never really died out completely. Some say the technology just got better, but I clearly remember seeing better 3-D in the 80s. What I mean by that is the “depth” used to be better. If something was sticking out at you, you felt like you could touch it right in front of your face. Now it feels like it’s just barely coming off the screen and everything else is deeper in the screen, not popping off of it. This movie actually made the most money of the 3 in the series.
I am not going to say that REVENGE OF THE CREATURE lives up to the grandeur that is THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, but I actually loved this storyline. It mirrors quite closely the premise of JAWS 3-D and I think it’s possible the idea for that movie, came from this one. The one clear difference is that JAWS is not going to take you to Jacksonville, FL, he’s just going to eat you or at least really mess up that old boat of yours.
Acting-wise I really like the 2 leads. John Agar plays Prof. Clete Ferguson and is very good in this. Agar is well known for being in a decent pile of sci-fi flicks from the 50s, and 60s who continued acting until 2001. His films include TARANTULA and ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE among many others. Lori Nelson also does a great job as Helen Dobson. Her chemistry with Agar is pretty noticeable. Nelson’s other big sci-fi flick from the 50s was DAY THE WORLD ENDED. Other notable actors in this include Nestor Paiva is also in this and reprises his role as Captain Lucas from the first movie. If you watch this and Nestor Paiva looks familiar, it might be because he was also in TARANTULA and ended up with 314 acting credits from 1937 to 1968. This was also Clint Eastwood’s first movie appearance. At the time though, no one knew who he was. He plays a lab technician in this film.
One thing I will say about this movie is that it almost feels like two stories in one. The first half is essentially them getting “the creature” and him acclimating (or NOT acclimating) to the marine life park. The second half takes a completely different tone and almost feels more like they just completely didn’t know what to do with the script once he escaped. I think it’s the disjointed feel of this movie that causes it to be considered inferior to the first one. The performances, the creature suit, and the setting were all pretty fantastic until the script just kind of falls off the cliff in the last 20 minutes or so of the movie.
This is a solid 5 out of 7 in spite of its flaws, it’s still a pretty fun movie for the most part.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.
Comments
Post a Comment