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Movies / On DVD / Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon

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Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

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Reviews Counted:26

Fresh:22

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7/10

Runtime: 80 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: A research team digging in the Amazon comes across the fossilized hand of a human fish creature. That night, the creature emerges from the swamp to kill. So begins one of the more recognizable... A research team digging in the Amazon comes across the fossilized hand of a human fish creature. That night, the creature emerges from the swamp to kill. So begins one of the more recognizable classics of the science fiction and horror genres. Shot originally in 3-D, this has been a late-night TV hit for decades. The hand makes its way back to the oceanographic institute and soon conscientious scientist David Reed (Richard Carlson), greedy scientist Mark (Richard Cunha) and the beautiful girl they fight over, Kay (Julia Adams) are heading up the Amazon to find more fossils. Instead, of course, they run into the real thing, and terror begins. While Mark and David fight over what to do next, the creature falls in love with Kay, and makes plans of his own. Island diver Ricou Browning plays the creature in the spectacular underwater scenes, the highlight being a beautifully creepy scene of Kay going for a swim, while the smitten creature swims along below her, transfixed. The pounding, horrific score is credited to conductor Joseph Gerhsenson but was actually written by a team of composers, including Henry Mancini. [More]

Starring: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno

Starring: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell, Ben Chapman, Syd Mason, Ricou Browning

Director: Jack Arnold

Director: Jack Arnold
Screenwriter: Harry Essex, Arthur Ross
Producer: William Alland
Composer: Herman Stein, Hans J. Salter, Milton Rosen, Henry Mancini, Robert Emmett Dolan

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Creature from the Black Lagoon

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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The underwater sequences were excellently shot by Havens, and the make-up for the half man, half fish was a masterful creation by Bud Westmore and Jack Keven.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/26/07
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The routine story is mightily improved by Arnold's sure sense of atmospheric locations and by the often sympathetic portrait of the monster.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[A] B movie classic.

Full Review Source: Edinburgh U Film Society | comment Comment
01/01/00
Keith H. Brown
Keith H. Brown
Edinburgh U Film Society

A classic horror that warms the heart.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
02/22/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Imbued with great atmosphere by director Jack Arnold, the film is genuinely frightening, but also elicits a certain amount of pathos for the creature.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/26/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Jack Arnold has a flair for this sort of thing, and if there really is anything frightening about a man dressed up in a rubber suit with zippers where the gills ought to be, Arnold comes close to finding it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
09/26/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

This adventure has no depth.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
10/31/06
A.H. Weiler
A.H. Weiler
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/12/05
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/19/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Very neat

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
07/08/05
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

No review available.

comment Comment
03/11/05
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

No review available.

comment Comment
11/12/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

As directed by Jack Arnold, the film suffers from silly stretches of dialogue and wooden acting, but the underwater footage is still beautiful, and Adams radiates a strong, sexy screen presence.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
11/01/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
01/20/04
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

No review available.

comment Comment
12/09/03
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

Creepy underwater horror flick. Ahead of its time.

comment Comment
11/05/03
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

Incluindo um curioso subtexto ecológico, o filme envelheceu bem: pode até não assustar como na época de seu lançamento, mas continua interessante.

comment Comment
07/28/03
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Great monster suit. Not much of a movie

comment 2 Comments
08/07/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

One of the best of the 1950's creature features. (By a long shot.)

comment Comment
07/26/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Latest News for Creature from the Black Lagoon

April 14, 2009: Breck Eisner Talks Flash Gordon, Creature from the Black Lagoon Opens in new window
Breck Eisner is currently shooting his remake of George Romero's "The Crazies," but he isn't too busy to talk with IGN about two high-profile upcoming projects -- namely, his... More...

May 05, 2008: Breck Eisner Talks Creature from the Black Lagoon Opens in new window
Breck Eisner is gearing up to direct a Creature from the Black Lagoon remake for Universal -- and he's naming Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo as a source of inspiration. More...

October 20, 2005: Breck Eisner Goes from "Sahara" to "Black Lagoon"
Breck Eisner made his debut with last April's "Sahara" for Paramount, and he'll soon be helming Universal's remake of "The Creature from the Black Lagoon."... More...

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