Time: 80 Minutes
Age Rating: PG
Cast:
Richard Carlson as Dr. David Reed
Julia Adams as Kay Lawrence
Richard Denning as Dr. Mark Williams
Antonio Moreno as Dr. Carl Maia
Nestor Paiva as Captain Lucas
Whit Bissell as Dr. Edwin Thompson
Ricou Browning as the Gillman (underwater)
Ben Chapman as the Gillman (on land)
Director: Jack Arnold

When a team of experts venture into the Amazon forest to research fossils, they find themselves at Black Lagoon. Upon entering the water body, they capture the attention of an unknown beast.

I had heard of Creature from the Black Lagoon, it was one of those classic Universal monster movies. I ended up liking it a lot more than I was expecting to.

The story follows a strange prehistoric beast in the depth of the Amazonian jungle and the group of scientists who try to capture it. It is very simple in its B movie plot and the storytelling exceeds in that; it works for the 77 minute runtime.

The movie is brilliantly directed by Jack Arnold. There’s some stunning black and white cinematography. The underwater scenes are filmed incredibly well; there’s a surprising amount of underwater shots considering it was a 1954 film, and they pull off a lot. The rubber suit on the creature still looks convincing and intimidating, the set designs and costumes and effects were great for the time and they hold up considerably well today. The score that appears whenever the creature shows up is admittedly over dramatic, but it is iconic and helps to raise the tension.

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a highly influential and classic monster film, it was very well made, especially for its time. It has aged surprisingly well and is worth checking out, especially if you’re a horror fan.