CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) - Movie Reaction - First Time Watching!

Hello Cami......I am very happy to have officially become your first ever membership member....
God bless you.

Just became a new member as I look forward to your reactions, thanks for the react to "Creature," one of my favorite horror movies of all time, so much so that I have several of them in miniature from different companies. And as a bit of trivia it was a woman, Milicent Patrick who actually designed the creature, Westmore never gave her the credit that she deserved.

Ted White, a stuntman/actor, was in the suit (and did an amazing job), he also suited up and starred as my namesake (Jason Voorhees) for one of the Friday The 13th movies 30 years later. Legend!

Today is my 29th birthday 🎂🎂🎂🎂.

Awesome Cami! That famous underwater shot looking up at Julie Adams as she's swimming was direct inspiration for the shark POV in the opening scene of Jaws.

Reptoid Fishman.... Vintage horror!! Amazonian myth like the Mesopotamian Oannes/Dagon!!
I'm here for that one🙃

Cami coming through as she always does with a delightful or should I see a Gill-lightful offering.😂'Creature from the Black Lagoon' has become something of a cult classic over the years. Ben Chapman portrayed the Gill-man for the majority of the scenes shot at Universal City, California. The on-water scenes were filmed at Park Lake on the Universal back lot. The costume made it impossible for Chapman to sit for 14 hours of each day that he wore it and the suit overheated easily. Due to these difficulties, Chapman often stayed in the studio's back-lot lake, frequently requesting to be hosed down (Source: Wiki).

I met Ricou Browning in 1957 when I was 10 years old. Browning played the Creature in all the underwater scenes. It was one of the most exciting events of my childhood.😊

still a Truly Creepy Movie🎥🎶🎶🎶🎶

First movie that terrified me when I first watched it. I was 8 years old. 1966.

To be fair, if I were the creature I would not give up on Kay either. I think this maybe my favorite Universal monster movie. Fun reaction!

Great reaction, Cami. It's so refreshing to see you enjoying classics like this. I haven't seen that until now, either.

I love how you like these old movies 🌺

He is defending himself against a home invasion.

Ricou Browning, the actor in the underwater scenes in the Creature suit, could famously hold his breath underwater for over 2 minutes...AND swim. To me that is just amazing. What an athlete. Enjoyed your reaction.

The creature was FLEEING therefore NOT A THREAT.

If you go looking for a fight the target has a right to defend himself.

The creature didn't die because there are two sequels.

It wasn't a "murderous creature". It was defending itself against invaders (us). We came into ITS environment, shot it with a spear gun, trapped It in a net, poisoned the lake (killing all the fish - probably its food), and sprayed it with chemicals.
Like Kong, WE are the invaders, the bad guys.

I'm glad you're reacting to the classic Universal Horror movies.
There were 2 sequels as well as an Abbott & Costello version.
There have been a number of attempts at remakes, but none have yet been made.
In a way, this is inspired by "King Kong"

Cami, I loved seeing your reaction to this Classic Sci-Fi/Horror "The Creature From the Black Lagoon", this was so well done, and groundbreaking too at the time. The Creature the 'Gill-Man' was designed by artist, animator and designer Millicent Patrick, she was one of the first women to work in special effects and makeup effects in Hollywood, however her contribution was heaverly suppressed for decades due to studio politics.

This was my favorite monster as a kid in the 70's. I got to meet Julie Adams (Kay) in Feb 2018 a year before she died. I got some autographed photos with her and the Creature.

Millicent Patrick created the wonderful design of the creature (including those awesome moving gills) and Bud Westmore who ran Universal's makeup dept. was so petty & insecure that thru professional jealousy using his considerable weight with Universal he had her name removed from the credits and literally destroyed her entire makeup career and Miss Patrick never lived to see her vindication.

This was shot and released in 3D in 1954. Many movies were shot in 3D that year including Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder". Producers thought this was the future for movies, but it didn't catch on and very few 3D movies were made after 1954.

4:57 Cami: "I feel like anything can be fabricated nowadays." My Human anatomy professor was from India, and he once traveled to the Himalayas where he saw how how some villagers fabricated a "Yeti scalp" by stretching and drying an animal skin (can't remember what kind) over a wooden form to make it take on the characteristic conical shape of the top of a Yeti's head. What was fascinating to him was that the villagers, even after seeing how it was made, bowed and chanted to it because they really believed in the Yeti, and to them, this fabrication was a stand in or surrogate for the "genuine" Yeti they "knew" existed.

I have a few Creature From the Black Lagoon magnets on my fridge right now and i still have old Creature action figures.

Kudos to Ginger Stanley who did the swimming stunts for Julia. Ricou Browning did the underwater scenes as the creature. He went on to be an underwater director.

14:54 The director didn't want any bubbles from the creature because it was supposed to be able to breath underwater, so no air tank in the creature costume, and Ricou Browning actually had to hold his breath while filming the long continuous shots in the underwater sequences.

39:47 "He's gone. Well, thank goodness, though! Murderous...creature!"

Well, they did invade the Creature's territory to begin with. How would you react if strange creatures came uninvited into your house, set up an encampment, starting digging inside your dwelling, are attacked when you try to make contact with one and spray chemicals all over the place in the attempt to drug you so they can capture you to take you away for scientific experimentation? I don't think you would like it too much and would use any means to take care of the situation so that it doesn't occur again.

The local tv station stocked the local stores with 3D glasses for a special 3D presentation of this when I was a kid in the 70’s. 💙❤️

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is a good Ray Harryhausen creature flick.

Cami, back in the 80s, they put this on TV and claimed that they made it 3-D... so we all went to Burger King to get those paper 3-D glasses with the one red lens and the one blue lens. It didn't work at all!

You might appreciate this as an actress. While shooting the scene of the creature carrying Kay though his lair, the actor inside the Gill-man suit could barely see through the narrow eye slits, so he accidentally bumped Julia Adams' head against the plaster cave wall causing a scape on her forehead. Rather than winching or yelling ouch, Julia Adams stayed in character and remained limp in the creature's arms. This led to the popular myth that she hit her head so hard that it actually knocked her unconscious.

The creature only killed in self defense. The native guy at the beginning threw a kerosene lamp at him, so he reacted violently. He didn't hurt the lady when she went for a swim. And killed the jerk because he shot him with the spear gun as he was attempting to swim away from them so as not to confront them. So the creature is not the monster here, that would be the humans.

Now you have to watch the two sequels, Revenge of the Creature, and The Creature Walks Among Us.....The first two were filmed in 3D.

My favorite Universal Monster!
The guy in the suit did most of the underwater stuff without an air tank I believe. But I think he did use a small tank for the longer shots. It was under the hump along his back. You can see the bubbles coming out of the suit in the shots where he's using it.

When I was growing up, there was a local program called the “Screaming Meemies Flicks”, it would come on Saturday nights, and they would show movies like this. My sisters and I would watch this with our grandparents… good times.

Earth is 4.6 billion years old. The Devonian was more than 400 million years ago. 150 million years ago is the Jurassic Period.

One of the BEST of the original Universal Monster Films, but if you REALLY enjoy this movie, I HIGHLY recommend checking out Guillermo Del Toro's THE SHAPE OF WATER, an Academy Award winning updated version of this movie.

Haven't seen this in a very long time. It takes me back to every Fri night when I would rent a movie from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. The nostalgia

Liked your comparison to Jaws, as far as not showing the entire monster right away.

He didn’t die; he came back for two more sequel movies. When I was a kid, l bought the famous Aurora monster model of the Creature more than once and consequently assembled and painted it several times. Though expensive, the model can still be obtained from various websites.

I had a model of this creature and the wolf man when I was a kid

Surprised no one responds to the trumpet blasts every time the Creature is near. That's a dead giveaway! Glad you liked this one Cami! (72 years old this movie. Wow!)

Now, imagine watching this in 3D! Which is how this movie was originally released. And if they do ever remake this, it better be in 3D!

Thank you for reacting to these classics. I grew up watching all of these Universal Monster Movies, and it is so nice to see another generation appreciating them.

Love seeing this! ❤ In the 70’s I got the Don Post mask and hands set of the creature for Christmas. Made of latex and hand painted they were amazing.

julie adams👌

I love this movie with its great cast of characters wonderful actors and a very cool story and the more you see this movie the more you will also appreciate the director and cinematographer I assure you. I guess that they must of had oxygen tanks hidden in the weeds for the creature to use when not in the shot. I happen to have this on dvd along with all of the monster movies of that era

This was originally shot in 3D and it looks amazing. Spielberg (whether consciously or unconsciously) lifted a lot of elements from this film for "Jaws"...the angles of the swimming scenes, the tugged leg, the trapped boat being stalked and pulled by the creature, using the winch etc etc. Incidentally, Jack Arnold also directed the brilliant sci-fi film "The Incredible Shrinking Man". One of my all time favourites.

12:37 Look at the swimsuit; it is styled exactly like Wonder Woman's classic superhero costume, precisely because the inspiration for its design came from those.

Creature From the Black Lagoon was originally filmed in fantastic 3-D. It used the old linear polarisation method (not the horrible red-and-cyan color-filtering lenses, called _anaglyph_ [works well for comic books, but not films], that was used later on TV showings as a gimmick, which also made everyone believe that all the old 3-D films, and even the early 1980s 3D fillms, were anaglyph). However, my mom who saw the original in 3-D (linear polarisation) said that the glasses made the picture so incredibly dim that it was unwatchable, and so she and her friends had to take off the glasses to kind of enjoy it; she said that the 3-D effect was really good, but it was just too dark. Today, they use the method called circular polarisation and so it's less dark. :)

Grew up watching these movies and love them.

If you want an 'updated' take on this idea, look into 'The Shape Of Water', it's a loose remake of the same concept, but done in a different way. It's from Guillermo Del Toro, who's a master at making dark fantasy movies.

Great movie with my favorite actor...'Whit Bissell'...=))

This is rumor right now but highly likely. The Dark Universe section of the new Universal theme park Epic Universe is dedicated to Universal monsters. Although the Creature appears in the dark ride called Monsters Unchained another ride is currently under construction that might be an exclusive Creature water ride. All indoor similar to Pirates of the Caribbean but with a new ride system that’s half boat ride half roller coaster. There is promotional art going around with the Creature looking at The Bride of Frankenstein. This concept sounds pretty ridiculous but considering how well the Monsters Unchained ride works a Creature and Bride mash up could be fun. 😊

When I was a kid this movie scared the heck out of me. I remember one night I woke up in the middle of the night, somehow my hand 🖐had come out of the covers and was resting propped against the wall, it looked like a hand sticking up from under the bed. I touched it with my other hand. What I hadn't realize was because of the odd angle, my hand had gone numb, and the numb hand couldn't feel it when I my good hand touched it. Man, I let out a scream that woke the whole street up. 😮 😬😂😂🤣🤣

What a great classic sci-fi, one of the best! The practicals & underwater shots are just so good. You mentioned your affinity for the genre, so I must suggest “THX1138” & “The 27th Day”. Both underrated but the storylines are fantastic. Hope you’ll consider adding them to the list. 😊

I live right near the Silver River in Silver Springs Florida where they filmed this and I have canoed up and down it many times….it is so beautiful and well protected to this day.

Always felt a bit sorry for the creature, living his best life in his lake and then pesky humans turn up to cause trouble! Revenge Of The Creature is a great film too! He causes havoc on land!

The underwater scenes in this movie were filmed in Wakulla Springs, Florida, located about 15 miles south of Tallahassee. In the early 1950’s, the SCUBA tank being used for recreational and sport diving was in its infancy. Hollywood was quick to embrace it.
Isn’t it amazing that the hump on the creature’s back looks like he may be hiding a tank under his costume! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I agree. I think Creature from the Black Lagoon is such a unique film. I would absolutely LOVE to see a well done modern interpretation of this film with as little CG as possible. Practical is always best. 👌

The issue is that this creature feature is overshadowed by all the other monster films. We have tons of Dracula, werewolf, Frankenstein, and Mummy films. But not this one. We're way overdue! -OG

Ah, the swimsuit that made audiences gasp, and the underwater camera angles of Julia Adams swimming was quite risqué for the time. Underwater photography was still relatively new, and I believe they were using a new camera design that was easier to move around and go deeper with. This does raise the question, by going into the creature's domain and trying to destroy him, who was being murderous? BTW: The name of the boat, 'Rita', is a trivia question.

This was an excellent movie coverage from you. Will you be resuming your coverage of Twilight Zone episodes in the future?

One of my all-time favorites. Great Monster design. Excellent cast. Lots of action. Wonderful movie

13:28 Fun movie trivia: The creature was actually two people. Ben Chapman was the (walking) creature on land and Ricou Browning was the swimming creature filmed in Florida. Although the head of Universal's makeup department, Bud Westmore is shown in the movie's credits; The creature was actually designed by Milicent Patrick. It was one of the first movie "monsters" to be designed by a woman. Milicent was involved in a LOT of movie work for Universal and Disney.

Everyone should find a way to watch this in its original 3D format.

If you have a 3-D TV and 3D Blu-ray player I strongly recommend you watch this movie in 3-D. It was shot in 3-D and meant to be seen in 3-D.

Richard Denning, the guy who played Mark, played the Governor in Hawaii Five O on TV.

One of the greatest '50s sci-fi horror films of all-time - originally shot & released in 3-D (the format was in its infancy more or less but for its time it was groundbreaking and one of the better executed) - and revived Universal's horror legacy with a genuine original monster (all the others are adaptations based on another source material for the record) - and yes the vastly talented & unsung Millicent Patrick created the Gill-Man's amazing physicality with her artistry in sculpture which led to the make-up/costume design for the Creature which stands the test of the time as one of the best man-in-a-suit's constructions (it's up there with the Xenomorph of the ALIEN films). I'm glad you are going down the hole for the studios' vast array of horror films for SpookySeason. Indeed Ricou Browning & Ben Chapman are the gents in the suits for water & land duties and the iconic Julie Adams (sigh) whose one piece white bathing suit is forever etched in millions of coming of age teenage boys (and some girls :D ) RE: Patrick there is a fascinating biography written by Mallory O'Meara called THE LADY FROM THE BLACK LAGOON I think you'd enjoy reading; it really is an amazing story. Jack Arnold who directed the movie was one of the best for the genre - he also helmed for THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (a must see) among others and this is his crowning achievement. The Creature is such a beloved monster among the fandom and he shows up in 2 immediate sequels equally good - REVENGE OF THE CREATURE & THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US. For decades, John Carpenter wanted to do a remake but it never sadly came to fruition  It did inspire Guillermo del Toro (who absolutely adored the monster) to write & direct THE SHAPE OF WATER which would win the Oscar for Best Picture as a valentine to the love story that Kay & Gill never had the chance to be depicted (also a must see, Cam). Great reaction too BTW as always xoxo

One of the many places this film was shot was Silver Springs, Florida. That's a place where you can take glass-bottomed boats and tour a fantastic nature preserve. I went there as a kid, and it was amazing.

Thank you Cami, I always enjoy your reactions, you have such enthusiasm (which really seems to shine with the older films!). I share your liking of practical effects!

I saw this for the first time when I was twelve. To say that Julie Adams had me intrigued is an understatement!

Have you seen the movie Ed Wood yet? It is not one of these older period piece horror movie, but it is a true story about Ed Wood, a director of unusual movies like this. To be fair Creature From The Black Lagoon was a masterpiece, Ed Wood’s work, not so much. Like all the people who made unusual movies like this, Ed just wanted to also tell stories just like those, but on a much smaller budget.
Johnny Depp does an amazing job in the title role, and Martin Landau does an equally amazing job as Original Movie Vampire——-Bella Lugosi. Very interesting film, it does have some sad parts, they become more sad when you realize they really happened. Ed Wood is not a movie to be seen when you are in a sad mood, because at least a couple scenes will definitely bring your sadness down another two levels.

Julie Adams looks a lot like young Jennifer Connelly

If they ever remake this movie, good luck in finding a leading lady that can match the stunning beauty of Miss Addams.

The 'creature' was an olympic swimmer known for his ability to hold his breath for long periods.

This is my favorite universal monster movie this movie spawned two sequels The revenge of the creature in 1955 and A Creature walks among us in 1956 hopefully when you can fit them in you can watch both of them . I suggest because you like old movies check out Ghost Breaker's with Bob Hope it's a classic comedy . Your reaction was really good I will like and hype the video. Have a great day.

_Swamp Thing_ from 1982 is based on a comic book from the 1970s. It might make an interesting addition to your "creature" reactions.

This my all-time favorite of the Universal Monster movies. I have an original full-sheet Movie Poster of it framed on the wall of my home theater/media room. It cost me a pretty penny. But it's worth it. When l attended Florida State back in the 80s l worked Summers at Wakulla Springs State Park. Where this movie was filmed.
You're right. Julia Adams is beautiful co-star. She always reminded me of one of my childhood heartthrobs Elinor Donahue.

One of the things about Movie Credits back then was that the people who were named in them were usually the Head of each department. There have always been Armies of people who worked on these films who were never recognised, never Credited.
When Star Wars came out in 77', George Lucas moved the Credits to the End of the movie, and named Everyone who worked on it.
And it has remained the norm to this day.

Great thumbnail.

A newer take on the Gil Man is 2017's The Shape Of Water.

As mentioned here before, you would be surprised by how many scenes in “Jaws” mirror scenes in this movie almost perfectly.

when worlds collide is another great one

Time for Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.” Widely recognized as a spiritual successor to Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The Wolfman, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, and Dracula (1931) are, above all else, the most sacred tradition for me around Halloween.

There's Roger Coman's sleazy drive in version of this film called Humanoids from the Deep from 1980 or 81 to check out.

Another favorite as a kid in the 60's. When Jaws came to the screen and we get the underwater shots of Chrissie - I knew Spielberg was also a fan of this film growing up. Same with the boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the classic Journey to the Center of the Earth's Boulder scene. We were all kids once.

The creature design was highly touted. At the time it was revolutionary. Credit was given to a well known make-up artist. But it was later revealed it was a woman responsible for the design

I would recommend The Shape of Water. Modern day creature.

Skin diving equipment was still a fairly new thing when this was made. The creature had air tanks on his back, built into his costume. Very creative stuff for it's time. I saw this in 3-D when I was about 12 years old. it definitely made an impression on me.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the last of the Universal Monsters. They made a very subversive remake called The Shape of Water. Hellboy's sidekick Abe Sapien is a Gillman knockoff. But the best modern take on Gillman is in 1987's The Monster Squad, which is a love letter to the Universal Monsters, which the studio turned down. The creature designs of the movie were created by Stan Winston.

Wasn't early underwater filming specTACular ?!?! It was quite new in the '50s and being in black and white, the shadows, not knowing what was just out of view.... was really exciting to see !!! A definitely SCARY with that brass-heavy music !!

And we teens of the 60s got to see all these classic early SciFi films... on a Saturday afternoon local show, usually and aptly called... The Creature Feature !!! Great fun !!

Milicent Patrick designed The Creatures overall look. The original design looked very different. It's a crime that Milicent's name didn't show on the credits. I contacted Julie Adams a few times via email. She sent a few behind-the-scenes stills from the film. Julie also told me that the director (Jack Arnold) cast and crew were some of the nicest folks she's ever worked with. In "The Seven-Year Itch," Marilyn Monroe and Tom Euwell had just watched this movie. Marilyn's character felt sorry for The Gill Man. In a way, I felt sorry for Creach, as well. Except for wanting Kay, he just wanted the outside world to leave him alone. Guillermo del Toro derived a lot of inspiration for his," The Shape of Water" from "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Personally, I thought del Toro's "gill man" movie was just barely palpable. Thanks, Cami! You're very appreciative of those old Universal classics and other classics, in general. Keep up the great work, dear gal!

One of the original movies made in 3D even though not much 3D stuff going on in it, House of Wax and The Charge at Feather River were two other movies shot in 3D

The youngest young man to fight in the US military was Calvin Graham. The naval battles off Guadalcanal were brutal for the US. The Japanese had spent decades refining their night fighting skills plus the Japanese had the best most powerful torpedo in the world.

In November the US fought 1st and 2nd Naval Battles of Guadalcanal. In the 2nd Battle the Battleship USS South Dakota was hit by more than a dozen shells. Calvin Graham was part of an anti-aircraft crew. His gun was hit as well as other positions. The ship's superstructure was a wreck and there were wounded men everywhere and parts of the ship were on fire. Calvin was seriously wounded but he still got involved in rescuing other men. Throughout the Battle Calvin pulled wounded men to safety. For his actions Calvin earned a purple heart and a bronze star with a V device for valor. The Second Battle of Guadalcanal took place in 1942. Calvin was born in 1930. Calvin Graham was 12 years old when he fought in the Second Battle of Guadalcanal.😮

There is tremendous romance in the Creature, above all the other monsters in the Universal cannon, in Tiki culture hes an Icon. This movie partly influenced me as a child to want to scuba dive which ive done twice, not bad for a in land Canadian. These early monster films also were pioneers of so much movie techniques and styles of filming and concepts. Much of the greatness we had in the 80s was pioneered in these early films. I love your gentle spirit and beauty, you are a joy to watch. I also love that you are so curious and willing to explore these old films, society would really benefit from watching these old films, you should also try the old radio shows they are all on youtube, the detective shows are best, but Voyage of the Scarlett Queen is an action adventure and its top notch, give it a whirl.

Filmed in Silver Springs, Florida. I visited there. The water is crystal clear. I heard a lot of films were shot there...the original Tarzan, a 007 movie and many more. I think it's closed now.

Julie Adams was also a very good singer and released several albums