"Creature from the Black Lagoon"

It’s hard to put my finger on what makes Universal’s classic monster films so special.

By today’s standards the films are fairly cheesy. I don’t think there’s anyone who would get genuinely frightened by the sight of Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man or Boris Karloff’s monster in “Frankenstein” and certainly not the (obviously) rubber-suited visage of the Gill Man in “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

And yet they still feel real. Call it movie magic, call it whatever you want, the artists and actors who brought these creations to life did amazing work within the constraints of their time.

That said, “Creature from the Black Lagoon” feels like one of the “lesser” Universal monster movies. For one thing, it lacks the ambiance of the other monster films. Part of what makes these movies great is the wonderful sense of place provided by the set and production design. There’s still nothing quite like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab, Dracula’s castle, or the small village terrorized by the Wolf Man. The majority of this film takes place in the titular lagoon and in broad daylight no less. So any sense of dread comes simply from the idea of a monster nearly impossible to kill won’t stop terrorizing you.

There’s also less of an emotional connection to the Gill Man. In “The Wolf Man,” you’re drawn to Larry Talbot, an otherwise innocent man doomed to a horrible fate through no fault of his own. In “Frankenstein,” you’re compelled to sympathize with a monster who had no choice in his creation but still wants to understand who he is and what purpose he serves. The Gill Man is pretty much just a monster through and through. He seems to immediately develop a fancy for the lovely Julia Adams (can you blame him?) but that’s about the only defining characteristic shown outside of him simply wanting to terrorize the excavation crew passing through his lagoon.

What I do love about the film, though, is the way it frames the story and, more specifically, the creature.

The other Universal monsters are the result of rather fantastical circumstances: Magic, curses or impossible science. The Gill Man, however, is simply a freak of nature, one of Mother Nature’s outcasts doomed to be a monster for no reason other than that’s how it evolved. I won’t say that this makes the film or the creature more believable, but it does feel at least somewhat more plausible than the story of a vampire or werewolf or a monster brought to life by a bolt of lightning.

I also love the design of Gill Man. Yeah, there’s no hiding that it’s a guy in a rubber suit, there’s just so much obvious care and attention to detail in every fin and scale. It’s that level of real, tangible, practical attention to detail that I miss no matter how impressive or photorealistic CGI becomes. There’s no substitute for seeing an actual actor in a suit swimming around. (Which, I also should note, looks great thanks to the impressive-for-its-time underwater photography.)

I may not have the sort of affection for this as I do so many other classics of its era, but I still think “Creature from the Black Lagoon” rightly stands alongside its Universal brethren. It’s a lesser film, sure, but still a memorable one.

Next week, I’ll continue catching up on some classic horror films with reviews of “The Mummy” starring Boris Karloff and “Dracula” starring Bela Lugosi.

Every week, Entertainment Editor Stewart Smith brings a new entry in “Catching Up On…” an ongoing series attempting to fill in the gaps of his cinematic education.