Revenge of the Creature (1955)

Revenge of the Creature
Directed by Jack Arnold
Written by Martin Berkeley; story by William Alland
1955/USA
Universal International Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Lucas: 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.[/box]

The problem with the monster is that his rubber suit is so cumbersome he can hardly move.  And that’s not the only trouble with this sequel.

The Black Lagoon and its Creature have relocated from Florida to the Amazon.  He has killed many scientists already but a brave team is here to collect him for a marine park in Florida.  (The movie was made with the cooperation of Marineland.)  After some very mild thrills, the team is successful.

In Florida, he is chained to the bottom of a large tank.  A visiting professor (John Agar) and a blonde student scientist conduct experiments to determine the beast’s intelligence. Romance ensues followed by more mild thrills when the creature escapes.  Blink and you will miss Clint Eastwood’s uncredited screen debut.

Problem No. 1, is that the Creature just can’t move very fast.  This leads to the main problem, which is that the filmmakers need to build menace and suspense by having their monster almost, but not quite, grasp its prey over and over again prior to the final dull fight. I’m not a big fan of the original film but the sequel is definitely worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eny7VIo9CCc

Trailer

Eastwood’s shining moment