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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More Great Drive-In Movie Fun, May 20, 2000
This first of two sequels to 'Creature From The Black Lagoon' benefits from the return of director Jack Arnold from the first movie, he is the best director of 50s Sci-Fi/Horror films and knows how to keep things moving at a steady, exciting pace. Another plus is the prescence of hero John Agar, one of the best scientist-heroes of '50s drive in fare. The movie suffers slightly for being a sequel, thus losing its originality; also it misses out on the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first movie by taking our green scaly friend out of the Black Lagoon and into a Sea World type establishment in South Florida, where he eventually breaks free and runs amok (as conventional wisdom would dictate). The film has a lot of exciting sequences, including a great scene where the Creature breaks free from his holding pond in the park and drives the large crowd into a frenzied panic, climaxing with the Creature overturning a classic '50s car! Scenes such as this are where this sequel exceeds the original; the two movies together take well under three hours to watch and make a GREAT back-to-back double bill on the couch. Nothing unexpected with the plot, which is pretty much the standard formula sci-fi bring-the-monster-back-to-civilization-and-watch-him-break-free formula plot, right down to a lame and mercifully brief attempt at a love triangle which we the viewers could give a hoot about. But when it comes to a fun drive in movie featuring a guy running around in a rubber suit terrorizing the population (albeit a superiorly created rubber suit thanks to the budget of a big-studio), there are not many movies that are more fun than this near-classic.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazonian creature, green, seeks marine biologist, human, October 25, 2004
I was going to say that "Revenge of the Creature," the sequel to the classic Universal monster movie "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" presages "Jaws 3," but the whole idea of bringing back the monster to civilization goes back at least to "King Kong." The story for this 1955 sequel is that the creature is captured in his secluded Amazon waterway and brought back to a Marineland in northern Florida where it can be exhibited, er, studied. John Agar ("Tarantula," "Brain From Planet Arous") is Professor Clete Ferguson, who represents that peculiar combination of science and showmanship that made this country great, and Lori Nelson ("Hot Rod Girl," "Day the World Ended") is Helen Dobson, the beautiful marine biologist who becomes the object of the creature's desires (as opposed to good food or freedom).
Like its predecessor this 1955 film was shot in 3-D, although I have never seen it that way. But you can certainly see where the 3-D opportunities pop up: e.g., the creature swims right towards you and prods are directed right at the camera. Besides being set in civilization instead of in the jungle and having an entirely different cast (except for Nestor Paiva's Captain Lucas who is gone by the end of the first reel), the main different between the first two films is that this time the creature is more of a monster. Before it was basically snatch the beautiful woman in the swimsuit and take her to your hidden lair. This time the creature jumps out of his tank to attack crowds of spectators and then has to swat the police around a bit as he escapes. There are also teenagers to be the creature's unfortunate victims, just to give the kids in the audience someone to identify with, which was not possible the first time around. Fortunately the
Jack Arnold returns as the director for "Revenge" and Ricou Browning is back again to do the underwater shots of the creature while Tom Hennessy gets to do the heavy lifting of the heroine on land. Again, the underwater sequences are pretty good, with Arnold having the creature follow the damsel while she films, although this time the hero has joined her as well as the creature reaches for her legs. Arnold is able to establish the requisite degree of pathos for the poor creature, who is chained and poked with a cattle prod. Fortunately when he escapes the river he jumps into takes him right to Jacksonville where Helen is blissfully unaware she is going to be carted away. There is also the quaint idea that Helen is conflicted over being a working woman since all of her schoolmates apparently abandoned their degrees to be wives and mothers. Fortunately the creature's interest helps to put her life into perspective and Clete will be able to give her a stable home without any humanoid fish-like creatures gapping at her. Ah, there is nothing like the political sub-text of a black & white 1950s B-movie.
"Revenge of the Creature" is not as bad as I remember it, although I do not think it is in the league of the original "Creature From the Black Lagoon." Granted, when you have one of the greatest rubber suits in the history of monster movies you have to make a sequel. Apparently this one made more money that the first, which would explain why it was followed the next year by "The Creature Walks Among Us." The other thing that recommends this particular creature feature would be the fact that this is the first movie in the history of the world in which Clint Eastwood makes an appearance. He has an uncredited role as a lab technician who does a lame gag regarding a missing mouse (insert appropriate metaphor along the lines of mighty oaks growing from tiny acorns).
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Creature from the Black Lagoon Strikes Back., July 30, 2001
As a typical example of '50s Grade B sci-fi, this sequel meets most expectations. After an exciting start detailing the capture of the violent "gill-man," the plot drags a little during the creature's captivity in "Ocean Harbor," a forerunner of Sea World. As the man-fish languishes on display for gawking spectators, Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) moons around the delectable Helen Dobson. Both are academic types studying the creature, and each other. These romantic interludes (not to mention the pointless Flippy the porpoise segment) become tiresome, and one squirms waiting for the script to get back to the sci-fi/horror plot. Thankfully, the gill-man eventually breaks loose and typical monster-movie mayhem prevails. The panicked crowd fleeing Ocean Harbor in their best '50s summer-wear evokes chuckles. Rarely have we seen so many white shirts, crewcuts, and bobby sox in one place. And checkout those Panama hats. As the gill-man makes his way down to the sea through various canals and inlets, he brings dreadful death to clueless victims. They fatuously wander around at night, although there is a well-publicized monster on the loose. Feeling conflicted by freedom lust and other lusts, the gill-man stalks Helen, who lounges around in swimwear, underwear, etc. She obligingly stays by water, and leaves her doors and windows open and unlocked. The veteran Jack Arnold, who directed the classic "Tarantula" directed the movie. For those who enjoy old sci-fi/horror flicks, no matter how unlikely, this is a good one for you. Others beware. ;-)
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