Revenge of the Creature (1955)

Men capture the creature from the Black Lagoon and make him an aquarium attraction, from which he escapes.

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Martin Berkeley (screenplay), William Alland (story)

Stars:

John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Agar	...	Professor Clete Ferguson
Lori Nelson	...	Helen Dobson
John Bromfield	...	Joe Hayes
Nestor Paiva	...	Lucas
Grandon Rhodes	...	Jackson Foster
Dave Willock	...	Lou Gibson
Robert B. Williams	...	George Johnson
Charles Cane	...	Captain of Police (as Charles R. Cane)

Storyline

The Creature from the Black Lagoon has been captured by scientists and transported to an aquarium in south Florida. Once there he becomes attracted to the lovely female scientist and manages to escape and kidnap her, and heads to Jacksonville, with her real life love in pursuit..

---

Plot Keywords:

creature | scientist | florida | aquarium | evacuation | 

---

Taglines:

All New Thrills! Shocks! Suspense!

---

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1955 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Return of the Creature

Filming Locations:

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,100,000, 31 December 1955

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In its first run engagements, it was usually supported by Cult of the Cobra (1955) on the lower half of the bill.

---

Goofs

When Professor Ferguson is informed of the capture of the creature, his colleague refers to it as a "creature from the Devonian era" and something that should have "...died out a quarter of a million years ago." The Devonian is a geologic period, not an era (which marked the emergence and divergence of fish species and land plants, and, near its end, the first animals to venture onto land), and lasted from 416 million years ago to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, 359 million years ago. As with the first Creature movie, the "scientists" not only do not know the terminology of geologic history, but their chronology is all wrong.

---

Quotes

George Johnson: What I'd give for a tall, cold beer.
Joe Hayes: A short, warm blonde.

---

Connections

Referenced in Jaws 3-D (1983)

User Reviews

Creature Two of Three!

Director Jack Arnold and company took great care in this one to make the 3-D effects look more natural. While there are no chairs or spears thrown at the camera, there are still plenty of thrilling moments when the creature advances into view and even a couple of false frights, as when a threatening shadow turns out to be no more dangerous than Lori Nelson's hand.

Admittedly the screenplay has its weak links. Depending largely on unlikely co-incidences, the storyline pays scant regard to consistency or logic, while the dialogue is not only trite and banal but seems to go out of its way to provide a persistent assault on the viewer's intelligence by explaining what we can actually see for ourselves. No-one can walk to the bathroom in this film without someone providing a running commentary. Worse, the characters prove little more than pasteboard figures which indifferent actors like Agar and Nelson struggle to bring to life. Miss Nelson is further handicapped by the large amount of make-up she was forced to wear for the 3-D cameras. True, the effect seemed not only attractive but perfectly natural when the original film was projected through a 3-D filter and then viewed through polaroid glasses. She still looks great when framed through a Marineland window, but in bright sunlight the effect now looks ridiculous.

Of course, the Creature himself seems far less menacing (and far more obviously a stuntman in an ill-fitting rubber suit) when exposed to the glare of flat, over-bright 2-D scrutiny.

Nonetheless, the skill of Jack Arnold's direction, particularly in his efforts to disguise obvious 3-D tricks and use depth to produce shock in a seemingly more realistic way, gives the movie sufficient interest and vigor to overcome all script and histrionic short-comings.

Production values benefit from location filming and it's good to see Scotty Welbourne handling all the photographic chores on this one, both underwater and main unit. Of course, in 2-D the picture looks over-lit as it was lensed with 3-D's 20% light reduction firmly in mind.