![]() During a decade where atomic monsters and sci-fi horror reigned supreme, Creature from the Black Lagoon was a standout.Ĭreature is also a film that continues to reverberate with viewers today. Both the Gill Man and his film were well received by critics, even still to this day. Like many of his Universal Monster siblings, Gill Man would also receive an appearance with Abbot and Costello. Though both had obstructed vision due to the costumes, Browning had the harder task of having to hold his breath underwater for upwards of 5 minutes during takes.īetween the stunning creature design of the Gill Man and the fact that Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed in 3D, the underwater photography making stunning use of the format, the movie struck a major chord with audiences and spawned two sequels. Between the very different builds of the actors, and the setting involved, two very different costumes were needed yet the differences couldn’t be drastic enough to be obvious to audiences. Ben Chapman played the creature on land, and Ricou Browning breathed life into the aquatic iteration. Or rather, two different costumes one for Gill Man’s land scenes and one for the underwater scenes. From there, a large team of artists and sculptors built the costume. The look and design of the creature came from special makeup effects designer and Disney animator Milicent Patrick (though another artist would take sole credit for her work for decades). But the breakout star of the film, of course, is the Gill Man. Ross, and Jack Arnold, fresh off the successful It Came from Outer Space, was tapped to direct.įor the group of scientists who travel into the depths of the Amazon to find fossils of an amphibious humanoid, the cast is filled with talent like Julie Adams, Richard Carlson, and Richard Denning. Drafts were rewritten and updated by screenwriters Harry Essex and Arthur R. It stuck with Alland, and he eventually wrote up a treatment for the idea, pulling in many story elements from King Kong. A South American guest told of an amphibious humanoid that would surface from the Amazon once a year to grab a young woman from the village before disappearing again. The idea for Creature from the Black Lagoon stemmed from a dinner party producer William Alland attended at Orson Welles’ home. That he’s lumped in with his cinematic older siblings when he arrived on screen decades later on March 5, 1954, in an age relegated to atomic horror, makes his enduring quality all the more impressive. Dracula, Wolf-Man, Frankenstein, and the Mummy were all recognizable horror icons in makeup. ![]() It’s easy to see why, too never before had there been such a full-body costumed monster like this one before. Anything you can think of, from pinball machines to shampoo to toys and everything in between, Gill Man was featured on it all – more than any other Universal monster that came before, or since. Of all the Universal Classic Horror movie monsters, none have received quite as much merchandise as the Gill Man.
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