Review(s): DVD Creature from the Black Lagoon - The Legacy Collection (Creature from the Black Lagoon / Revenge of the Creature / The Creature Walks Among Us)
Creature Features
As one of the six "Legacy" collections featuring the popular Universal monsters, the Creature set has some distinctly unique features. In one way, it's the sparsest collection, with only three movies, but it also is the only one with commentaries on all the films. Perhaps more importantly is the nature of the Creature himself. While the other monsters are either purely supernatural (Dracula, the Wolf Man), purely man-made (Frankenstein's monster, the Invisible Man) or a combination of the two (the Mummy), only the Creature is a natural creature.
What also stands out in the Creature movies is that humanity in general comes off as the bad guys and the Creature is the most sympathetic figure. Acting in a generally defensive manner, the Creature is subjected to greater and greater torments. He actually is similar in this fashion to King Kong (which is not surprising, since the first two movies, when combined, are essentially remakes of that giant ape classic).
As is typically the case, the first movie - The Creature from the Black Lagoon - is the best in the bunch. Several scientists - as well as the essential female love interest - go to South America in search of the bones of a legendary fish-man, only to find a living one instead. The Creature develops an interest in the woman even as it wages war with the intruders in its Black Lagoon, leading to several deaths before the final confrontation.
In Revenge of the Creature, the Creature is captured and brought to a marine amusement park, where it is chained up, studied and displayed for the masses. (In both this movie and the third one, there is a lot of confusion between salt-water and fresh water life, with the Creature forced to alternate between the two.) A la King Kong, eventually, he breaks free and goes on a rampage. While this film is most noted for the screen debut of Clint Eastwood, this is actually only of minor significance: Eastwood is in the movie for only a minute, playing a very atypical role as an inept lab assistant.
In the third movie - The Creature Walks Among Us - the Creature is captured again but seriously burned in the process. The process to save him forces him to be a land creature, and this once mighty creature of the Amazon is forced to live in the San Francisco Bay area, unable to be master of the water anymore.
The 1950s were not great years in science fiction/horror film making, but the Creature movies, despite their flaws, are some of the best of the era, with a decent costume for the monster and reasonably good effects. Just as it was influenced by King Kong, you can see the clear influence these movies had on others, in particular, Jaws. For Universal, this would be the last of their iconic monsters, and unlike the others, it has not been subject to any remakes. With decent commentaries and other features, this is a fun set, a solid four star collection that will please fans of classic monster movies.
THE THING THAT LOVED WOMEN
Feared, loathed, misunderstood, the creature from the Black Lagoon spies his first human female and becomes consumed with amphibious lust.
This very fine 1950s horror flick offers believable characters, heart-pounding excitement and some excellent (UN-ENHANCED) underwater cinematography. For me, the gem of this film is Julie Adams, the curvaceous brunette who stirs the creature's loins. Ahem.
The still photo gallery of production and publicity shots is not to be missed.
The two sequels are convincing enough--and the second movie's female lead is just as desirable as the first's--and although they lack the shock value of the original (we've already seen the creature and what it's capable of), they nonetheless convey the timeless conflict of man versus nature.
Lastly--and very unexpectedly--all three movies adroitly refer to the dawning Space Age as the primary motivation for the scientists' obsession with the creature.
You'll just have to see it to believe it.
It's About Time!
This collection is a must for all the Creature fans! I've waited a long time for this set to be offered on DVD. The extras are great and The Creature never looked better. Nice crisp, & clear movies.
Related DVD's Creature from the Black Lagoon - The Legacy Collection (Creature from the Black Lagoon / Revenge of the Creature / The Creature Walks Among Us)
Eagarly with anticipation I waited for Halloween night to watch "The Mummy"! To my horror, I must have purchased the one defective copy of the Legacy Collection The Mummy, for it was not on disc one or disc two. It's just non-existant!
After spending $23 for this DVD, I'm sorely disappointed with the set. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christy Cabanne DVD Release Date: Released the 19 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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For being a film from 1933, The Invisible Man is a very good film. This DVD collection contains four other movies and a documentary.
The Invisible Man itself is not quite as good as its successors, however, it is well written and at times surprisingly original. The drawbacks are the Innkeeper's wife, who was (according to the documentary) hired for the entire reason I did not like her: she overreacts to everything. She's superstitious, overly suspicious of anyone, and screams an annoying scream that drives even the other prople in the inn batty. There is some mild humor and a bit of drama in The Invisible Man and Claude Rains does a passable job, with that voice that just creeps under your skin...
What famous horror classic, panned by reviewers upon its initial release in December of 1941, looks better and better every year? THE WOLF MAN, starring Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, and Lon Chaney Jr. as the hapless Larry Talbot.
The story is a familiar one: Larry, the son of esteemed Sir John (Rains) returns home to Wales after many years in America, is bitten by a werewolf (well played by Bela Lugosi), and becomes a werewolf himself. What's extraordinary is the fact that the film can be so effective today.
The biggest reason for this is the acting. Some classic films, pre-Actor's Studio, look pretty pathetic when it comes to realistic characterization. Not so THE WOLF MAN. Curt Siodmak's excellent screenplay (likened to a Greek Tragedy) provides... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Claude Rains - Warren William Director(s): George Waggner DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"It's alive! Alive!" shouts Colin Clive's triumphant Dr. Frankenstein as electricity buzzes over the hulking body of a revived corpse. "In the name of God now I know what it's like to be God!" For years unheard, this line has been restored, along with the legendary scene of the childlike monster tossing a little girl into a lake, in James Whale's Frankenstein, one of the most famous and influential horror movies ever made. Coming off the tremendous success of Dracula, Universal assigned sophomore director Whale to helm an adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous novel with Bela Lugosi as the monster. When Lugosi declined the role, Whale cast the largely unknown character actor Boris Karloff and together with makeup designer Jack Pierce they created the most memorable monster in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Colin Clive - Mae Clarke - Boris Karloff Director(s): James Whale DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Why would Universal previously distribute a superior DVD and then repackage the same film but decrease the quality???
The Legacy Collection of the original Dracula movie from 1930 is a lesser quality DVD than it's predecessor from the Classic Monsters Collection set. The image quality is blurry and fuzzy - I'll take film grain and hairs over blurred out images anyday. The audio is also muted and soft as compared to the earlier released DVD.
I've compared both DVDs side by side, and the previous "Classic Monsters Collection" DVD won out in DVD quality.
My suggestion to all customers is to avoid these lesser quality (but newer) releases of Dracula and buy the earlier release instead. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bela Lugosi - Helen Chandler - David Manners Director(s): Tod Browning DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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