Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
81%RT Audience Score: 74%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 1 nomination
A solid, atmospheric creature feature that entertains without attempting to be deeper than it needs
Creature From the Black Lagoon is a classic horror movie that’s sure to make you jump out of your seat. With a terrifying monster and outstanding underwater cinematography, this film is a must-see for any horror fan. Plus, who doesn’t love a good rubber suit with zippers where the gills ought to be? Don’t miss out on the chills and suspense that Jack Arnold’s direction brings to this sci-fi wonderment. Just be careful not to fall in love with the Gill-Man like Julia Adams did!
Production Company(ies)
Fox 2000 Pictures, Chernin Entertainment, Levantine Films,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Wakulla Springs, Florida, USA
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1954
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 5, 1954 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 28, 2001
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
Creature from the Black Lagoon, horror, G rating, directed by Jack Arnold, produced by William Alland, written by Maurice Zimm, Harry Essex, Arthur A Ross, starring Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Milton Luban, Steve Macfarlane, William Brogdon, Dave Kehr, A.H Weiler, Geoff Andrew, Joe Lipsett, Trace Thurman, critic reviews, producer names, MPAA rating, underwater cinematography, monster movie, Amazon jungle, prehistoric beast, scientists, danger, suspense, atmospheric locations, sympathetic monster, classic horror cinema, 1954, 1h 19m, English
Worldwide gross: $275
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $3,455
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,153
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 377
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Julie Adams – Kay Lawrence
Richard Denning – Mark Williams
Antonio Moreno – Carl Maia
Nestor Paiva – Lucas
Whit Bissell – Dr. Edwin Thompson
Director(s)
Jack Arnold
Writer(s)
Maurice Zimm, Harry Essex, Arthur A. Ross
Producer(s)
William Alland
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 1 nomination
Academy Awards
All Critics (43) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (9)
It makes for solid horror-thrill entertainment.
November 16, 2014
Milton Luban
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
What distinguished Jack Arnold’s pictures from mutant spinoffs/knockoffs is even more imperative to sci-fi today than it was in 1954: wonderment.
October 11, 2012 | Rating: 3/4
Steve Macfarlane
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Jack Arnold’s direction has done a firstrate job developing chills and suspense, and James C. Havens rates a good credit for his direction of the underwater sequences.
July 6, 2010
William Brogdon
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Jack Arnold has a flair for this sort of thing, and if there really is anything frightening about a man dressed up in a rubber suit with zippers where the gills ought to be, Arnold comes close to finding it.
September 26, 2007
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
This adventure has no depth.
October 31, 2006
A.H. Weiler
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
The routine story is mightily improved by Arnold’s sure sense of atmospheric locations and by the often sympathetic portrait of the monster.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Another classic Universal Monsters filled to the brim with homoerotic undertones. From Mark’s obsessive interest in David to phallic Gill-Man to the murky white underwater gas, Creature From the Black Lagoon is chock full of queer.
July 6, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Joe Lipsett
Horror Queers Podcast
Featuring some outstanding underwater cinematography and a sympathetic, if terrifying, monster, Creature From the Black Lagoon earns its place as a classic of horror cinema.
June 28, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Trace Thurman
Horror Queers Podcast
Along comes one of those tedious, topeed expeditions, in a battered white boat, and the “Gill-Man” is chased, photographed, speared, half-asphyxiated, and screamed at. No wonder he commits murder (five of them).
October 13, 2020
Josephine O’Neill
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The boys at Universal were on a fanciful binge, putting on an enjoyable show in the water, something less in dry-dock.
October 13, 2020
Louis Sheaffer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Short on science, the picture’s long enough on excitement, strongly recalling the hit Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
October 13, 2020
Janet Graves
Photoplay
A prehistoric man shaped fish falls in love with screaming Julia Adams in an Amazon backwater, but his courtship is a failure. So is the movie.
October 13, 2020
Clyde Gilmour
Maclean’s Magazine…
Plot
A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discovers a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one in the expedition, with whom he has fallen in love.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
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