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I am always amazed when I listen to people who refuse to watch films that are too old simply because they lack special effects or more simply because they are in black and white (and trust me, I've heard many such discussions): by doing so, these people miss out on cinematic masterpieces like this very "Creature from the Black Lagoon" from the distant 1954.
It is a black and white film, which at the time presented numerous peculiarities: firstly, the film was shot in 3-D and also boasted the first underwater shots of this type; viewers were provided with the appropriate glasses in theaters (not the fake ones with one blue lens and the other red, but those with polarized lenses): and this was in 1950s America, while in Italy, even the greatest directors had to deal with a scarcity of resources (just consider that Rossellini's unforgettable "Rome, Open City" from '45 was shot, for example, with the help of only two cameras).
The plot is very simple, so much so that it has made history and has become a classic: horror and science fiction cinema owe a lot to this work by Jack Arnold. A naturalistic expedition finds in an Amazonian swamp a horrific limb that belonged to a mysterious Paleogene creature; the discovery leads to the organization of a more equipped expedition, led by Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning), the prototype of a scientist interested only in glory and money. The adventure also includes the elderly Prof. Maia (Antonio Moreno), the author of the previous sensational discovery, the young scholar David Reed (Richard Carlson), and his fiancée, Dr. Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams). The group arrives at the base camp that Prof. Maia had entrusted to local workers, but which is now completely destroyed. The magnificent scenes in which a horrible clawed hand emerges from the waters to feel the ground and then retreats quickly were electrifying to the 1950s audience, which, unlike today's viewers, was not accustomed to such moments of tension and certainly did not know of the use of digital special effects.
The company of scientists and sailors of the small ship that transported them to the place called Black Lagoon soon understands they are dealing with something strange and discovers with horror the existence of the monster. While the cynical Williams wants to capture it alive and then triumphantly return home, Reed realizes that the group alone cannot face this challenge and proposes to return to seek help. In the end, the first opinion prevails, but the monster is a tough bone and a too clever enemy: wounded several times, it always survives and even manages to kidnap Dr. Lawrence, whose allure it was fascinated by (an element of the monster being in love with the protagonist taken from the older "King Kong," as admitted by the director himself). The others set out to rescue her, and some of them die in the attempt, but in the end, the heroic David Reed manages to kill the beast (in reality, the doubt remains for those watching the film, so much so that Arnold himself was able to shoot the sequel "Revenge of the Creature" the following year and even the third episode, "The Creature Walks Among Us," in 1956); a perhaps somewhat predictable ending, undoubtedly the product of an era when people appreciated and loved these flawless and fearless characters who made the good triumph by killing the "bad guy," unlike today's audience, which prefers protagonists with more ambiguous and tormented personalities, leading to endings that are anything but predictable: a sign of changing times.
The film is clearly inspired by the works of fantastic literature from the '30s, particularly the stories of the ingenious Howard Phillips Lovecraft, which spoke of ancient creatures surviving for obscure reasons through entire eons, residing in the most remote places of a world now conquered by man, but ready to reclaim it as soon as the opportunity arose, putting into question humanity's role as the dominant species. The film caused a stir at the time for the convincingly realistic appearance of the monster's costume, formed by a tight suit on which scales and bony protrusions were mounted piece by piece and a mask with a movable jaw that was truly impressive in its realism, and also (I can hardly believe it myself) for the scene in which the beautiful actress Julie Adams swims in a one-piece swimsuit and is filmed from below in silhouette: at the time, many were able to see in that slender dark silhouette gently outlined against the light sky filtered by the water even "clear" (but where?) sexual references (I quote directly from an interview on the film I saw). A final curiosity: the creature's costume was worn by two different actors, Ben Chapman on land because of his gigantic stature and Ricou Browning during the aquatic scenes for his swimming ability, so two costumes had to be made!
The film is a true classic to rediscover, a milestone of horror and science fiction cinema, and if it won't quite manage to scare today's viewer to death, now accustomed to higher levels of tension and bombarded with a myriad of such films, it will at least engage them with the charm of an outdated yet still high-quality work, guaranteed!
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