Review #1,206: 'Revenge of the Creature' (1955)

In 1955, with interest having waned in their other monster-based franchises such as Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, Universal tried to capitalise on the success of their brand new monster - the Gill-Man - from the year before. Jack Arnold's Creature from the Black Lagoon was a rather sophisticated creature-feature: creepy when it needed to be, and effortlessly entertaining for the remainder. Arnold returned for directorial duties on Revenge of the Creature, but fails to inject the same level of excitement that saw Black Lagoon become a genre classic. It does what most sequels do and treads on familiar ground. Once again, the creature is set on a murderous rampage by the actions of humans, eventually falling in love with a beautiful woman it will inevitably kidnap.

After surviving the events of the previous film, the Gill-Man is rendered unconscious in his native swamp by some well-placed dynamite and transported back to the Ocean Harbour Oceanarium in Florida. Before he is even resuscitated, he becomes an instant media sensation, with flocks of sandal-wearing tourists arriving to catch a glimpse of the oddity. The Gill-Man is studied by square-jawed animal psychologist Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and student Helen (Lori Nelson), whose scientific methods include chaining the poor creature to the bottom of a water tank and zapping it with a cattle-prod any time it shows signs of aggression. It's not long before Clete and Helen are falling in love, and the envious Gill-Man gets to watch it all unfold through a tiny window. Naturally, events see the creature see free to stalk and terrify the surrounding areas.

Revenge of the Creature is an obvious retelling of the King Kong story, with a mystery of nature kidnapped from its habitat to be gawked at by humans. Despite his barbaric treatment, it never feels like the film is trying to generate sympathy for the Gill-Man. I certainly did feel sorry for him, but there was no sense of any of the characters involved acknowledging their error. It's hugely inferior to its predecessor, with little fun to be had with the charisma-free actors when the action is away from the monster. There are only two things of note in Revenge of the Creature: the costume for the Gill-Man is fantastic and is performed well underneath the prosthetics by both Ricou Browning and Tom Hennesy; and a cameo from a goofy, comic-relief character named Jennings, played with no suggestion of the legendary career to come by Clint Eastwood. The film was followed the next year by The Creature Walks Among Us, although Arnold didn't return.


Directed by: Jack Arnold
Starring: John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield, Nestor Paiva
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie