Now that I have seen all seven of the main Classic Universal Monsters collection, I believe that they were not made with an overriding theme in mind.  In other words, the studio was not thinking about how they would be categorized fifty and more years later.  It has been subsequent generations who have looked back at put labels on them, and this has been done five times since the early 1990s.  The ones I have covered are the seven that appear on each list.  There is almost an eighth, 1943’s Phantom of the Opera, but the so-called 2004 “Legacy Collection” did not include it.  Besides, it is about a dude in a mask.  Can we really call that a monster?  At any rate, most of the others are spin-offs or cheap sequels of some kind.  Another reason I say their production was haphazard is because of the number of years that passed between them.  Today’s film, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) came over twenty years since Dracula (1931) launched the series.  As you shall see, Creature from the Black Lagoon is another animal entirely, pun intended.

We go back to the literal beginning in Creature from the Black Lagoon, and thankfully to this Catholic the film gives credit to God for getting things started.  The purpose is to suggest that in the billions of years of evolution since then, with life as we know it emerging from the sea, there has been plenty of opportunity for another, human-like species to develop.  Evidence is found by Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno), who is leading a geological expedition deep in the Amazon rainforest.  It comes in the form of a fossilized hand sticking out of a rock face.  Unlike a human hand, this one is larger, with webbing between the fingers suggestive of a seaborn beast, and each digit ending in a claw.  As they pull it out, we see a live version of the same appendage reaching out of the nearby water.  This is the eponymous monster (Ben Chapman on land, Riccou Browning in water), but it does not immediately attack.  Instead, Dr. Maia tells his assistants to keep watch on the camp while he goes to town to get some clarification as to what he has found.  While he is away, the Creature attacks those left behind, killing them.  Dr. Maia meets up with Kay Lawrence (Julia Adams), the long-time girlfriend of Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson).  Dr. Reed is a former student of Dr. Maia’s, and currently an ichthyologist, coming to Brazil to study marine life.  He is funded by the vainglorious Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning), who cares about science, but more about the fame and money discoveries will bring him.  It is to this group that Dr. Maia presents this fossilized hand unlike anything known to science.  After some philosophizing about evolution and the universe (I am not kidding), they decide to mount an expedition back into the Amazon basin to find the rest of the skeleton.  Dr. Reed sees it as an opportunity to advance science, whereas Dr. Williams is seeking a fortune.  They hire a boat called the Rita, skippered by the cheerful Captain Lucas (Nestor Paiva).  Chugging through the heat, they finally get to Dr. Maia’s camp to find his assistants killed by what the presume to be a jaguar attack.  Despite these signs, they get to work digging on the same rocky slope that originally produced the hand.  Their efforts prove fruitless and Dr. Williams begins to grumble.  To assuage his angst, Dr. Reed comes up with a theory as to what could have happened to the rest of the remains.  He believes they could have been swept upstream to a lagoon, the title body of water.  Captain Lucas confirms its existence based on what he has heard from others on the river.  He is also happy to head into this uncharted area because it is rumored to be a paradise on earth.  Indeed, they find what looks to be untouched jungle, and immediately Drs. Reed and Williams go down with scuba gear to look for signs of more fossils.  This is when we finally get a good look of the Creature, who is closely monitoring these intruders.  It slowly stalks the two scientists underwater.  It is also particularly interested in Kay, who goes for a swim while the researchers analyze their findings.  Upon getting back to the vessel, the Creature gets caught in a net that has been put over the side of the boat.  The entire ship begins to violently list until it manages to get free.  When it does, it creates a large hole in the rope, and this convinces everyone that they are dealing with something large and potentially dangerous.  Dr. Reed seeks to simply get a picture of it, but Dr. Williams believes the best way of bringing back proof of its existence is by killing it.  This gives rise to tension between the two as they bicker over the best course of action.  For the moment, Dr. Williams appears to be right as the picture Dr. Reed believes he has captured does not have the monster in the frame.  After some more near misses, and some thinning out of Captain Lucas’ crew, they resort to drugging the entire area.  Eventually, this manages to slow the Creature down to the point where they can capture it.  Unfortunately, it breaks free of its bamboo cage and severely injures Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell), another academic on the trip.  It is at this point that Dr. Reed makes the executive decision to return home.  Dr. Williams vehemently objects, but Dr. Reed is backed by Captain Lucas, which settles the matter.  However, the Creature has blocked their exit.  In their attempt to free themselves, Dr. Williams is killed by the Creature.  They have to resort to spraying the previously used drug directly into the Creature’s face to get anywhere, though it still manages to make off with Kay.  It takes her back to its lair where they are finally able to kill the Creature after rescuing Kay.  The end.

Given how much discussion there is in Creature from the Black Lagoon about evolution, I feel compelled once more to discuss the Catholic Church’s position on the subject.  The Church does not deny the theory (emphasis mine) of evolution.  I italicized that word because while it does seem to have a great deal of scientific proof for its existence in regards to humans, thus it remains in the realm of speculation.  This makes it distinctive from Faith, which does not follow the same rules as, say, the scientific method.  Just like the Creature, God either exists or He does not.  I will rely on the thousands of years of testimony on this manner, contained in the Bible and transmitted through Church History, to lead me to draw my own conclusions on the matter.  Further, for the most part, one thing Catholicism has rarely discouraged is discovery.  The Faith does not promote exploring anything demonic, to be completely sure, but it does take new scientific findings as further proof of God.  In this sense, Dr. Williams attitude towards the Creature is antithetical to Church practice.  His sole purpose is material gain, whereas Dr. Reed wants to study and understand.  Our society today, it seems to this Catholic, is too quick to draw conclusions, like saying that the only course of action is to murder a sentient lifeform.  I pray that we find a more peaceful path.

What Creature from the Black Lagoon shares with its predecessors is their cheesiness.  I am here for it, however.  I also enjoyed the underwater sequences.  Today, such a monster would be a computer-generated image (CGI).  In the 1950s, it was a guy in a rubber suit.  Despite being a lesser quality film, it still looks great.