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Did You Know They Made 2 Sequels to Creature from the Black Lagoon?
The Gill Man trilogy is one wild ride.
What's green, wet, and scaly all over?
While introduced in the final stages of Universal's original monster movie gauntlet that spanned just over four decades, the Gill-man at the center of 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon is no less iconic than his horror forebears — most notably Dracula, the Mummy, Wolfman, and Frankenstein's Monster. The web-handed denizen of the Amazon rainforest undoubtedly made a cultural splash (no pun intended), taking the form, intentional or not, of a vengeful avatar of a natural world fed up with pollution, deforestation, and species extinction.
You've seen the ichthyoid beast rise from the depths under different names and designs for Monster Squad, Monsters vs. Aliens, and The Shape of Water, but did you know the original version (played by the late Ricou Browning) appeared in two traditional sequels to Black Lagoon?
Remembering the wild sequels to Creature from the Black Lagoon
Jack Arnold (It Came from Outer Space) returned to helm the second installment — Revenge of the Creature — which dropped "Black Lagoon" from its title and released just one year after the original. Aside from Browning, Nestor Paiva (Amazon riverboat captain Lucas) was the only returning cast member.
In Revenge, the Gill-man is captured and transported to a Flordia-based marine institute/aquarium for further study by a pair of lovestruck marine biologists: Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson). Anyone familiar with King Kong can guess what happens next: the creature breaks free of his chains, goes on a murderous rampage, and kidnaps the swooning dame (Nelson taking over the position from Julie Adams). History repeats itself when the Gill-man is gunned down by a flurry of bullets and sinks back into the murky depths as the sequel clearly, almost farcically, recycles the final shot of its predecessor.
The trilogy capper — The Creature Walks Among Us (now streaming on Peacock) — arrived in theaters the following year and is unquestioningly the wildest of the bunch. John Sherwood (The Monolith Monsters) took over directing duties for the third entry, which centers around an obsessive surgeon, Dr. William Barton (Jeff Morrow), looking to study the Gill-man and use his findings to help accelerate evolution for humanity's eventual journey into the harsh environment of outer space.
While capturing the monster, Barton and his team unintentionally trigger an acute biological change that transforms the lanky maritime beast into a hulking, Frankenstein-esque behemoth capable of breathing on land. In an ironic twist of fate, however, the new and improved Gill-man learns to stay his usual homicidal tendencies while Dr. Barton succumbs to his baser instincts, committing murder in a fit of jealous rage.
What's the thematic through-line stitching the trilogy together? It's really quite simple: Humans need to stop messing around with things they don't fully understand. The Gill-man is a dangerous being, yes, but he only lashes out violently because people keep encroaching on his territory with the intent of turning him into an oddity of science.
If you taunt a dangerous animal, constantly shocking it with a cattle prod and pumping it full of lead, don't be surprised when it finally leaps out of the water and rips your face off.
Don't be afraid — take the plunge today! The Creature Walks Among Us is now streaming on Peacock. All three movies in the Black Lagoon trilogy are available from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
