Director: Jack Arnold
Year: 1954
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Following a curious scientific discovery, an expedition into the Amazon jungle to learn more about the find instead uncovers the existence of a vicious, amphibious monster living there and tries to find a way of leaving alive when it takes an interest in one of the crew members.
Review:
This one was a highly-regarded entry in Universal's stable of monsters. One of the better features here is the fact that the setting is quite inventive and unique, with the action taking place in the Amazon, which is a nice switch from the usual time-period films of the other monster movies. This allows a spectacular series of shots setting up the gorgeous locations here, with all the scenes out in the water-filled passages in the middle of the jungle, or what are easily the best shots of the creature underwater, as the creature is simply beautiful to watch underwater, all being simply gorgeous to look at.
The Creature is one extremely likable monster, with the strong storyline about how he isn't as threatening as others make him out to be, and instead is a simple being defending his turf. The men wandering into a forbidden area are driven by curiosity-turned-greed to capture and extract a remarkable being from its environment, a romance between the species, and a final conflict ensues between meddling man and the instinctive, misplaced animal are also themes common between the two films, and these only make it more endearing to audiences. Rooting for the creature is much easier than rooting for the humans, and that is precisely what the film must place a priority on.
It also looks great, as the reptilian features, large external gills on the side of the head, and extremely emotive face make him one of the most recognizable faces ever, and the graceful ease of movement of the monster moving underwater creates what are the quintessential mannerisms that make the Creature so believable. That all goes along very nicely with the central action scenes that come through in here, and there's plenty of that here, where it has some great scenes. The early scenes where the creature begins stalking the group in the water, and once they find him living there it comes out with plenty of fine fighting scenes trying to control it which constitutes a series of wild underwater brawls in the reeds beneath the boat, their successful caging of the creature in their wooden trap which features some absolutely great action in his escape back into the water which sets up their final battle down in the underground caverns that finally puts him on dry land which is a highly exciting and thrilling finale.
These here make this one of the best films in Universal's stable, while not really having any real begging complaints about this one. The biggest issue is the rather lame and completely unjustified attitude about trying to capture the thing dead or alive instead of doing the responsible thing and leaving it alone. Since the creature is such a tragic figure with the lonely, romantic figure storylines, there's a great deal of sympathy for it, and this behavior towards it for that goal merely keeps them in harm's way against it. Some of the 3D effects are dodgy and dated enough, but otherwise, there's a lot to like here.
Overview: *****/5
One of the best films in the genre, this one comes together incredibly well for the kind of film this represents, as everything is top-tier in most regards, against so few minor flaws. Those with an appreciation for the style of genre fare, who enjoy this era of the genre, or who are fans of the creative crew will have the most to like here, as most others might want to heed caution.
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