Greetings to all my (probably still nonexistent) readers. While I told you in my original post that I had planned on starting season 6 of “Murder, She Wrote,” these DVDs have somehow gone AWOL from my house. I have begun doubting their existence, truth be told, due to my hazy memory for anything not directly relating to cooking or stories. The life of a writer, apparently.
Due to Halloween having been recent, I was privy to a viewing of “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” from 1954. I had not seen it before, but as usual, my brain was analyzing it as I watched. So therefore, I decided to write about this movie for the blog, since I need practice anyhow. So without further ado:
There’s a very slow start to the movie, especially when compared to modern movies. However, I think that actually adds to the movie’s appeal. Much of the characterization is shown as the scientists discuss an expedition back to the jungle. When they do finally get back to the jungle and start digging, I appreciate that the filmmakers attempted to show how tedious archaeology can be. Lots of digging, note-taking, and physical exhaustion. If mental exhaustion was added in, it’d be a perfect picture of graduate school.
I noticed that it was quite a while into the movie before it showed much of the Creature beyond a claw pawing at the ground, and “seeing” the death of the assistants. Side note: I think that not showing the dead bodies was actually very nice (even though it was probably expected with this movie being made in the 50s). By not showing the carnage, you avoid upsetting the stomachs and mores of sensitive viewers, but you also get to focus on the reactions to the people seeing the bodies and the carnage. Not only does it help set the stage by getting the actors’ expressions, but you also save money on fake blood.
Regardless, I found myself wondering why there was such a build-up to the Creature’s full appearance. I have watched the other “Classic Monster Movies” (“Dracula”, “Invisible Man,” “Wolfman” and “Frankenstein”) but I’ll have to re-watch them again and pay attention to how soon the monster shows up in those movies. It makes me wonder if how much the monster appears to be human means that it shows up sooner. But this was mainly a rambling trail my brain took during a break in the movie watching. Which is truly more horrifying to viewers: a monster that appears to be human-like, or one that is not? The visual appearance of a non-human monster may elicit a more immediate reaction of fear, because it seems so different than what we are used to seeing. But I would think that seeing a human slowly revealing that they are not human and are a monster would be more of a deeper fear, because it’s like betraying everything that we had assumed and twisting it into something awful.
There are two advantages to setting a horror movie on a boat (primarily) in the middle of a jungle. Firstly, the gorgeous jungle set acts as a backdrop to the human(?) drama going on, highlighting the idea of danger in paradise. Secondly, there is a closed cast in this isolation, which allows the viewers to get attached to the characters, and there is more emotions involved when someone dies or is injured. Though to be fair, most of the people who die are those who are designed to be ignored or disliked, like the random scientist who I had forgotten about until he showed up, or Mark, who I was ready to see offed. (I appreciated that Lucas was willing to pull a knife on Mark to show him that the captain of the boat was not going against the will of the majority, especially where safety was concerned.)
The underwater fights were surprisingly well done, I thought. The filmmakers did a good job of highlighting the limitations of moving quickly in the water, and the obstacles of weeds and stuff. When the water was blurred because of dirt and the poisonous fog, it added to the uncertainty and risk. The fighting never seemed gratuitous or badly staged, like I’ve seen in a lot of black and white movies.
What follows is a transcript of my notes taken during the movie:
“So much underwater photography. So much.
“So many cigarettes.
“Water pollution! Throwing the poison out, and the cigarettes.
“Ah, yes. Mark is set up as the obsessed scientist. Seriously, people. He’s bad news. Go home, get another expedition, leave him at home.
“The Gill-Man being set on fire was pretty surprising, and impressive.
“Y’all are too focused on the winch and the logs. You’ve been attacked multiple times by the Creature. Shouldn’t somebody be keeping an eye out on the lagoon itself??”
But all in all, it was an enjoyable watch. It does suffer from Kay (the lone female character) being given too little to do other than serve as eye candy, monster bait, and the mediator in ego struggles between Mark and David. If you can ignore that long enough, you might like it.
Final Scores:
~~Plot: 7/10. Good, slow-paced but involved. Science vs. nature.
~~Cast: 8/10. Everyone did well with the parts they were given. It might have seem stilted occasionally, but I think that’s just a product of the times.
~~Location: 9/10. I think the inside of the boat was a little bigger on the inside than the outside (pre-TARDIS times!). But other than that, I never was in doubt of where I was. The outdoors scenes were good.
And that wraps up this blog post. I may continue in the horror reviewing for the next post, as I’m reading “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Eventually, “Murder, She Wrote” will appear! Till then, see ya on the flip side.
Random English Major Thoughts 