[4]
Even if we can remove the Creature from his lagoon, can we successfully take the lagoon out of the Creature? In the Gill Man’s second sequel, Jeff Morrow and Rex Reason (both from This Island Earth) play scientists looking to capture and study the Black Lagoon’s most famous resident. The film’s first half follows a familiar pattern as they stalk and capture the Creature. They experiment on him, somehow ‘evolving’ him into a more human-like being with softer features and a more docile demeanor. The Creature begins observing human behavior, but can you ever really domesticate a Creature? Or is he bound to return to his Creature ways? You can probably guess the answer.
The film dips a toe in some interesting ideas that never take hold. While the Creature is presented as a much more sympathetic character, he’s never given a clear option of choosing civilization over primal instinct. Viewers can draw a parallel between the Creature’s proclivity for kidnapping women and the male leads’ sexual desires. Morrow’s sexy wife (Leigh Snowden) is along for the entire adventure, stirring the libidos of Reason’s character and another crew member. The only difference between the men and the Creature is that the men are a little more clever in disguising their intentions. But this idea doesn’t really sustain the back half of the movie, which focuses more on the Creature’s escape from confinement and a not-so-thrilling climactic attack on the science team.
Fans of the iconic Creature design will be disappointed to know it appears less in this film than in either of the previous movies. The pacing is plodding and pseudo-science of the Creature’s overnight mutation is pretty hard to swallow. Even if The Creature Walks Among Us is the least entertaining film in the series, it’s not a total loss. Rex Reason is wonderfully hammy as the film’s requisite, ultra-masculine hero, and Leigh Snowden gets a nice, gratuitous underwater ballet scene. She also picks up a gun and blasts some sharks out of the water, which seems to be the moment her male co-stars (and the audience?) fall in love with her. The score, largely provided by an uncredited Henry Mancini, is the best in the Creature series.
Directed by John Sherwood (The Monolith Monsters). With Gregg Palmer, Maurice Manson, and James Rawley.