Potwór z Czarnej Laguny

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a surprisingly imaginative and effective adventure movie that entertains, doesn’t offend and, mainly, doesn’t seem ridiculous, even after several decades. There is no verbose prologue, no attempt to put across rigid ecological ideas. Instead of that, there is a pretty girl in a swimsuit in the arms of a monster. The titular creature enters the scene immediately at the beginning, and the film offers a great atmospheric swamp location and an unpredictable plot. If Creature had kept up the suspense and charm of the first half until the end, I would have given it four stars. The repetitive attempts to escape the swamp and to destroy the monster wouldn’t have been hurt by a little inventiveness. (27.02.2007)

A model example of the monster genre of the 1950s with typical characters: an elderly wise scientist, a younger and of course handsome colleague and his voluptuous girlfriend, and most importantly a monster that you have to root for in this film if you have any ecological sensitivity, which was certainly not the intention of the filmmakers. The scientific expedition behaves like pigs in the area where the creature lives, they poison the fish, the pretty lady throws her cigarette butt into the water, under the eloquent gaze of the creature, which defends itself as best it can. The creature cuts the fish net, destroys a kerosene lamp because it's afraid of fire, and because I understood his motivation, I was able to forgive it for the two dead Indians at the beginning. The fact that I didn't feel the need to root for the human characters devalues it a bit in my eyes, but it is a very successful film in its genre. The attractive jungle locations are pleasing, the underwater sequences are very nice and not lacking in drama, the creature's mask is very good and looks natural even in close-ups. Horror maestro Jack Arnold doesn't bother with unnecessary digressions, the setting is agreed in two sentences, the monster is soon shown in all its glory, the plot rushes forward quickly and the viewer has no chance to get bored. There are a few naive scenes where you can't help smiling indulgently, but that is understandable given the time the film was made, and the final impression is still very good. A big hit at the time, it was followed up a year later with Revenge of the Creature, starring the then budding Clint Eastwood. (21.06.2004)

I did not expect to be so entertained by this handsome man. The charm of this fairy tale, however, is straightforward and simple; an almost virgin kingdom (the Black Lagoon) is ruthlessly attacked by a crew of McCarthyite bozos, necessitating the Creature to fight back. After that, who wouldn't root for the monster on a righteous quest for revenge? It must have been a feast for the eyes in 3D. (03.03.2009)

The film entertained me more than in the past, the monster’s mask appears less rubbery than you might expect, and from start to finish the Creature from the Black Lagoon has the necessary adventurous atmosphere with a hint of horror. I'm not surprised at all that Julia Adams so charmed the title monster - she is truly fabulously beautiful. (12.02.2018)

When you want to get rid of your girlfriend without getting your hands dirty, tell her to go for a swim in the Black Lagoon. There's a nasty stalker waiting there, with membranes and gills, who may appreciate her more than you do. The film is decently narrated, has a good pace, fairly solid dialogue and a very endearing ecological overlay that interestingly and timelessly puts the monster in the role of the main character (which viewers at the time certainly didn't realize). People behave like pigs in nature, disturbing his household, and so the fish man begins to destroy them without question and still strives for a nice trophy in a swimsuit. And I enjoy it, because Arnold quite skilfully varies the roles of the hunter and the hunted, creating a relentless tangle of 50s fooling around with funny monsters, accompanied by ridiculously effective music and underlined by poorly drawn characters. The last twenty minutes are unfortunately very unimaginative and boring, the rest is quality guilty pleasure. (13.11.2017)