Revenge of the Creature (1955)

revenge of the creature movie poster 1955
7.5 Overall Score
Story: 7/10
Acting: 7/10
Visuals: 8/10

More great Gill-Man

Not as good as the original

Movie Info

Movie Name: Revenge of the Creature

Studio: Universal Pictures

Genre(s): Horror/B-Movies

Release Date(s): May 13, 1955

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

revenge of the creature sea world aquarium

Oh man…this is turning into Blackfish!

The gill-man is back!  Surviving the attack in the Black Lagoon, the creature has been captured and brought to Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida for study.  Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and his student Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson) have been tasked with studying the strange scientific anomaly.   When the gill-man manages to escape into the Florida swamps, it sets is eyes on its new obsession:  Helen!

Directed by Jack Arnold (who also directed the original film), Revenge of the Creature was a follow-up sequel to the popular Creature from the Black Lagoon from 1954.  Like the previous film, the movie was shot in 3D but unlike the original, the movie was poorly received by critics.  The movie was featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K #801).

Creature from the Black Lagoon was one of my favorite monster movies.  It looked great and had a fantastic monster in the gill-man though the story was a bit ho-hum.  I have a bit of a soft spot for Revenge of the Creature that the gill-man is still cool…and like Creature from the Black Lagoon, I can remember staying up to watch this in a special 3D showing.

revenge of the creature ending lori nelson

This never ends well for me…

Like the first movie, the story is rather weak and even made weaker in that it feels like rehash of the first film with the gill-man once again falling in love with a human woman.  As the audience can see long before the “intelligent” scientists, it isn’t going to end well and of course the designated madness ensues.  It is predictable and expected.

As mentioned however, I still can appreciate the great gill-man costume which is both functional and practical in swimming scenes and still worlds above most B-Movie monster costumes.  The underwater photography still looks good, but isolating the creature to an aquarium takes away from the cooler looking lagoon.  Ricou Browning and Tom Hennesy bring the creature to life with Ricou in the swimming scenes and Hennesy in the walking scenes.

revenge of the creature first clint eastwood film

Kid…you don’t have much of a future as an actor

Revenge of the Creature’s most memorable moment doesn’t really involve the creature.  It involves a scientist named “Jennings” who plays with a lab rat in the scene.  It is a dismissible filler scene, but Jennings ended up having some success in later films as Clint Eastwood who is uncredited here in his first role.

The movie is just Creature from the Black Lagoon played out in a new location for the most part and the once great special effects are now just good special effects.  Despite all of this, Revenge of the Creature is a fun movie in B-Movie status and a creature feature with the first film wouldn’t be a bad thing if you haven’t seen either.  The success of the film led to a second sequel with The Creature Walks Among Us released in 1956.

Related Links:

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)

Author: JPRoscoe View all posts by
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram/Letterboxd @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.

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