Seventy years ago, a legendary monster rose from the bowels of the Amazon, a Creature From the Black Lagoon, rarely seen by modern man, a gentle being, more curious about humanity than the fiendish other creations rising from this Dark Universe of films terrifying entire movie houses at the turn of the century at Universal-International.

Born at the same place as the horrific threats of Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931, as terrifying as The Mummy in 1932 and hiding in plain sight as The Invisible Man in 1933. Universal planned the nuptials of Frankenstein’s Monster in a sequel called The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935 and we howled at the moon with Lon Chaney Jr.’s mythic depiction of the tragic tale of The Wolf Man in 1941. The last of the classic Universal Monster films was born in 1954 and was known behind the scenes as the Gill-Man, but to the rest of us, he is better known as The Creature.

Okay, that introduction cannot truly prepare you for the awesomeness of the Gill-Man and cinema exploits, so we found a trailer for you to remember just how cool those classic monster movies were:

Wikipedia reveals the depth of the 1954, filmed in 3-D production:

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 American black and white, 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, and Whit Bissell. The film’s plot follows a group of scientists who encounter a piscine amphibious humanoid in the waters of the Amazon; the Creature, also known as the Gill-man, was played by Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning underwater. Produced and distributed by Universal-International, Creature from the Black Lagoon premiered in Detroit on February 12, 1954, and was released on a regional basis, opening on various dates.

The Gill-Man Returns?

The Creature From the Black Lagoon was the last of the Universal Six to come into creation but despite the two sequels, Revenge of the Creature (1955), which was also filmed and released in 3D in hopes of reviving the format, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D, any effort to expand his franchise has never been successful. Ten or eleven different writers, actors, directors and producers have tried over the seven decades to create a new version of this venerable character. All of the other Universal monsters have enjoyed revivals, stay in the media, even if it is only in jest but the Gill-Man has not managed to be so fortunate.

The closest we have come to enjoying the Gill-Man a modern appearance was Guillermo del Toro’s 2017, award-winning film, The Shape of Water. The was a conversation about del Toro efforts being directed at a revival of the Creature, but he wanted to have a story from the perspective of the Creature, a tale about a love story and Universal said, “No Thanks.”

In hindsight that might not have been the best thing they could have done. The Shape of Water was nominated for thirteen awards at the 90th Academy Awards, winning four, including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro. It has also won numerous other awards. Who knew the Gill-Man’s love life was going to be so HOT.

A New Contender: Director James Wan

Director James Wan, who previously directed Saw (2004 and Jigsaw (2018) announced to our distinguished colleagues at Variety that he wants to remake The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Hollywood Reporter broke the story.

Variety shared their perspective in an article:

“The project is described as a “grounded modernized retelling that leans into visceral horror whilst paying respect to the original classic.” It’s been 70 years since the “Creature From the Black Lagoon” first graced the big screen in the 1954 adaptation directed by Jack Arnold and starring Richard Carlson and Julia Adams. Over the years, several directors including Guillermo del Toro have tried to reboot the black-and-white monster movie about a group of scientists who encounter a prehistoric monster in the Amazonian waters, but none have gotten off the ground.”

Feels like they don’t want to recognize The Shape of Water’s four Academy Awards, and international acclaim, do they? If you think about the person signing the checks on this one and let it get away, it would be one of those mistakes that haunts you forever… Fortunately there is a new contender entering the ring. A man who is arguably one of the most successful horror creators in history: James Wan.

As of 2021, James Wan was one of the highest grossing directors in cinematic history; his films having grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide. His Conjuring universe is the highest grossing horror franchise thus far. With a track record like that, Universal Studios is likely to listen to him. Wan is one of the few directors with two films that have earned over $1 billion at the global box office. Wan is a screenwriter, producer as well as a director and while Wan’s production company Atomic Monster, recently merged with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, the merger works well for both of them since Blumhouse is known for more cerebral horror hits like “M3GAN,” “The Nun” and “Annabelle.”  If any organization can do justice to remaking a classic horror film, this new company is sure to be the one.

James Wan is still in negotiations with Universal Studios, so there’s no word on casting yet. Wan is married to Romanian actress and writer Ingrid Bisu, so it’s not impossible she’ll reprise the role originally created by Julia Adams. There had been rumors at one time than Universal was interested in Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson.

James Wan’s Films

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) – director

Saw X (2023) – executive producer

Insidious: The Red Door (2023) – producer

Malignant (2021) – director, co-writer, producer

Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) – producer

Mortal Kombat (2021) – producer

Spiral (2021) – executive producer

Annabelle Comes Home (2019), co-writer, producer

The Curse of La Llorena (2019) – producer

Aquaman (2018 – director

Insidious: The Last Key (2018) – producer

Jigsaw (2018) – executive producer

Annabelle: Creation (2017) – producer

The Conjuring 2 (2016) – director

Furious 7 (2015) – director

Given the changes in censorship and social mores since 1954, and Wan’s other productions, it seems likely this remake will be far more graphic and gory than the original film. It may not be long before we’re all singing “I’m in love with the Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Turn down your SciFi.Radio stream to hear Alice Pearce (Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched) sing this almost forgotten love ballad.

Despite the Creature From the Black Lagoon’s unfortunate efforts at getting a cinematic revival, the Gill-Man early appearance can be said to have had a powerful influence on monster creators today with the Gill-Man inspiring hundreds of images online, numerous website tributes to the films and a number of comic appearances in recent years have kept The Creature From the Black Lagoon alive. There appears to be a pent up demand out there.

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Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.