''The Creature Walks Among Us'' is a 1956 American

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

and the third installment of the ''

Creature from the Black Lagoon ''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 ...

'' series from

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, following the previous year's '' Revenge of the Creature''. The film is directed by John Sherwood, the long-time Universal-International assistant director, in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. His role as director was partly facilitated by Jack Arnold, who had directed the first two films in the series, who recommended Sherwood to Universal.Weaver et al. 2014, p. 234. ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' stars Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Leigh Snowden,

Gregg Palmer Palmer Edwin Lee (January 25, 1927 – October 31, 2015), known by his stage name Gregg Palmer, was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing Tom McLowery in the final season of the American Western (genre), western televis ...

, and Maurice Manson. The titular Creature, or Gill-man, is played by Don Megowan on land and

Ricou Browning Ricou Ren Browning (February 16, 1930 – February 27, 2023) was an American stunt performer, filmmaker and actor. A skilled swimmer, he was known for his innovative underwater stunt work, notably in the 1954 film ''Creature from the Black Lagoo ...

underwater. The film's plot follows a cold-hearted scientist (Morrow) who surgically transforms the Gill-man into a more human-like, terrestrial organism. As with the original ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'', the film's score is composed by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

, who at the time was under contract with Universal. ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' is the final film in the ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' trilogy, and is often cited as the final film in the original Universal Classic Monsters series.

Plot

Following the Gill-man's escape from Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, a team of scientists led by the deranged and cold-hearted Dr. William Barton board the ''Vagabondia III'' to capture the creature in the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

. Barton is mentally unstable and apparently an abusive husband to his wife Marcia, as he becomes very jealous and paranoid when Marcia is with other men. Their guide Jed Grant makes numerous passes on Marcia (which she constantly rebuffs), with Barton becoming paranoid about the two. Marcia accompanies Grant and Dr. Thomas Morgan on their initial dive to look for the Gill-man, despite her husband's fierce objections. During the dive, Marcia swims too deep and is overcome with " raptures of the deep", temporarily losing her mind and removing all her scuba gear. This forces Grant and Morgan to abandon their hunt for the Gill-man to swim back and save her. When he is eventually captured, the Gill-man is badly burned in a fire leading to a

surgical Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery ...

transformation performed by Barton, Morgan and their colleagues Dr. Borg and Dr. Johnson. While bandaging the Gill-man, the doctors notice that he is shedding his

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s and even breathing using a kind of

lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

system. Now that the creature has more human-like skin, he is given clothing. The doctors attempt to get the Gill-man used to living among humans. Although his life is saved, he is apparently unhappy, staring despondently at the ocean. Barton ruins the plans when, in a murderous rage, he kills Grant, jealous that he had made romantic advances towards his wife. Realizing what he has done, Barton then tries to put the blame on the Gill-man. The Gill-man, witnessing the killing, and apparently realizing that he is being framed for Grant's murder, goes on a rampage. After ripping down the confining electric fence, he kills Barton and then slowly walks back to the sea. He is last seen on a beach, advancing towards the ocean.

Cast

* Jeff Morrow as Dr. William Barton * Rex Reason as Dr. Thomas Morgan * Leigh Snowden as Marcia Barton *

as Jed Grant * Maurice Manson as Dr. Borg *

as Gill-man – in water ** Don Megowan as Gill-man – on land * James Rawley as Dr. Johnson * Paul Fierro as Morteno * Lillian Molieri as Mrs. Morteno * David McMahon as Captain Stanley

Production

Unlike the previous two ''Creature'' films, ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' was not filmed in 3-D. The underwater scenes were filmed at Wakulla Springs in

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

, today a state park. Other locations in Florida were also utilized for location shooting. Principal photography ran from late August to mid-September 1955.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewed ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' as a return to the "merman" series: "The producers have captured some misty but pictorial underwater footage and that the Messrs. Morrow and Reason, and Gregg Palmer, who plays a guide with a yen for the blonde and statuesque Miss Snowden, behave fairly well in decidedly unusual circumstances. The "creature", of course, is frightening enough to scare the scales off a tarpon. However, he apparently hasn't terrified his Hollywood discoverers".Crowther, Bosely
"Movie review: 'The Creature Walks Among Us' (1956)".
''The New York Times'', April 27, 1956.

Home media

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

released ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' on DVD in a boxed set along with ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' and ''Revenge of the Creature'', and added a bonus behind-the-scenes documentary on the famous trilogy. The DVD audio commentators are Tom Weaver, later the author of the book ''The Creature Chronicles'', and Bob Burns. In 2018, Universal Studios released a boxed set of all three films on Blu-ray.

References

Notes Bibliography * Weaver, Tom, David Schecter and Steve Kronenberg. ''The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc., 2014. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Creature Walks Among Us, The 1956 films American science fiction horror films 1950s monster movies American black-and-white films Universal Pictures films 1956 horror films 1950s science fiction horror films American sequel films American monster movies 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Films scored by Irving Gertz Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Films scored by Henry Mancini Gill-man English-language science fiction horror films Saturn Award–winning films Films produced by William Alland