Director: Jack Arnold
Writers: Harry Essex, Arthur A. Rosscredit »
Stars: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning
Run Time: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes
Link:
Synopsis
In the beginning, we see the Big Bang and the creation of the Earth followed by evolution. Or God made the Earth. They tell us both stories, so they’ve got it all covered. There’s an expedition to learn the extent of Evolution. Or Creation. Whatever.
An archaeologist, Carl Maia, finds a fossilized claw embedded in rock, and the camera turns and we see that same kind of claw rise up out of the water. This is not an extinct species after all. He goes back to report his findings.
Carl visits David and Kay, two experts on marine life. He shows them the fossil, and they want to go see the dig. They organize a new expedition to find the creature’s whole skeleton, but before that happens, the actual, living creature kills the people camped there to guard the fossil.
The expedition steams up the Amazon. They arrive to find the camp dead. They start their search for the fossil, and this involves lots of scuba scenes. We soon see the the “Creature” is nearby and watching them. One of the scientists, Mark Williams, is jealous of David, and he’s a jerk about it too.
The men all go to test their sample on the ship, while Kay gets bored and goes for a swim, alone in the Amazon. The Gill-Man watches, and he likes what he sees. He chases her back to the boat and accidentally gets caught in the net. It claws its way out of the net before anyone gets a chance to see it. They do find a fingernail that matches the fossil.
Mark loads his harpoon gun, and David accuses him of wanting a trophy. They spot the creature and pursue him. They do shoot him, but he escapes into a deep cave. While they develop the photos, the Gill-man kills one of the crew. That night, they all see him. They chase him and finally capture him; he soon winds up in a cage. He nearly instantly escapes but ends up getting set on fire and jumping overboard.
The next day, they try to leave, but the Gillman has dammed the river. While they try to unblock the boat, Mark and David once gain do underwater battle with the Creature. Mark is killed. The gill-man grabs Kay, jumps in the water, and carries her to his lair. The captain and Carl shoot it repeatedly, and it walks back into the river and vanishes. It sinks to the bottom, apparently dead.
Commentary
The introduction is interesting. Evolution is a crucial point of the plot, and one of the motivations explained in the beginning. “When man goes into space, he’ll need to adapt to his environment,” says one scientist. And yet, they had the need to put in some Creationist text in the intro as well.
Scuba had only been invented about ten years prior to this film, and the underwater filming must have been the closest thing Hollywood could get to exploring an alien world. The underwater footage is really clear, it all looks good, and there is a lot of it. It’s surprisingly good considering how recent the technology was at the time.
The acting is fine, the camerawork is awesome, the story is good. The music, however, is really repetitious, especially the horns that play the same four notes (whaaa-whaaa-bah-whaaa!) whenever the Creature makes an appearance. That sound gets old really fast.
This is a classic for a reason. I wonder how many people are afraid to swim in rivers and lakes to this day because of this film? Lots.