"The Creature Walks Among Us" Review

 

by Daniel White

As the old adage goes, "In for a penny, in for a pound." Or in my case, two thirds of a pound! After watching Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) for the first time , I decided to catch its two sequels. Unfortunately, I could not hunt down 1955's Revenge of the Creature, but Peacock has The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) in it's Freaky Franchises collection, suitably housed with other "Universal Classic Monsters".

The movie is similar to the original, only the creature has relocated to the Florida Everglades, and instead of a broken down barge, the scientists are hunting the monster in a double decker yacht. And yes, there is a sexy female aboard, Marcia Barton (Leigh Snowden), the frustrated wife of the team's leader, the fanatical Dr. William Barton (Jeff Morrow, known in Hollywood as "Cro-Magnon Man" for his well developed brow!).

Morrow wants to genetically alter the creature, so it's captured, operated on, and brought back to his San Francisco home. Fellow scientist, Dr. Thomas Morgan (Rex Reason), expresses his concerns about this transformation (Reason is the voice of reason!). But to no avail; Dr. Barton will not listen to Reason's reason and pushes ahead, a man on a mission!

Of course none of this turns out well. Morrow becomes unhinged, his bored wife becomes restless ("You know taking chances isn't just a man's privilege!") and a horny deck hand (Gregg Palmer) gets fresh. There's a lot more action going around on board than in the water in this movie!

It's all silly, harmless fun with Leigh Snowden providing some unintentional laughs, whether she's shooting sharks for sport, or doing an aquatic strip tease when she becomes light headed from diving too deep. Oh, and ladies, equal screen time is given to he-men Reason and Palmer, as it is to sexpot Snowden.

Finally, let's give some well deserved recognition to Riccou Browning, in his last outing as the creature (he performed all the underwater stunts in the three movies). Still alive but in failing health, Mr. Browning is a Hollywood original who will never be forgotten as long as The Creature Walks Among Us (or in his case, swims!). Thank you, Riccou Browning.

With a top notch musical score by the legendary Henry Mancini, The Creature Walks Among Us is available on Peacock.