REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955)

Two scientists are traveling down the Amazon hoping to find the legendary Gill Man (a cross between human and amphibian) and take him alive back to Florida where he can be kept in captivity and studied as a kind of "missing link" being. The captain of the boat, who was involved in the first human encounter with the Gill-Man (in 1954's CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON), warns the scientists against tampering with Mother Nature, but onward they forge. Hunky scientist Joe (John Bromfield) dives in and is attacked by the Creature, barely escaping with his life. Eventually they set off explosives in the river which bring the unconscious Creature to the surface and Joe transports him to Florida, to a kind of Sea World oceanarium, where the Creature is revived, chained up, and put on display in a giant tank with other sea creatures. Enter Prof. Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and grad student Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson), both of whom are part of a research team who try to use behavior conditioning techniques on the Creature. Briefly, a love triangle is established between Clete, Helen, and Joe, but Joe soon steps out gracefully, to be replaced by the Creature who sometimes forlornly watches through a window in the tank as Clete and Helen cozy up to each other. When the Creature escapes with crowds of visitors at risk, poor Joe is killed trying to stop him. Despite a large manhunt, the Creature is not found until he stalks into a seaside restaurant and hauls Helen away with him into the night. Can she be saved from the clutches of her monstrous admirer?

This sequel to the first CREATURE movie is fairly predictable and a little sluggish at times, but there is still some fun to be had here. The movie has a more obvious three-act structure than most movies. Act I is on the Amazon, with Nestor Paiva reprising his role as the boat captain from the first film, and Bromfield being set up as the brave hero. But Act II subverts that expectation when Agar and Nelson enter. Because Agar is top-billed, we know he's going to the romantic lead, but frankly, Bromfield seems worthier in all aspects—maybe not as brainy as Agar is supposed to be, but certainly more charming and adventurous. This act is slow-going as it builds up the Agar-Nelson romance with the Creature mostly left to pine away in the tank. After the death of Joe, Act III picks up with the Creature on the run, causing panic and (as in the first movie) spiriting away his loved one—visually much as it happens in the Mummy sequels of the 1940s.The three main actors are likeable and competent, and the Creature, played when he's in the water by Ricou Browning, is energetically menacing. MST3K gave this their comedy commentary and, though it's funny as always, the movie doesn’t really deserve that treatment. [Blu-ray]