"The Creature Walks Among Us" begins much like the first two Gillman films, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) and "Revenge of the Creature" (1955), with some doctors and a crew taking a boat down river to capture the merman. Instead of a small steamboat on the Amazon, however, it's a big ship speeding through some imaginary Everglades. Apparently, the filmmakers had no idea what the Everglades actually are, nor any concern that their audience might, as one would have more trouble finding a spot in the tropical wetlands to stand without their head being above water and where they weren't being eaten by alligators than they would from becoming unconscious from diving too deep in clear waters, which is what happens in the film. Regardless, there's more of the same lovely underwater photography and a tense sequence as they hunt and are hunted by the amphibious creature. Once again, the monster is captured and wreaks havoc when on the loose, too. Otherwise, this final creature feature is substantially different in tone and characterization.
The woman is quite the distraught and abused wife this outing, and like the rest of the main human cast, a disagreeable character. The Gillman seems to think the same, as he's less interested in her than he was in the last films' damsels. Out of boredom, she shoots sharks for sport and endangers the mission by her incompetence at deep-sea diving. Two other members of the crew hit on her repeatedly, one on whom is rapey about it, and the other makes clunky colonialist metaphors about men reaching for the stars or the jungle. Worst of all, though, is the woman's sociopath and jealous, beady-eyed husband, who dreams of being a mad doctor in the vein of a Frankenstein or Moreau by turning the Gillman into a Lung-man. The creature catching on fire during the film's best scene, however, along with a tracheotomy, causes this mutation for him, as his scales are burned off to reveal an under-layer of human skin, and X-rays reveal that he can breath without his lost gills because he also has lungs. No vivisection required.
The marriage drama is gloomy, and I could see how it might upset some horror fans' expectations, but I appreciate the change of pace, especially since the last two films were so repetitively similar. On the other hand, the pacing isn't as good here, especially compared to the first film, and is rather repetitive, replaying the same situations of marital squabbles and lecherous other men. There are a few too many characters, most of them being of no consequence, although this does lead to an early unintentionally-funny scene where they introduce each other with a greeting along the lines of, "Dr.... Dr.... Dr." And there's no explanation as to why the Gillman suddenly bulks up after shedding his scales. Yet, while spelling the end of the series by the Gillman also shedding his gills, the new makeup allows us to see the actor's eyes. His displays of strength, including a great final rampage, add some much-needed action to the plot, too. Instead of entrapment within the (former) illusion of Sea World tranquility of "Revenge of the Creature," he's essentially put in a concentration camp this time. The result is a more sympathetic creature, which along with the unsympathetic men, makes "The Creature Walks Among Us" more similar in some ways to "The Shape of Water" (2017) than to the first two creature features.
The woman is quite the distraught and abused wife this outing, and like the rest of the main human cast, a disagreeable character. The Gillman seems to think the same, as he's less interested in her than he was in the last films' damsels. Out of boredom, she shoots sharks for sport and endangers the mission by her incompetence at deep-sea diving. Two other members of the crew hit on her repeatedly, one on whom is rapey about it, and the other makes clunky colonialist metaphors about men reaching for the stars or the jungle. Worst of all, though, is the woman's sociopath and jealous, beady-eyed husband, who dreams of being a mad doctor in the vein of a Frankenstein or Moreau by turning the Gillman into a Lung-man. The creature catching on fire during the film's best scene, however, along with a tracheotomy, causes this mutation for him, as his scales are burned off to reveal an under-layer of human skin, and X-rays reveal that he can breath without his lost gills because he also has lungs. No vivisection required.
The marriage drama is gloomy, and I could see how it might upset some horror fans' expectations, but I appreciate the change of pace, especially since the last two films were so repetitively similar. On the other hand, the pacing isn't as good here, especially compared to the first film, and is rather repetitive, replaying the same situations of marital squabbles and lecherous other men. There are a few too many characters, most of them being of no consequence, although this does lead to an early unintentionally-funny scene where they introduce each other with a greeting along the lines of, "Dr.... Dr.... Dr." And there's no explanation as to why the Gillman suddenly bulks up after shedding his scales. Yet, while spelling the end of the series by the Gillman also shedding his gills, the new makeup allows us to see the actor's eyes. His displays of strength, including a great final rampage, add some much-needed action to the plot, too. Instead of entrapment within the (former) illusion of Sea World tranquility of "Revenge of the Creature," he's essentially put in a concentration camp this time. The result is a more sympathetic creature, which along with the unsympathetic men, makes "The Creature Walks Among Us" more similar in some ways to "The Shape of Water" (2017) than to the first two creature features.