History Film / CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Kay.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To "Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth." Some subsequent Franchise/CthulhuMythos writers have written Innsmouth stories inspired by or that make reference to ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''.
** Also, a spiritual ''pre''decessor to ''Film/TheShapeOfWater''.

* TheAmazon

* ArtisticLicenceBiology: The Gill Man himself, obviously. There's also a line suggesting that there were giant rats in the Devonian period...two hundred million years before mammals, give-or-take.

* BoisterousBruiser: Captain Lucas.
* CigarChomper: Captain Lucas.

* EgomaniacHunter: Mark.
* EvolutionaryLevels: The titular creature as "the missing link" between man and fish, being a clawed, super strong, bipedal amphibious creature from the Paleozoic.

* FishPeople: The Creature may be the most famous example.

* HarpoonGun: Mark brought one with him.

* MarsNeedsWomen: Gill Man, being the last of his kind, must have wanted a “mate.”

* MonsterMisogyny: Subverted; Gill Man mostly slaughters and kills men, albeit he kidnaps two women and befriends another throughout his three movies.

* PeopleInRubberSuits: Almost the archetype
* RedShirt:
** Luís and Tomás, slashed to horrified death.
** Also Zee and Chico.
* SceneryPorn: The underwater shots.

* ManOnFire: Kay sets Gill Man on fire when she throws a well placed lantern strike at it when it attacks Dr. Thompson.

* ManOnFire: Dr. Thompson sets Gill Man on fire with a well placed lantern strike when it attacks him.

* GreenAesop: A rather more subtle one that you wouldn't expect from a 50s monster movie. The first film's message appears to be about conserving by not interfering with it, exemplified by the conflict between the two male leads. One insists on killing the Creature and bringing its body back to America, while the lead scientist wants to let the Creature live in peace and study it. There's a scene where the heroine casually throws a cigarette in the water, and the creature looking up at it floating on the surface. The Creature only attacks because it feels provoked by these strangers messing with him and his territory, and the man trying to kill him only makes things worse, so there's the added aesop of "violence begets violence." This was an intentionally done by one of the scriptwriters as a not so clear way teaching the audience to not be cruel to those who are different.

** The first was by J.R. Fearn under the pseudonym Vargo Statten. It was published in the 50's and is faithful to the film except for a scene wherein David and Mark get attacked by a [[ManEatingPlant giant man-eating underwater tree]].

%%* WhatMeasureIsANonUnique

* {{Fanservice}}: Well, surely the one gorgeous female member of the scientific expedition would make sure to pack a skintight swimsuit, so that she can go swimming in a South American jungle swamp that could not possibly have any weird bugs or parasites (or gill men, for that matter).

* UnlimitedWardrobe: Kay wears different outfits in every scene. All the men wear almost the same things every day.

* TouchOfTheMonster: An alternative poster shows Gill Man holding the beauty this way

[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Creature_from_the_black_lagoon_9334.jpg]]

Had two lackluster sequels, ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' (1955), which was featured on an [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E01RevengeOfTheCreature episode]] of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', and ''Film/TheCreatureWalksAmongUs'' (1956). Creator/GuillermoDelToro wanted to do a remake but Universal refused, and most of his ideas went into the Oscar-winning ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'' (2017).

** The first was by J.R. Fearn under the pseudonym Vargo Statten. It was published in the 50's and is faithful to the film except for a scene wherein David and Mark get attacked by a giant man-eating underwater tree.

''Creature From the Black Lagoon'' is a Franchise/UniversalHorror film from 1954. [[TheAmazon In the heart of the Brazilian Jungle]], a scientist named Carl Maia finds a unique fossil which suggests an amphibious, transitional creature. After showing it to his colleagues at the Brazilian Marine Institute, an expedition is organized to go find the rest of the fossil. Little do they know that a live specimen of the creature, the Gill Man (or "Devonian Man") lives in the waters, who's highly territorial, [[MarsNeedsWomen lonely]] and intelligent, and has no intention of letting them any of them leave alive.

''Creature From the Black Lagoon'' is a Creator/{{Universal}} {{Horror}} film from 1954. [[TheAmazon In the heart of the Brazilian Jungle]], a scientist named Carl Maia finds a unique fossil which suggests an amphibious, transitional creature. After showing it to his colleagues at the Brazilian Marine Institute, an expedition is organized to go find the rest of the fossil. Little do they know that a live specimen of the creature, the Gill Man (or "Devonian Man") lives in the waters, who's highly territorial, [[MarsNeedsWomen lonely]] and intelligent, and has no intention of letting them any of them leave alive.

** The second is by Walter Harris writing under under the pseudonym "[[AwesomeMcCoolname Carl Dreadstone]]," which barely resembles the film. Not only are several characters renamed (some slightly, others very drastically), but everyone besides David and Kay who survived the movie dies, and the titular monster as a Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-sized [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever aquatic hermaphroditic pig-lizard]] referred to as [=AA=] for "Advanced Amphibian." In addition to numerous ''Film/KingKong'' metaphors, Harris adds a subplot involving the expedition getting captured by a hostile Indian tribe, a scene where "[=AA=]" battles a helicopter, and a changed ending wherein the monster needs to be killed with a Polaris missile from a Brazilian Navy torpedo boat (!).

** The second is by Walter Harris writing under under the pseudonym "[[AwesomeMcCoolname Carl Dreadstone]]," which barely resembles the film. Not only are several characters renamed (some slightly, others very drastically), but everyone besides David and Kay who survived the movie dies, and the titular monster as a Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-sized [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever aquatic hermaphroditic pig-lizard]] referred to as [=AA=] for "Advanced Amphibian." In addition to numerous ''KingKong'' metaphors, Harris adds a subplot involving the expedition getting captured by a hostile Indian tribe, a scene where "[=AA=]" battles a helicopter, and a changed ending wherein the monster needs to be killed with a Polaris missile from a Brazilian Navy torpedo boat (!).

Had two lackluster sequels, ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' (1955), which was featured on an [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E01RevengeOfTheCreature episode]] of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', and ''Film/TheCreatureWalksAmongUs'' (1956). Creator/GuillermoDelToro wanted to do a remake but Universal refused, and most of his ideas went into ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'' (2017).

Had two lackluster sequels, ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' (1955), which was featured on an [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E01RevengeOfTheCreature episode]] of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', and ''Film/TheCreatureWalksAmongUs'' (1956). A remake is currently in DevelopmentHell.

''Creature From the Black Lagoon'' is a Creator/{{Universal}} {{Horror}} film from 1954. [[TheAmazon In the heart of the Brazilian Jungle]], a scientist named Carl Maia finds a unique fossil which suggests an amphibious, transitional creature. After showing it to his colleagues at the Brazilian Marine Institute, an expedition is organized to go find the rest of the fossil. Little do they know that a live specimen of the creature, the Gill Man (or "Devonian man) lives in the waters, who's highly territorial, [[MarsNeedsWomen lonely]] and intelligent, and has no intention of letting them any of them leave alive.

It is one of many films included in the "Franchise/UniversalHorror" canon(Incidentally, Ricou Browning is probably the only person to play one of the Universal monsters who's still alive).

It is one of many films included in the "Franchise/UniversalHorror" canon.(Incidentally, Ricou Browning is probably the only person to play one of the Universal monsters who's still alive.)

* {{Leitmotif}}: Gill Man's theme tune is a three-note key "Dun-dun-DAAA!”

''Creature From the Black Lagoon'' is a Creator/{{Universal}} {{Horror}} film from 1954. [[TheAmazon heart of the Brazilian Jungle]], a scientist named Carl Maia finds a unique fossil which suggests a creature an amphibious, transitional creature. After showing it to his colleagues at the Brazilian Marine Institute, an expedition is organized to go find the rest of the fossil. Little do they know that a live specimen of the creature, the Gill Man (or "Devonian man) lives in the waters, who's highly territorial, [[MarsNeedsWomen lonely]] and intelligent, and has no intention of letting them any of them leave alive.

''Creature From the Black Lagoon'' is a Creator/{{Universal}} {{Horror}} film from 1954. Tells the story of "the Devonian man," or Gill Man, an amphibious, half man, half fish, creature that has existed since the age of dinosaurs in such a perfect condition that it has not had to evolve. An expedition is organized to go into [[TheAmazon heart of the Brazilian Jungle]] where "Evolution has stopped" to try and find a living specimen. Naturally, Gill Man is highly territorial and [[MarsNeedsWomen lonely]], killing and drowning anyone he can get his claws on. He's also highly intelligent; once the IgnoredExpert convinces the crew to leave while they can, Gill Man barricades the exit to the lagoon by toppling a tree so he can finish them off.

As of the Essential Collection, Gill Man is one of the 8 official Universal Monsters. (Incidentally, Ricou Browning is the only person to play one of the Universal monsters who's still alive.)

* SpiritualSuccessor: To "Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth." Some subsequent CthulhuMythos writers have written Innsmouth stories inspired by or that make reference to ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''.