Revenge of the Creature (film)

Revenge of the Creature
Year	1955
Directed by	Jack Arnold
Produced by	William Alland
Written by	Martin Berkeley William Alland (story)
Music by	William Lava Herman Stein
Studio	Universal International Pictures
Cast	John Agar Lori Nelson John Bromfield Nestor Paiva
Run time	82 minutes
Riffed in	Episode #801

“	He's like an orphan of time.	”
	- Helen Dobson

For the MST3K episode, see MST3K 801 - Revenge of the Creature.

Revenge of the Creature is a 1955 monster/horror film directed by Jack Arnold and written by Martin Berkeley. It is the first sequel to The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Plot

Having previously survived being riddled with bullets, the Gill-man has somehow returned to his home in the Black Lagoon. He is captured once again and transported to the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, where he is studied by animal psychologist Professor Clete Ferguson and ichthyologist Helen Dobson.

Helen and Clete quickly begin to fall in love, much to the chagrin of Joe Hayes, the Gill-man's keeper. The Gill-man takes an instant liking to Helen, which severely hampers Professor Ferguson's efforts to communicate with him. Ultimately, the Gill-man escapes from his tank, killing Joe in the process, and flees to the open ocean.

Clint Eastwood briefly appears as a scientist

The Gill-man stalks Helen and Clete, eventually abducting her from a seaside restaurant where the two are at a party. Clete tries to give chase, but the Gill-man escapes to the water with his captive. Clete and police begin a search for the Gill-man. When the creature surfaces, police shoot him as Clete rescues Helen. The Gill-man is presumed dead once again.

Cast

• John Agar as Clete Ferguson
• Lori Nelson as Helen Dobson
• John Bromfield as Joe Hayes
• Nestor Paiva as Lucas
• Ricou Browning as the Gill-man (underwater)
• Tom Hennesy as the Gill-man (on land)
• Clint Eastwood as Jennings (uncredited)

Notes

• A young, uncredited Clint Eastwood makes his first screen appearance as the white-coated lab assistant who does the mouse gag in the lab scene.
• The film was originally released in 3D. Consequently, several objects (a cardboard cutout of the creature, a trombone slide, a car rolling down a dune) can be seen coming straight at the camera for no apparent reason.
• Lori Nelson was cast in part thanks to her experience using SCUBA equipment in the Howard Hughes feature Underwater!
• Actor/Stuntman Tom Hennesy almost drowned during filming. Playing The Creature, he grabs Helen Dobson (in this case stuntwoman Ginger Stanley) on a pier and jumps with her into the water. The scene was shot at night, and when Hennesy and Stanley hit the water, they discovered it was full of jellyfish; in addition, a freak current started to pull them both down. Hennesy let go of Stanley, who swam to the surface, but Hennesy's inflexible Gill-man costume had become waterlogged and too heavy to fight the current. He was rescued by two local boys who happened to be watching the filming from a nearby boat, and quickly raced over and pulled him in.
• Much of Revenge of the Creature was filmed on location at the Marineland of Florida oceanarium. The actors filmed in the water during the tank scenes were required to swim with its real-life underwater inhabitants, including sharks, eels, barracudas, and more. Despite the close proximity to ocean predators, the only incident was that of a sea turtle biting off the prosthetic foot of Ricou Browning's Creature costume.
• In the preceding film, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), the creature suit was built to hold the air in so their were no bubbles when the creature was under water. In order to save money and to provide air for the stuntman in underwater sequences, the suit design was changed to allow a hose to pump air to the actor. As a result, bubbles could be seen coming out of different parts of the suit.
• Ricou Browning requested to be credited for playing the Creature. He was denied this by studio executives, but did make an out-of-costume appearance as one of the lab technicians.
• Another sequel entitled The Creature Walks Among Us was released the following year. It was later used in The Mads Are Back live show.
• The Creature from the Black Lagoon movies were produced by William Alland, a former actor best known for playing Thompson, the investigative reporter in Citizen Kane (1941).
• In 2005, John Agar and Lori Nelson appeared in the monster movie parody The Naked Monster, playing characters with the same names as their characters from Revenge of the Creature. This makes The Naked Monster an unofficial sequel. The Naked Monster also features Paul Marco (as police officer Kelton) and Forrest J Ackerman.

MST3K Connections

• Director Jack Arnold was also director for This Island Earth (Metaluna scenes), The Chicken of Tomorrow, and The Space Children.
• Writer Martin Berkeley was also writer for The Deadly Mantis.
• John Agar also portrayed Dr. Farrell in Women of the Prehistoric Planet and Dr. Roger Bentley in The Mole People.
• Lori Nelson also portrayed Jane Lowe in Untamed Youth and Louise Maddison in Day the World Ended.
• Nestor Paiva also portrayed Prof. Etienne Lafarge in The Mole People.
• Robert B. Williams (George Johnson) also portrayed a TV newsman in Teenagers from Outer Space and Webb in This Island Earth.
• Bill Baldwin (patrol boat dispatcher) also portrayed the TV announcer in Beginning of the End.
• Brett Halsey (Pete) also portrayed Bix Dugan in The Girl in Lovers Lane.
• Don C. Harvey (Mac) also portrayed a guard at the lab in Beginning of the End and a policeman in Teen-Age Crime Wave.
• Actor and stuntman Bob Hoy (Charlie) also portrayed Masterson in Master Ninja II and a mole person in The Mole People.
• Ned Le Fevre (newscaster) also portrayed an announcer in The Deadly Mantis.
• Sydney Mason (police announcer) also portrayed Bill Salisbury in Teen-Age Crime Wave
• Bert Stevens (search party member) also portrayed a reporter in Rocketship X-M, an officer at the proving grounds in Lost Continent, Col. Hill in Beginning of the End.
• Bob Wehling (Joe) was also writer for Eegah.
• Producer William Alland was also producer for This Island Earth, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Space Children.
• Composer William Lava also composed stock music used in The Brute Man and was composer for The Deadly Mantis.
• Score collaborator Herman Stein was also stock music composer for Kitten with a Whip and The Thing That Couldn't Die as well as score collaborator for This Island Earth and The Mole People.
• Art director Alexander Golitzen was also art director for Kitten with a Whip, This Island Earth, The Leech Woman, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Thing That Couldn't Die.
• Set decorator Russell A. Gausman was also set decorator for This Island Earth, The Brute Man, The Leech Woman, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Thing That Couldn't Die.
• Set decorator Julia Heron was also set decorator for This Island Earth and The Thing That Couldn't Die.
• Costume designer Jay A. Morley Jr. was also costume designer for The Mole People and The Deadly Mantis.
• Hair stylist Joan St. Oegger was also hair stylist for The Amazing Colossal Man, This Island Earth, and The Mole People.
• Makeup artist Bud Westmore was also makeup artist for San Francisco International, Kitten with a Whip, This Island Earth, The Leech Woman, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Thing That Couldn't Die.
• Assistant director Fred Frank was also assistant director for This Island Earth.
• Sound technician Leslie I. Carey was sound technician for This Island Earth, The Leech Woman, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Thing That Couldn't Die.
• Music supervisor Joseph Gershenson was also music supervisor for Kitten with a Whip, This Island Earth, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Thing That Couldn't Die, as well as producer for The Leech Woman.
• Stock music composer Henry Mancini was also composer for This Island Earth and The Thing That Couldn't Die as well as stock music composer for Kitten with a Whip and The Deadly Mantis.
• Stock music composer Milton Rosen was also music supervisor for The Leech Woman.
• Stock music composer Hans J. Salter was also stock music composer for Women of the Prehistoric Planet, First Spaceship on Venus (U.S. version), Hercules and the Captive Women (U.S. version), The Human Duplicators, Kitten with a Whip, The Brute Man (for which he was also musical director), and The Thing That Couldn't Die, as well as composer for This Island Earth, The Leech Woman, and The Mole People.
• Stock music composer Frank Skinner was also stock music composer for The Phantom Creeps, Kitten with a Whip, The Brute Man, and The Leech Woman.
• Creature designer Jack Kevan was also mutant constructor for This Island Earth and mole people mask maker for The Mole People.

Critical Response

• Leonard Maltin wrote: "Two stars ... OK sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon destroys much of that film’s mystery and terror by removing Gill Man from Amazonian home and placing him in Florida oceanarium."