A scientific expedition heads to the rivers of the upper Amazon in hopes of uncovering a sediment deposit containing a complete skeleton of a previously undiscovered being. As the exploration crew travels up the river, they are about a mysterious urban legend. Locals say there is a man with gills that lives in the water and kills those to disturb his lair. He is the creature from The Black Lagoon BUM BUM BUUUUUUM.

Released in 1954, The Creature From the Black Lagoon is an all time great in the Universal Monster’s catalog. This has been on my watchlist for a while, but my buddy Hayden recommended that I watch it so I finally made an effort to give it a shot. It is a fun little movie with an awesome creature design. The gills and the makeup looked so good in black and white film, but the story was decent at best. There are a few scenes and motifs that really show their age, but other than that there’s not much to complain about. I did award this a Classic Pass, which is a +15 to the overall score. If this movie was made in the 80s, I probably would have given it the proper 61/100.

The Creature From the Black Lagoon is available to stream on Prime Video ($).