Of all the classic, iconic
Universal Monsters, my favorite has always been the last:
The Creature from the Black Lagoon (all due respect to Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, et al). The original 1954 film (directed by Jack Arnold) had a mixture of menace, pathos and sexuality that, combined with some groundbreaking underwater photography, holds up to this day. Some
substandard sequels didn’t taint the original’s legacy. Nor could a reboot that’s been promised / threatened since the early 1980s.
The Gill-Man not only featured some incredible graphics at the time, he has gone on to inspire some really cool artwork, design, and merchandise in the past 58 years. Here’s a sampler of some goodies, vintage and new. For more, check out Jon K’s (now-retired)
Blog of the Creature or
Dr. Macro's high quality scans.
I have a tiny (by my standards, anyway) collection of Creature figures, a photo of which starts off this Pops Gallery.
