Harry (Guest) on 09/09/2008 3:16 am

The Creature from the Black Lagoon shits all over Dracula.

Turrel (Guest) on 09/09/2008 4:03 am

Make it more deadly. Add a bit of a backstory first, and let the audience get to know what they're watching. Then, unleash it, and add in a healthy dose of violence - everybody loves violence. Keep the suspense up, sort of like Jaws. Leave room for character development, but make that son of a bitch relentless.

I dunno, but I'd be entertained just by violence and a good backstory on the monster. Think about it - all of the others had one. There wasn't much of shit on this thing, if I recall properly.

Lothalis on 09/09/2008 5:09 am

As much as I hate to admit it they need to do a moder remake of Lagoony. Just as long as they have the right Director, it should be fine...

Although if they rip of Friday the 13th any i will hand them their @$$ personaly!

As for a Movie Monster that get no credit I would say Werewolves. They have gone from things to be afraid of to a Euro-trash Horror/slasher staple villan...

Hangie on 09/09/2008 5:27 am

#1: If they made him darker or a mutated misunderstood teen, emos would eat that shit up.

#2:I really think gamera, his pals, and some of the less famous godzilla monsters. I mean they're pretty kick ass but they all just get overshadowed because of people having to make fun of rubber costumes and such.

baronterror (Guest) on 09/09/2008 6:08 am

1) Guillermo Del Toro

2) Candyman. He was ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone. Then He Got the Shaft. Second movie was pretty ok, ready to go. Then 3. And no one cared. Chucky gets more work than that guy? OH COME ON! HE COMES OUT OF YOUR MIRROR! I dont know if I was ever afraid of a doll, but every-damn-body was afraid to do Bloody Mary in the mirror at one time or another. I can understand why People pick the TALL MAN over Candyman, but Damn, other than the first 2 movies, Phantasam movies arent really any good. Candyman needs work in a real bad way.

crazyozzyfan87 on 09/09/2008 7:58 am

1. maybe come out with a new movie

2. the toxic avenger

Ryan (Guest) on 09/09/2008 8:06 am

All I can think about are the possibilities with a blow up doll creature.

I'll be back in a minute.

darkvare on 09/09/2008 8:49 am

chtulu is way better :posh

The Goblin King on 09/09/2008 8:50 am

Survey #1: Bah, just get Johnny Depp to play him in a Tim Burton directed movie and the Hot Topic Crowd will eat him up.

Survey #2: I think the Phantom of the Opera needs a little credit. What with the newest movie everyone thinks of him as some big romantic heartthrob, instead of the murderous, hideously deformed person he's supposed to be!

Tom Foolery on 09/09/2008 9:35 am

1. I remember hearing in a commentary that the writer of the movie got inspiration from a story he heard about a monster that lived in the amazon. Though I've researched the subject deeply, I never found the story or more importantly what the locals called the monster. I guarantee that name would probably be better than Creature or Gillman.

2. Torgo from 'Manos: The Hands of Fate. The guy may have had large deformed knees, but he spoke softly and carried a big stick. Sadly his character was stuck in the worst movie of all time. I think a stand alone Torgo movie would have been more sucessful, but the guy who played him killed himself shortly after Manos was filmed.

Darren Spooner on 09/09/2008 10:12 am

1. They need to make him gay. No, think about it: It would you just be SO MUCH MORE menacing if he had his sights set on the movies male lead, rather than the oh-so-predictable old "Damn, it's a-stealin' our wimmin!" cliché. Plus you could get in tons of subtext and shit with almost no effort needed. Totally win-win.

2. Killer rabbits get almost no respect at all. It's really shameful.

ISChris on 09/09/2008 10:22 am

As already stated, a movie by Guillermo Del Toro would easy boost his appeal.

yertles (Guest) on 09/09/2008 11:31 am

1) I think it helps its that lagoony has no real name, because it makes him more mysterious

2) hmmm its got to be teh cenobites in general. Everybody has a vague recognition of pinhead but beyond that? no one cares!!

Dungeonbrownies on 09/09/2008 12:15 pm

The Creature doesnt get enough cred because it simply isnt that terrifying. If anything, it comes off almost goofy. I saw the films and its always a semi-invulnerable fast swimmer that kidnaps women and wears nice suits on occasion, it's not that deadly sounding. If it were remade as some kind of ancient creature that was feared and worshipped by some random tribe of amazonians who then died out and stopped feeding it thus pissing it the hell off and activating its crazy AvP style hunting skills (usually on the stereotypical hapless researchers and maybe a halle berry or two) then it might be a tad scarier. But it's current status as a fish thing who's just lonely inside and kinda a slow walker is pretty damn lame for a thing that looks pretty cool.

You know who doesnt get enough respect?

Triffids.

Even though they're practically zombie style once they start to over run the planet, they can survive without people simply by sunlight, so you know those lil pockets of humanity are doomed. Plus, they stab you, thats like zombies with shanks.

10,000 Volt Ghost on 09/09/2008 2:18 pm

I think the error is the mistranslation.

1. He should be called Creature from the Black(plague I'm assuming) La Goon. Meaning French Burly monster who carries the black plague. Mostly he's an outcast because he hates Jerry Lewis.
2. Psycho cop does not get enough credit. He wasn't so much a Notorious Hollywood Monster, but he got the job done.

Metal Misfit on 09/09/2008 2:58 pm

50s B-movie monster. That's why. =)

King Credo on 09/09/2008 3:01 pm

Lagoony needs Aquaman powers first of all. As a super power for helping people summoning fish is terrible but if it's used for murder it's pretty cool and will probably be hilarious most of the time. And he needs some random power that makes no sense like the zombie from Creepshow who moved the tombstone by pointing at it from 3 yards away even though zombies and the guy himself have no history of having such power. Lagoony needs a bunch of stupid things like that.

And I haven't heard of too many evil scarecrows. Their purpose in life is to scare things so it makes sense to have an assload of homicidal ones. Also, I'm sick of movies where the evil monster is a guy in a suit. I want more monsters that are not and have never been human. Monsters from birth to death. Guys like Jason and Leatherface are done. We can't get many good ideas for guys like that anymore. Let's get to work on some freaky looking things that fart mustard gas from their eyes and eat with their spines.

The Visible Man on 09/09/2008 3:32 pm

Make him thicker skinned (seems every other monster is impervious to bullets) and emphasize the poisonous claws he has.

I can't remember the name of the monster, but it was a korean knockoff of godzilla with horrible special effects. I believe it was remade in the late 90's, but it was horribly done.

Coryjonc on 09/09/2008 3:49 pm

I'm tired of movies trying to make me feel bad for the villain.

They tried to make the monster likable and redeemable by making him all misunderstood and lonely. They made him too human in their attempt to turn him into a memorable character.

With good writing, directing, and acting they could pull off a monster with personality that actually ACTS like a monster.

King Kong in Peter Jackson's movie is a good example. He's mean, he kills shit and doesn't feel bad for it, but you actually grow to like him. He has personality. They should do something like this with the creature without making him all lonely and whiny.

tl;dr: Keep human characteristics to a minimum.

Also slow-walking doesn't make a monster "Menacing" it makes him laughable. Monsters should be quick and dangerous.

Not Enough Credit: Monsters from children's cartoons. Courage the cowardly dog has some crazy, awesome, original monsters. Scooby Doo (the older series, not "Scooby Doo Where Are You") had some hardcore monsters too, like the Rocker ghost that looked like Gene Simmons and the dude that was like all electrified.

Too Much Credit: Serial Killers. Holy crap, after SAW came out our eyes have been assaulted with cookie-cutter "Torture" movies. Wolf Creek, Hostel, Touristas, etc. Just knock it off already.

Lothalis on 09/09/2008 3:50 pm

Well reserching the orgin name-sake in traditional Amazonian would sound cool (Aycayía)...

It would still mean Mermaid...

Which are actuly Manatee's from that climate...

so it would be "The Aycayia of the Black Lagoon" or "The Evil Sea Cow of the Black Lagoon"

I would rather see the movie about a killer Manatee...

Grislygus on 09/09/2008 4:02 pm

Delete the sequels from history.

Other than that, change nothing and those who are encouraging the in-production remake will burn in hell

Steve (Guest) on 09/09/2008 4:12 pm

Bone spine armor/spears/projectiles. That's all =P

Nick on 09/09/2008 5:51 pm

You guys have heard about the Creature from the Black Lagoon remake, right? It's supposedly suppose to come out next year. As for a weakness, from what I've seen in "The Creature Walks Among Us" fire totally destroyed the Creature, or Lagoony rather. Due to the extensive damage caused to Lagoony by the fire, he shed his gills and begins breathing some sort of lung system.

Cat (Guest) on 09/09/2008 5:55 pm

I heard a while ago that they were working on a remake, so that might help. Thicker skin has been said. I like the whole 'worshipped as a god' idea. Up the grue. Yeah, that's really about it.

CHUDs, certainly. They need more respect. I love CHUDs.

Rob (Guest) on 09/09/2008 6:10 pm

Survey #1: After him being the most kick ass looking monster in Monster Squad you'd think he'd get more recognition. He was also my favorite from Monster of the Year. Seriously I had to have read that a billion times. I'd say a straight remake with more nerve wrenching moments and a respectable modern look would sell him well.

Survey #2:Phantom of the Opera, yeah Broadway... don't care. I wanna see him in a hardcore slasher/exploitation style movie.

ColdFusion (Guest) on 09/09/2008 7:06 pm

I loves me some blacklagoon creatures! They really deserve their own general mills cereal.

Among us cryptozoologists, they DO have a catchier name, that of "gill-man" or "Fin-head" :D

I even drew one ^-^ click here to check it out! segmented skin..

10,000 Volt Ghost on 09/09/2008 7:59 pm

Coryjonc: Scooby Doo...the dude that was like all electrified.

I agree. He never gets enough credit.

SGFAZ (Guest) on 09/09/2008 9:28 pm

I have something to say about Tom Foolery's post. The actor who played Torgo DIDN'T commit suicide.
Well, my answer to the first survey is they need a new look. Something frightening, but interesting.
My answer to Survey 2 is Leprechaun. Best monster ever.Mainly because of him making threats like he's Mike Tyson."Bite your ear off... and make it into a boot!"

KoMoDo (Guest) on 09/09/2008 10:01 pm

#1: I think ol' Gillman should have some ties to pirahna or baracudas. I mean how awesome would it be if he was a man eating amphibious bi-ped! Bigger claws and razor like fins would be a plus as well.

#2: I think that evil clowns are getting the shaft more and more. I mean for every Pennywise ,Clownhouse and KKFOS theres an even crappier cheap rip off direct to dvd movie. Coulrophobia is definetly one of those fears that never gets a proper treatment on the big screen.

HowardC on 09/09/2008 10:37 pm

#1. The problem as the others have stated, is he's based on a fish. Fish just aren't scary, the worst thing a fist can do to you is give you a nasty bite and poor old creature doesn't even have teeth! What's he gonna do? Gum you to death? Give him some nasty teeth an we are talking.... a shark-based creature would have been awesome. Just plop the head of a great white on a person and you have the scariest thing ever! Also the fact that he's from a lagoon and can ONLY be found in that lagoon doesn't help. Vampires werewolves and other creatures of the night can be found anywhere so you can't avoid them, all you have to do to avoid this chump is not go into the amazon rain forest. In otherwords, he poses a threat to NO ONE!

#2: Gremlins. Gremlins are totally underrated. Not the twilight-zoe shage carpet man gremlin, but the ones from the two movies. I mean all you have to do is get a glorified hampster wet and then let he's emo babies pig out and you have an entire ARMY of evil little killing machines! And in the second movie we learned that they are so easy to mutate, that you can simply have them drink genetic material from another animal to change! I mean come on, instant army of easily mutate-able killer reptile things.... that's the plot of every 50's horror movie combined!

(p.s. I am also coulrophobic.... those clowns creep me the hell out!)

Doctor_Who on 09/09/2008 10:45 pm

1) Maybe a good comic book adaptation? Those seem to tide Freddy and Jason over pretty well between movies. But most of them suck, so find someone who'll take the job seriously. Horror comics always either rule or blow, depending on who does them. Something dark and original, like Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing. In fact, see if you can get Moore himself to do it. It'd be oddball enough an idea for him to go for it. And seeing as Hollywood is intent on turning every Alan Moore comic into a movie just so they can make him mad, this will get the Creature a new film vehicle, without being a remake.

2) Vampires. Seriously, Doctor, Vampires? Yes, Vampires. In the last 20 years point out one vampire film that didn't portray them as either (A) overly emotional fops, (B) Hot Topic customers or (C) rejected Matrix characters. Sometimes all three. Vampires used to be scary, now whenever I see one in a movie I get the overpowering urge to kick steal its lunch money.

Casper Knightshade (Guest) on 09/09/2008 11:31 pm

Man, I'm a fan of this website, and Halloween is my holiday too!

And I agree: The Creature doesn't get any respect, so allow me to use the survey to make my points about the Creature:

Survey #1: What do you think could be done to improve the Creature from the Black Lagoon's reputation as a monster?

Point out the Creature's monster assets. For starters, like Frankenstein's Monster the Creature is not a Child of the Night like Dracula or the Wolfman and he has tremendous strength. He doesn't need a full moon or sunset to strike at his victims. Crosses don't work, and since his environment is mostly water-based fire is not an effective weapon against him. He can be also stealthy as a Ninja; unlike the Wolfman who growls and howls, or Frankenstein's monster or the Mummy with their moaning and cumbersome attack. Although Dracula employs more mystic and psychological attacks such tactics are not good in a melee.

And in fact he's the anti-Aquaman/Namor the Submariner. Here's this Creature, practically a Humanoid fish, with scarry swimming ability. I know in the old movie it's a bid ridiculous, but could you imagine a CG version of the Creature, racing through the water to attack those losers from the boat?

Redo the movie with the same storyline and a heavy budget. And don't forget the old movie really showed attack damage so an updated version wouldn't skip on the red stuff at all.

Survey #2: In your opinion, what other monsters don't get enough credit?

Oh, there's a bunch, but the always naked life force stealing bitch from 'Lifeforce' doesn't get any respect.

Hanglyman on 09/10/2008 1:50 am

#1: Honestly, I just think he needs a better movie. The Creature was well designed, but his movie was much less atmospheric and scary than his contemporaries like Dracula, the Mummy and Wolfman. It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember being a little disappointed the first time I saw it, since I'd seen it placed near the same level as the other Universal classic monster movies.

#2: The Invisible Man is my personal favorite, and I don't think he gets enough credit, though it's debatable as to whether he can be considered a monster in the same way as the Creature. The Stuff was pretty awesome, too. How many monsters have their own TV jingle? And I've always felt Phantasm is a very underrated film... the first one is pretty cheesy and funny, but it's also very dark, scary and dream-like if you can take it seriously. The Tall Man is so mysterious... is he Death personified? A demon? An alien? The answers are hinted at but never fully explained, which lets you fill in the gaps with your imagination- and that makes it far scarier. Again, IF you can get past lovable old Angus Scrimm's gleeful overacting.

Silver on 09/10/2008 2:23 am

Survey #1: I think that he should get women companions to pimp him up. That would make him more badass.

Survey #2: Maybe she's not a monster, but Annie Wilkes will always haunt my dreams as the bitch who hobbled a helpless guy tied to a bed. Surprisingly, I don't hear a lot of her from people who say that they like Mysery.

ColdFusion: I checked out your drawing and I liked it. Good work, pal.

Geno (Guest) on 09/10/2008 7:33 am

1) A modern remake and some months at the supernatural-evil gym. The guy just can't keep a toe-hold in the horror world when even the average zombie has a better chance of taking out supporting characters.

2) My ol' friends, Henry and Edward.. as in Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde. My freakin' god, no one bothers to read the damn book anymore- they've turned Jekyll into some sort of lame Hulk rip-off nowadays. It's so sad..

JakeOfAllTrades on 09/10/2008 10:02 am

The Creature from the Black Lagoon needs a makeover, and most likely from The Fab Five. However, the same cannot be said for The Phantom of the Opera, who is meant to be hideous rather than pretty.

By the way, Gerard Butler who played the Phantom in the movie musical was Leonidas in 300.

"Madness... THIS IS OPERA!"

MattJack on 09/10/2008 11:33 am

Mr. Mockery, I would agree with you, but I've seen footage of him in action. He is nothing to f*ck with.

http://www.i-mockery.com/shorts/prowrestling/prow-3.gif

Dracula may have fangs, but does he have PIRANHA BITE and OUTLAW CHOKE???

RadioNinja on 09/10/2008 1:28 pm

The Creature is one of a race of beings, last surviving Atlanteans, that sort of thing. He gets caught up in a tuna net and goes all slashy on the crew...weeks later, the blood-soaked ship runs aground near the Everglades. Maybe throw a skunk-ape documentary team out there, for the irony. Maybe have him living in a lagoon behind some crazy swamp-dwellers shack.

poppers620 on 09/10/2008 3:08 pm

so totally not answering your little survey, but starting next year at Universal Studios Hollywood there is going to be a stage show MUSICAL of Creature From The Black Lagoon......

Thanos on 09/10/2008 10:15 pm

Personally, I think the CFTBL never achieved as much fame as other Universal Monsters because he didn't have a string of hit films. Look at Dracula and Frankenstein. They both achieved massive popularity because they were constantly in the public eye. I think a Universal reboot similar to the Mummy franchise would do Ol' Lagoony wonders. Perhaps tell the film from his perspective, instead of that of humans. Have Lagoony star as the last of his species, looking for some solution to finding out where is people went.

I'm just shooting off at the mouth. I could be wrong. :-P

Another Universal Monster that is pretty much forgotten, but was a big hit in his day, is the Invisible Man. Claude Rains was killer in the role! Gotta love the simple get-up he wore too. His bandage costume probably served as some inspiration for Darkman!

Mojomajik9 on 09/11/2008 2:27 am

Survey question 1: Well, others have said he needs a remake, a backstory and a bit more definition. I'm all for the secret-government-biological-warfare-experiment-gone-wrong thing.

Survey 2: The Predator. Seriously, he only has two movies by himself. That's it! Alien has 4. Now he's forced into those horrendous AVP movies, and he could have been killing space marines or whatever in Predator 3. He deserves more.

the Platinum Poppy on 09/11/2008 4:34 am

Doctor Who: Here's my analysis of the problem with vampires: The problem is that nowadays they're just superheroes. They have superpowers and then a few supervulnerabilities, like Superman with his cryptonite they have sunshine and lack of blood. And in every piece of popculture where there are vampires, people are always surprised to find out that they're not vulnerable to crucifixes and garlic. I don't know why anyone would expect this in the first place, since vampires haven't had problems with these things for like a hundred years or so.
If you look at, say, those modern japanese horror movies, the ghost kids do have some kind of human feelings that come out time to time, but they are very far from having actual human personalities. Same thing with some monsters in sci-fi... that's kind of what vampires used to be like hundreds of years ago when they could actually scare anyone. But now they're just pathetic superheroes. Or supervillains, in shit like Buffy and Blade.

Roggs on 09/11/2008 1:33 pm

The Visible Man: Are you thinking of Reptilicus?

Geminate on 09/11/2008 6:14 pm

It mainly has to do with the eyes. We must have eye contact to understand these creatures or at least have some idea of what they are thinking or experiencing emotionally. Creatures that have human-like eyes are easily assessed and quickly understood. The Creature from the Black Lagoon was given eyes that no human could relate with or to. It really is just that simple.

Chongo (Guest) on 09/11/2008 11:23 pm

1) I guess that's because Lagoony has no historical background. I mean, all "classical" (Frankenstein's creature, Wolfman, Dracula...), more appealing monsters were created by writers a buckload of years ago, while Lagoony was made as a trash movie villain. While all the others got to be depicted in top-budget productions, Lagoony didn't. He's got no past to back him up.

2) I guess the Blob. The '88 movie cracks me up.
I also agree with the guy who said vampires. In John Carpenter's "Vampires", the James Woods character says something like "you think vampires are a bunch of faggots who sleep in tafeta coffins and seduce the world with trashy european accent?". Well, most recent movies depict them like that.

Primortal (Guest) on 09/12/2008 1:44 am

Survey #1: I've always been quite fond of Todd McFarlane's takes on the Creature. Always looked seriously bad to the bone, and tough too.

A remake with a good, competant, director that's either a very high PG-13 or R. Take the original story and elaborate upon it, but still respect it.

Survey #2: As much as I agree with many of the points brought up in this so far, I'm going to have to agree with the choice of the Phantom of the Opera. He was originally a creepy obsessed stalker/serial killer who could play a mean organ or piano. He also looked nasty as hell. The classic Lon Chaney Sr. Phantom comes to mind.

Why not go back to that? He used to be seen in the same boat as Dracula, Wolfman, Frank, the Mummy, the Gill-Man, and the Invisible Man... now he's not even scarey. Not to mention he no longer looks like a hideously acid-scarred ghoul either.

Don't get me wrong though, the Phantom of the Opera play is a great play, one of my absolute favorites, but it seems to have downgraded the Phantom in overall scariness.

MrEff on 09/14/2008 12:56 pm

1: Spikes/spines, poisonous bio-acid and some sort of horrifying screech should help it to become more lethal.

2: Though not under used thanks to Ann Rice they've all become pussies, too busy lusting over each other to just rip out throats and bath in the blood of mortals, as they rightfully should.

90’s Child on 09/17/2008 10:50 pm

1) Well, first off, use the McFarlane type design (sleek, more animalian and aquatic) and make it a vicious Xenomorph-Jaws-hybrid-type aquatic hunter, like the others have suggested. Secondly, and I'm suprised nobody has mentioned this, add some elements from "The Shadow Over Insmouth" (A cool story, if you ignore the blatiant anti-miscegenation subtext) with the movie's plot. Such as there being more than one creature, them having an underwater city and worshipping an unspeakable cosmic horror, them being able to hybridize with humans (which explains them kidnapping women, which could be played for the creepy factor, albeit done better than the similarly themed "Humanoids from the Deep"), there being hybrid Creature/human characters (Such as a traitor to the humans and a main character who doesn't know until near the end). Some changes I would make would be making one of the creatures (The first one that the characters encounter) starting out malicious at first but slowly coming to identify with humans and joining their side, and the good guy creature-hybrid staying good even after he finds out (thus removing the racist/anti-miscegination themes). I have no idea for what they should rename the Gill-Man. Maybe "Dagonoids"? Or maybe "Dwellers of the Deep"?

2) Well, I actually think that the not-inherently-evil type of werewolves is pretty underrepresented. You know, the kind that can change at will and doesn't turn into a rampaging killer when they do? They are altogether absent from film, except for in Teen Wolf and that craptastical-book-mangle known as Blood and Chocolate, and they only appear in books in either crappy-romance novels (Like Twilight) or as second-string characters in legitimate fantasy titles. Plus, everyone thinks that werewolves would loose all of their bite like vampires (as mentioned by several people) have and become complete pseudo-wiccan pussies, ignoring the newly opened-up possiblities for lycanthropic primality, such as the badass werewolf hero and the socially-Darwinistic Hannibal Lecter-esque villain (and yes, that would include caniballism).

And yes, I am a fan of the "heroic werewolf" archetype, why do you ask? ;P

Scythemantis (Guest) on 09/22/2008 7:10 pm

Humanoid fish are common in all sorts of media thanks to this guy, but you're right; they fail to achieve the same status as vampires and lycanthropes partly because they have no universal "lore." There isn't any catchy blanket term for them or notable powers/weaknesses.

Maybe if he had the classic monster ability to turn other people into more gill-men, he'd be scarier and his woman-snatching would even make more sense.

I nominate "bog man" or "bog thing" as a simple but creepy universal term for humanoid fish. I like "bog," hence my website!

Though it's one scientist's freak accident and not exactly threatening, I wish The Fly had caught on as a Halloween icon. I want to be able to buy fly-head dudes in stretchy, windup, gummi and stuffed form!

Rich Tecklenburg (Guest) on 05/25/2010 12:33 am

As if we don't see his stash of girlfriends on the side

Hunter Reed (Guest) on 09/06/2010 1:23 am

i think that gerard butler is one hell of a macho actor---