Every Cancelled John Carpenter Film We NEVER Got To See

Though Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy have been remade time and time again, The Creature from the Black Lagoon has never re-emerged, despite being one of the classic Universal Monsters.

But in 1992, Carpenter was put in charge of a remake, with special effects guru Rick Baker hired to design the eponymous creature. Carpenter intended his version to maintain the original premise, with a scientific expedition discovering an amphibious humanoid in the Amazon. However, the story would've been darker and more violent, playing out more like a tragedy than a creature feature.

Gill-man was treated less like a beast and more like a misunderstood animal, who happens to be the sole survivor of an ancient species. The tone would've been akin to The Thing, emphasising claustrophobia and paranoia (but crammed with vicious kills to satiate gorehounds). The scientists were portrayed as either morally ambiguous or downright exploitive, intensifying the conflict.

Unfortunately, Universal had one too many box-office bombs at the time and saw Carpenter's project as a financial risk, causing them to call it quits. Even though Carpenter could've revitalised Gill-man for a new generation, the property still remains largely untouched.