The Core Universal Monster Movies Ranked Worst To Best

“We didn’t come here to fight with monsters; we’re not equipped for it. We came here to find fossils.”

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is the glaring anomaly in the classic Universal monster movie line-up. Otherworldly, supernatural beings and curses weren’t what drew in the crowds in the 50s; instead, sci-fi was the preferred genre. The hybrid of sci-fi and the classic horror tradition resulted in the rise of the B-movie monster.

There are two standout strengths of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the first being the breath-taking underwater scenes. The underwater photography is stunning, but the iconic mirroring swimming scene is also genuinely suspenseful (more so than any scene in any of the other films on this list).

The second star of the show is undoubtedly the creature design of the Gill Man. The origin of this design is a troubling controversy. Former Disney animator, Millicent Patrick, joined the project and became the first woman in history to work in special effects make-up. She was solely responsible for the iconic Gill Man design, and was even a part of the film’s promotional tour as “the beauty who created the beast”. The head of the make-up department quickly silenced all praise attributed to Patrick, taking sole credit for the design and firing her. Patrick went decades uncredited and unacknowledged for her immense contribution to the classic; it wasn’t until relatively recently that the truth behind the Gill Man’s creation came to light.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is considered to be the last true, worthwhile Universal monster movie of the classic run, and it’s certainly one of the most influential. Countless filmmakers from Steven Spielberg to Guillermo Del Toro have cited the film as an influence.

If there’s one criticism to be made of this film, it’s that the creature’s musical theme is too overbearing. The Wolf Man has an instantly recognisable and repetitive theme, too, but it’s not hammered to the point of being tedious or distracting. This is the result of interference from the studio, who insisted that the theme be played over every appearance, even when the tone of the scene didn’t call for it.