Revenge of the Creature, An Old Monster Never Dies

...at least the classic Universal monsters don't.  All aboard the Rita II with Captain Lucas (Nestor Paiva), and back to the Black Lagoon! An important sequel that will answer many questions...most importantly, can any 1950s actress rival Julie Adams in a white swimsuit?  So watch out Jacksonville....the horrors of the Amazon are on their way! From 1955, let us examine "Revenge of the Creature." Oh by the way!  Clint Eastwood has a nice, non-credited role in this one.

After the aforementioned voyage captures our gill man, the monster is brought to Ocean Harbor Oceanarium, near Jacksonville.  Held in captivity for tourists to ooh and aah over, our monster is not happy...and lonely.  The bane of his existence, Joe (John Bromfield), the man who captured him, continues to taunt him.  In addition to being a great tourist attraction, the gill man (Ricou Browning) also attracts the attention of the science community.  On cue, Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) arrives...and so does a sultry science student, Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson).  These two will, of course fall in love....much to the consternation of the love-struck gill man.

As our two lovebirds delve into the tank to attempt to tame the monster, our gill man goes goo-goo eyes over Helen and her white swimsuit.  The gill man's hormones go crazy and he breaks his chains and escapes...terrorizing the park and coastal Florida while doing so.  With Helen continuing to wear that white swimsuit, our creature decides not to return to the Amazon, but pursue his new love interest...can we blame him?  Believing the gill man is headed back to Brazil, Clete and Helen let their guard down as they continue their romance.  Bad move, as the gill man continues to pursue his goddess, determined not to let any mortal get in his way. As our fiend emerges from the depths once again, all of Florida is in peril.

Does the gill man have any chance to replace Clete as the object of Helen's desires?  If so, what will their offspring look like?  Oh yeah, this isn't a Roger Corman film. Perhaps not as Freudian and deep as the original  Creature From the Black Lagoon  this sequel is still a lot of fun.  Maybe we can discern a message about the dangers and evils of putting wild animals in captivity, especially with the developments at Sea World this past year, but this movie serves us best when taken as a perfect horror film for the summertime.  Oh yes.....the answer to that all important question...well...lets just say if you prefer blondes, Ms. Nelson will edge out Ms. Adams....if you prefer brunettes....Ms. Adams prevails.  This film is offered in great quality on YouTube.