The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy

by Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Steve Kronenberg

Overview

He was the final addition to Universal's "royal family" of movie monsters: the Creature from the Black Lagoon. With his scaly armor, razor claws and a face only a mother octopus could love, this Amazon denizen was perhaps the most fearsome beast in the history of Hollywood's Studio of Horrors. But he also possessed a sympathetic quality which elevated him fathoms above the many aquatic monsters who swam in his wake.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Gill Man and his mid-1950s film career (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us) is collected in this book, packed to the gills with hour-by-hour production histories, cast bios, analyses, explorations of the music, script-to-screen comparisons, in-depth interviews and an ocean of fin-tastic photos.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476615806
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	02/06/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
Sales rank:	703,364
File size:	36 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Tom Weaver of Sleepy Hollow, New York, has been interviewing moviemakers for 35 years. The New York Times called him a leading scholar in the horror field and USA Today has described him as the king of the monster hunters. Classic Images said he was “the best interviewer we have today.” A frequent contributor to film magazines, he has written many books about American popular culture and is also a Blu-ray audio commentator. David Schecter has been a writer for more than three decades, and also produces soundtrack recordings for his Monstrous Movie Music CD label. He lives in Chatsworth, California. Steve Kronenberg is the managing editor of Noir City, the e-magazine published quarterly by the Film Noir Foundation. He lives in Millville, New Jersey.
Tom Weaver of Sleepy Hollow, New York, has been interviewing moviemakers for 35 years. The New York Times called him a leading scholar in the horror field and USA Today has described him as the king of the monster hunters. Classic Images said he was "the best interviewer we have today." A frequent contributor to film magazines, he has written many books about American popular culture and is also a Blu-ray audio commentator.
David Schecter has been a writer for more than three decades, and also produces soundtrack recordings for his Monstrous Movie Music CD label. He lives in Chatsworth, California.
Steve Kronenberg is the managing editor of Noir City, the e-magazine published quarterly by the Film Noir Foundation. He lives in Millville, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction by Julie Adams
Part
1. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
2. Revenge of the Creature (1955)
3. The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
Part
4. The Official Gill Man Guide to the Sunshine State
5. Aquatic Kith and Kin
 • The Return of the Creature (1954)
 • Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956)
 • The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)
 • Octaman (1971)
6. Creature Conversations
 • Ginger Stanley
 • Mike Gannon
 • Vikki Megowan
7. A Brief History of The Black Lagoon Bugle (David J. Schow)
8. Revenge of the Return of the Remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon (David J. Schow)
Chapter Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

each movie is examined through an exhaustive account of production history, interviews, biographies, and photographs. Thoroughly researched...packed with first-hand narratives from producers, directors, costume designers, and actors”—Library Journal

From the Publisher

plumbed with submarine depth and paleontological detail...by the prolific Tom Weaver, who is to monster movies what Jacques Cousteau was to the sea: a tireless investigator, researcher and champion...a definitive work of scholarship...a true trilogy

The Commercial Appeal

the definitive, end-all-be-all account...everything there is to know about the Gill Man

Bookgasm.com

each movie is examined through an exhaustive account of production history, interviews, biographies, and photographs. Thoroughly researched...packed with first-hand narratives from producers, directors, costume designers, and actors

Library Journal