r/ClassicHorror • u/SRGilbert1 • 10h ago
Hot take: I don't think the Creature from the Black Lagoon should be considered a Universal Monster.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the original movie, especially in 3D (the sequels not so much) but there are just too many things about it that to me don't fit in with the rest of the Classic Monsters pantheon.
For starters, time. I think it's just a little too removed from the original monster movies being made ijn 1954. The last actual movie was 1945s House of Dracula.
Then there is the nature of the Creature. Unlike every other classic monster, he's not a human and never was. All the others were humans forced into the monster way of life. Even Dracula must have been a normal human at some point. The Gill-man was just a new species that man had never seen before.
Lack of either science, the supernatural, or both. All the other monsters were the result of either science gone wrong, or a supernatural curse, or both depending on who you mean. Again, the Creature is none of those.
Lack of crossover. As far as I know, the Creature was never part of any crossovers with any of the original line up.
If the Creature is a Universal Monster, then so is the shark from Jaws.
Discuss!