Thursday, October 13, 2022

Revenge of the Creature Through a "Kid's" Eyes


The only new Universal Monster of the Fifties gets his first sequel.

Scientists hire the same Captain, and his new boat is called the Rita II. 
That’s tempting fate right there that is.

True to Universal form, they maintain continuity
Since they do capture the Gill-man in this one, 
the first two Creature films are like the two halves of King Kong...
but with a fish!

On the Gill-man jump scare grabbing a stork:
Me -*Anabelle's horror movie laugh*
"Well, now I know where she gets it from."

On the change from Gill-man's original introduction:
Me- "They don't hide him at all this time, he's in full frame.
And they kept the same music, love the consistency."

On putting less effort into hiding the use of scuba gear:
Me- "There's bubbles coming out of the Gill-man's head like the fish tank aerator of him we had when I was a kid."

On a highly important bit part:
Me- "Recognize the geeky lab assistant with the rat in his pocket?"
Rosa- "No."
Me- "What if he was wearing a cowboy hat?"
Rosa- "No."
Me- "It's Clint Eastwood's first visible movie."
Rosa- "Really!?!?!?!?!"
 Me- "He was in Tarantula first, but his face was hidden behind a pilot's mask."

On the unconscious Gill-man brought to the oceanarium:
Rosa-  "How do they know he's in a coma."
Me- "He's not moving."
Rosa-"How do they know he's alive?"
Me- "They can see him breathing through his gills."
Rosa- "Can't those hibernate?"
Me- "um..." *long pause* "I don't know how we'd know that."

On Helen's description of how gills work:
Me- "That is the most accurate science description we’ve seen in a monster flick so far."

On the Gill-man beginning to wake up, and my wife starting to pay more attention to the movie:
Rosa- "Well, get out of there!
He's moving! get out!"
 
On the guy with the camera running toward the Gill-man and being violently swatted:
Rosa- "Really!!!!  You got what you got."

On the tank the Gill-man is chained to the bottom of:
Rosa- "He's swimming with sharks."
Me- "Yes...which is odd considering he's clearly from a fresh water lagoon off the Amazon River."
 
On lowering a speaker into the water for the "training" session:
Rosa- "Are they going to play music?"
*The Gill-man observes while treading using odd motions*
Rosa- "He's doing a dance." 
*Imitates Gill-man dance on the couch*
 
On using a cattle prod to "train" the Gil Man:
Rosa- "Why do they offer him food and make him stop."
Me- "Animal training and experiments were basically abuse in the Fifties.
This is everything bad about Sea World in one film *pause for quick Google and arithmetic* fifty-eight years before Blackfish." 

On Helen explaining brain waves when sleeping are identical to when one is insane:
Me- "So much for the accurate science in this one. 
It would explain my dreams, however."

On the scene, Helen and Clete discuss that men are lucky because they can have both, 
but women must choose between a family and a career:
Rosa and Me- "Wow."

On Helen dressed up for her date with Clete:
Rosa- "She's very pretty and so is her dress."
*The Gill-man swims up to the viewing window*
Rosa- "He's in looooooove."

On the Gill-man, after being abused for the entire movie, finally breaking his chain:
Rosa- "Uh oh." *repeat every move the Gill-man makes*

On Joe (Clete's more action based rival for Helen) trying, and failing spectacularly to stop the Gill-man:
Rosa- "Noooo!
Oh well, goodbye Joe."
 
On the Gill-man finding Helen's room:
Rosa- "Is that her motel? How did he know? Did he smell her?*
*Helen, with full knowledge there is a super strong, lethally clawed, fish monster lurking about fails to lock her windows and doors.*
Rosa- "YOU SEE!!!!"
*Constant huffing at every unlocked entry port.*

On Chris, Helen's adopted stray German Shepard scaring off the Gill-man but meeting his fate:
Rosa- "Awwwwww."

On Helen sneaking up behind Clete and putting a hand on his shoulder as suspenseful music plays right after we saw the Gill-man:
Rosa and Me- "Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!"
 
On Clete and Helen deciding to take a leisurely swim in the river while their boat is repaired:
Rosa- "They don't think that maybe they'll cross paths with the monster?"
Me- "He was last seen in the ocean after he flipped those cars, and there have been no sightings."
*familiar musical sting*
Rosa- "Uh oh."

On the Gill-man just missing Helen for about the nineteenth time:
Me- "The poor guy."
Rosa- *in deep Gill-manesque (I guess) voice* "Nooooooooooo!"
 
On the Gill-man carrying Helen into the river and Clete diving in after them:
Rosa- "What are you going to do?
Call someone, you fool."
 
On the Fifties:
Rosa- "Why does everyone in this movie have a cigarette?"
Me- "Because EVERYONE smoked."

On the Gill-man throwing a guy: 
Rosa- "Okay, he's dead."
*Guy hits a tree in a sickening, limb twisting manner*
Rosa- "Very dead."
 
On expecting them to track the Gil-man like the Mummy:
Rosa- "They're gonna find algae, or a piece of her dress."
*they find something else*
Me- "Or BIG fishy footprints."

On the news announcement of abducted "pretty young scientist" being Clete's fiancé:
Rosa- "Wait! When did that happen?"

On Clete and the police chatting idly when the other hunters fire a flare to identify they found the Gil-man:
Rosa- "Look in the sky, you fool!"

On understanding the genre when the Gil-man is shot (again) and sinks to the bottom (again):
Rosa- "He's in a coma again?
Is he dead?
But he comes back."
Me- "That was in case he didn’t."
Rosa- "They ALWAYS come back."

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