The last of the movies featuring the Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1956’s THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG us is also the weakest of the series, despite its awesome title. Directed by John Sherwood, this installment reveals the Gill-man survived the last one and now haunts the Everglades.A team of scientists goes to capture him, led by a twisted alcoholic doctor (Jeff Morrow) who brings his wife (Leigh Snowden) along primarily to emotionally abuse her any chance he gets. There’s also a guide (Gregg Palmer) on board who won’t stop hitting on her, so Snowden’s in for a rough movie. Rounding out the cast is the cartoonishly deep-voiced and square-jawed scientist hero played by Rex Reason, also known as “The guy from THIS ISLAND EARTH.”
In their attempt to capture Gill-man they burn the shit out of him, and in their attempt to revive him from his traumatic injuries, they end up discovering that he has backup body parts that allow him to evolve into an oxygen breathing creature that can live on land instead of lagoons. Even with all that, though, the Gill-man stays either on an operating table or in a cage for the bulk of the movie and only Walks Among Us in the last few scenes.
The interesting thing about this movie is that most of the running time is preoccupied with the abusive relationship between the drunken scientist and his wife. The real monster in the movie is this guy, not the Gill-man. Maybe the title is a double meaning. The creature walks among us, as in, IS ONE OF US! But probably not.
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