cult film freak: HOT CARS JOHN BROMFIELD DRIVES 'REVENGE OF THE CREATURE'

Lobby Card with an artful John Bromfield YEAR: 1955

A maligned yet terrific sequel, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE has a title that somehow slowly rushes its climax during the second half following a comparably sparse and nifty setup...

Creature Score: ***1/2

Where cocky Marineland diver John Bromfield moves the captured "Gill Man" to an underwater tank where he falls for ingenue Lori Nelson, Fay Wray style, compatible with male scientist John Agar while the flirtatious Bromfield moves in: one of several intriguing premises that could've played out longer, until the Creature predictably escapes through the usual screaming crowd; but it's in captivity where the best scenes occur...

Especially the underwater shots where, tethered within a limited space, it's the original film in reverse: People (especially classic ingenue Julie Adams) had been vulnerable to the phantom lurking somewhere beneath, evoking the kind of nervy suspense later delivered by Steven Spielberg in JAWS, but now humans are in control... they think.... making REVENGE more of a RETURN, and instead of horror it's an exploitation for the fictional and actual audience both, making The Creature far more sympathetic this time around. All flowing well until the last act around a woodsy lakeside locale, playing cat-and-mouse with our ingenue: At which point returning-director Jack Arnold (again under producer William Alland) doesn't quite know how to end the thing, which, again, should have stayed longer back at the water park.