'Creature From the Black Lagoon’ Gets a Historic Twist 71 Years Later With This New-to-Shudder Creature Feature

The Universal Classic Monsters were the horror icons of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the Gill-man would be the last to join their ranks as moviegoers faced different scares in the 1950s and beyond. Since his first appearance in Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), the Gill-man has been an underrated classic monster who hasn’t gotten the same attention as Dracula and the Wolf Man. Sequels, remakes, or spoofs have maintained the latter’s popularity in pop culture, but the influence of the Gill-man is below the surface, waiting to emerge at the right time. If The Shape of Water reworking Black Lagoon as a love story is too sweet, there is a deadlier take on the last of the Universal Classic Monsters available to watch on Shudder. In the WWII-set survival horror, Monster Island, this version of the Gill-man will rip out the hearts of humans who don’t get away fast enough.

What Is ‘Monster Island’ About?

Bronson (Callum Woodhouse) is a wounded British soldier who gets stranded in a dangerous place in Monster Island. — Image via Shudder

In 1942, two prisoners are chained together on a Japanese vessel. One is British soldier Bronson (Callum Woodhouse), and the other is traitorous Japanese soldier Saito (Dean Fujioka). When the ship comes under attack, the two wash up on the shore of a large island, with their survival depending on them working together. The distrust from their language barrier or having fought on different sides of World War II is the least of their problems. The island they’re stranded on is home to a beast who doesn’t take well to strangers. Directed by Mike Wiluan, Monster Island has modern audiences meet another kind of Gill-man.

The Creature Feature ‘Monster Island’ Is Based on History and Folklore

A frightening opening passage reveals how Allied POWs on Japanese “hell ships” were at risk of being killed by Allied forces during World War II. That soon happens on-screen, when Saito and Bronson barely escape their doomed vessel as it becomes a casualty of a naval battle. Like how The Shape of Water focused on the Cold War, the historical context of WWII in Monster Island builds on the sci-fi horror legacy of 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Gill-man is said to be the missing link in the evolution between humans and aquatic life, and his quiet existence in the Amazon is disturbed by men who want to claim him, dead or alive, in the name of science. It’s much different than the Gothic horror of the science experiment that created Frankenstein’s monster (Boris Karloff).

The movies moved on from the Universal Classic Monsters when the 1950s brought a new reality of scientific progress that had a dark side. Godzilla represented the aftermath of atomic bombs used in Japan, but just because Saito and Bronson aren’t under attack by a kaiju doesn’t make the island any less ominous. The name that is given to the monster comes from Indonesian folklore, the Orang Ikan, a fish man. Director Mike Wiluan said in an interview with Deadline how he was inspired by WWII, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the stories of orang ikan in the Kai Islands of Indonesia.

The movie’s appearance of the monster teases what it looks like with shadows and quick cuts, and the sound design brings out the predatory side of the Orang Ikan, with the subtitles describing the clicking and snarling noises it makes. Monster Island feels like a throwback to older creature features when it reveals the full design of the Orang Ikan, but the level of violence it enacts can only be from modern horror. Bronson and Saito can only stay alive if they become a team. That doesn’t mean they find common ground right away.

‘Monster Island’ Is a Darker Version of ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’

The folklore beast, the Orang Ikan (Alan Maxson), holds up the heart of a victim in Monster Island. — Image via Shudder

The original Creature from the Black Lagoon has a cheesy brawl erupt between two explorers who disagree over whether to kill the Gill-man. Monster Island is more brutal during an early fight between Bronson and Saito, drawing blood and causing bruises from their fists to the wince-inducing use of a shell on the beach. But it’s the Orang Ikan they need to beware of. The movie doesn’t cheat the audience with CGI. The amphibian creature with scaled skin, flesh-ripping claws, and a mouth of jagged teeth is a full-body suit (with Alan Maxson inside) that makes for a great tribute to old-school monsters, like the Gill-man.

History, folklore, and increased violence raise the intensity of being hunted by the Gill-man. While director Guillermo del Toro turned the Creature from the Black Lagoon into a love story for The Shape of Water, Monster Island goes fully into horror. The Gill-man had his obsession with Julie Adams, and there was the romance between the Amphibian Man (Doug Jones) and Sally Hawkins, but the Orang Ikan is all territorial rage with no woman catching its eye to distract from its next attack. And at under 90 minutes, it’s a creature feature that doesn’t overstuff the plot as it focuses on two soldiers fighting to survive.

As the Universal Classic Monsters return, they can be enjoyable even when the movies are weaker. The Wolf Man’s remake might have flopped, but it did bring something new to body horror. Over 70 years ago, the webbed claws of the Gill-man reaching out to screaming characters and the bloodless kills he leaves might have been enough to frighten moviegoers. In the 2020s, the Gill-man has the viciousness modern horror fans expect. Watch on Shudder to see the Orang Ikan dig and tear into prey for what sure isn’t your grandparents’ Gill-man.