Geschöpf des Schreckens (1956)

Geschöpf des Schreckens: Directed by Edward L. Cahn. With Chester Morris, Tom Conway, Cathy Downs, Lance Fuller. A mysterious hypnotist reverts his beautiful assistant back into the form of a prehistoric sea monster that she was in a past life.

“This 1950u0026#39;s horror flick, starring Marla English (she was a poor manu0026#39;s Elizabeth Taylor) had much potential, but unfortunately that potential was wasted. The She Creature, a creation of fabulous monster maker Paul Blaisdell, was actually a scary looking creation. For some inexplicable reason the makers of this movie did not show the creature very often. The plot is pretty predictable; Marla portrays Andrea, a young woman under the spell of a slimy hypnotist/con man, portrayed by Chester Morris. Tom Conway is his usual hammy self as a man who is bankrolling the evil Dr. Lombardi. Of course we have to have a young hero to come save the beautiful maiden, and that part was played by Lance Fuller, in a drop dead dull performance…did the man have botox injections in his face, or what? He never changes expression throughout the movie. This movie was made when the whole Bridey Murphy reincarnation phase was popular, and the makers of the film want us to believe that we apparently didnu0026#39;t evolve from apes, but we evolved from some weird half lobster, half reptilian creature from the ocean…donu0026#39;t ask. The movie plods along with various killings that are orchestrated by Dr. Lombardi to get publicity for his show…again, the premise had promise, but it just seems to drag on and on. The Creature rarely appears, and when it does, the killings are more funny than scary. This isnu0026#39;t the worst of the 1950u0026#39;s monster movies, but it could have been so much more than what it was, which is a shame.”