Tom Weaver (1)

A must-read for all Universal Horror fans. This book proves all of the movies could have had some nice bonus features as they all have some interesting stories from the production. I do disagree with the author biases against Hammer Horror (I have nothing against Christopher Lee's athletic interpretation of Dracula), but its nothing that gets in the way of enjoying the book. A nice plus is the inclusion of the Sherlock Holmes movies, which I don't think fall under this category, but I found equally interesting to read about.… (more)

The has to be the most comprehensive look at the Creature from the Black Lagoon currently in existence. With almost 400 pages of content the level of detail and geekiness is unbelievable - this is one of those books that belongs in every Creature or Universal Monster library. There's great quality black-and-white photographs throughout and an introduction by Julie Adams. I particularly liked the pre-production modeling and approach to the Creature's design and ultimately the engineering that went into the suit's production.

You need this book!… (more)

The Creature Chronicles is a serious — very serious — look into the making and marketing of Universal Studios’ Creature from The Black Lagoon and its two sequels. As usual with the monster films of this era, a lot of love and effort went into the creating of the original film and much less effort and creative energy was expended on the follow-up films.

This book includes it all — an in-depth look at the making of the screenplay, costume creation, soundtrack, filming and marketing. It was the golden era for the Hollywood monster film and this book lovingly takes you thru all aspects of what it was like to work in that environment and what it took to produce such a film. An introduction by Julie Adams, a star of the original Creature from the Black Lagoon, is a nice bonus. Hundreds of production photos of all the Creature films helps make this an accessible, and strictly non-academic, labor of love.… (more)