This is topic Creature from the Black Lagoon (120m/400ft version) in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.


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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on July 13, 2006, 05:48 PM:
 
Hi,

I finally managed to watch my short version of
"Creature from the Black Lagoon" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/ ).
And I like it so much that I'm writing this review (besides: it's my first review and I'm no native English speaker. So please have mercy when you do find strange formulations )

I own the 120m (400ft) version distributed by piccolo with a German soundtrack as "Der Schrecken vom Amazonas"/"Das Ungeheuer der schwarzen Lagune". Since the box sports a "Universal 8 films - formerly castle films"-logo and the film comes with a "Universal 8" (and no "piccolo"-logo), I guess that the American version is the same (except for the soundtrack).

Now back to the review:

Story:
The story survived the reduction from approx. 80min to approx. 20min - it still makes sense and makes fun to follow. Unfortunately the introduction of the characters, setting, ... is missing. Hence you'll jump right into the action: Jungle, some humans and a beast... so the fight begins... .
Nevertheless I would still rate it as a good edit.

Sound:
Great! It's clear, it's crisp, ... ! (It's only mono, but the 35mm-version was mono, too )

Image/3D-effects:
My version hasn't faded a bit. The picture's sharpness is okay to good. The image is very stable and NOT "shaky". Hence the 3D-glasses turn this colour-film into a nice b&w-3D-film. And the 3D-effects are very nice! This edit is even long enough to have more static scenes that nearly let you forget that you're seeing a 3D-movie... that is until the next object is thrown at the camera, ...
The best about it: most of the time the 3D-effect works great for me. (I wear glasses. Therefore I'll have to combine the 3D-glasses with my normal one. This usually results in me seeing two overlapping 2D-images instead of one 3D-image. This happened at some Imax-cinemas, at Disneyland, ... . Hence I'm rather pleased/surprised that this super8-system works for me!)
The only problem: the universal-8-logos at the beginning/end are the normal ones and hence look very uggly when wearing 3D-glasses.

Summary: Get it!

Here's another review (in German, but it shows the box and some screenshots):
http://www.super-8-hobby.de/rezent194.htm

BTW: I'm going to see this film again with some friends in October. Therefore I've ordered 20 cardboard-3D-glasses for 1,50 EUR each. They work fine. Hence you won't be restricted to the one or two glasses that came with the film - you'll only have to search a little bit more to find those red-blue-glasses (red-green/red-cyan now seems to be more common).

Jörg
 

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on July 13, 2006, 09:06 PM:
 
great review joerg;nice pics too.andy.
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on July 13, 2006, 10:08 PM:
 
Jörg,

This is a wonderful review.
I never knew the contents
within the 400 foot
version. The B&W 200 foot
'standard editions' always
seemed very nicely paced,
and all three versions
work well together.

However the 3D version is
a treat to own and a special
edition to your library of
film.

Can you tell if the stock
on the 400 foot version
is low fade, and if it is
SP or LPP?

Michael
 

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on July 14, 2006, 03:54 AM:
 
Nice cover too.it looks better than the universal eight
release from all those years ago.andy.
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on July 14, 2006, 06:53 AM:
 
Hi,

thanks for your kind comments.

I forgot to add that I bought this film for 65,- EUR from a local film dealer (Michael Schneider) last year. Ebay-prices for this and the other 3D-titel ("Gefahr aus dem Weltall"/"It Came From Outer Space") normally range from 40 to 80 EUR (+ 5 to 10 EUR shipping), depending on the film's condition, missing glasses, ... . When the film is in good or mint condition, it normally sells for more than 60 EUR.

I'll take a closer look at the film this weekend to find out whether it's Kodak, Agfa, Fuji, Orwo or another filmstock.

BTW: It looks like these two films are the only 3D-films released on Super8 (except for some home-made films made with the Elmo/Elgeet/Bolex/...-beam-splitters, ...). Is this correct?
It also looks like there's no full length version of both titles. :-(

Jörg
 

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Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on July 14, 2006, 07:47 AM:
 
Joerg,

Thanks for your review. I always felt that the 400' "Creature" ranks as one of the finest digests ever put out. In response to your question, There are quite a few other 3D releases on Super 8mm.
I'm quoting myself from an earlier 3D thread :
Columbia released two Three Stooges silent 50 footers, "Spooks" and Tails(!) of Horror". They also had a 200 ft 3D version of "The Mad Magician". Later on they released a 400 ft "Mad Magician" which had great 3D effects, but was badly edited.
Derann has the 3D films "Audioscopiks","Audioscopiks 2" and the 400' Three Stooges "Pardon My Backfire" which is a lot of fun.
I haven't seen the second Audioscopiks, but the 3D effect in the first is lacking. There is also "Murder in the Third Dimension" in which a skeleton, Frankenstein's Monster, and a Zulu warrior(!) all threaten our hero by throwing various objects at the camera.

Doug
 

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Posted by Philippe Cuypers (Member # 55) on July 14, 2006, 07:55 AM:
 
joe Polzfusz, wha! wha! this is great film information you bring to this fantastic film forum! Joe, I knew about the german creature 400ft , but what I didnt know is the (It came from outer space) thats a cool picture, great collections of films! like doug point out , theirs a lot off different film out there thats what makes our film hobby the greatest in the world ! And the greatest film forum in the planet! great info Joe!
 

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Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on July 14, 2006, 07:59 AM:
 
I am amazed that my 400ft 3-d Universal 8 print has held up very well....and still retains its very nice 3-D effects ...especially the underwater scenes with the bubbles , etc. Just very nice. It's too bad they didn't release Revenge in 3-D for super 8.
 

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 14, 2006, 03:55 PM:
 
Hi Joerg,
I have the 400ft creature digest, but mine has faded pretty badly, so much of the 3D effect is gone.
Incidentally, 'Creature' was filmed not too far from here, in the crystal clear Wakulla Springs Florida, about 200 miles north of Orlando. Every year they have a 'Creature' festival, where they show all the 'Creature' movies, and the still beautiful Julia Adams usually attends and signs autographs.
 

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Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on July 15, 2006, 06:30 AM:
 
"Creature" is one of my favorite cut-downs from U8. My print is holding well so the 3D still works. There's a great depth of field when people are standing on the Rita as the scenery moves in the background.

Funny trivia bit: I watched an old French VHS of King Kong vs Godzilla yesterday and the "dramatic" music used on this version (USA cut) is the actual soundtrack from "Creature"...
 

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Posted by Eberhard Nuffer (Member # 410) on July 15, 2006, 08:38 AM:
 
Michael,

I have prints of both of the 3-D movies released by Piccolo Film, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "It Came from Outer Space". As none of them has a Piccolo logo advanced - both start with Universal 8's logo and English credits - I suppose the negatives were directly received from Universal 8, so the editing should be the same. Both prints are on old Eastman stock, one print is dated 1977, the other 1978. Although there is some colour fade (with the blues/greens still there), the 3-D effect works very well on both.
 

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on July 15, 2006, 10:10 AM:
 
Eberhard,

That is marvelous,
and something for me
to keep an eye out for
in the future!

Thank you.

Michael
 

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Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on July 16, 2006, 08:44 AM:
 
Hi Mike - please answer me soon, Fraternally Shorty
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on July 16, 2006, 06:02 PM:
 
HI,

my print is on "eastman safety film", too. Nevertheless the leader says "Schrecken vom Amazonas" - and there's no splice. Hence there's a small chance that the Universal8-prints have been made on another material. Nevertheless I still would says that the German version has been made from the same negative as the Universal8-version.

Jörg
P.S.: Thanks for the link to the other 3D-films!
 

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Posted by Kurt Gardner (Member # 440) on July 21, 2006, 10:26 AM:
 
Note to anyone looking to buy these 3D titles...be sure you have red and green anaglyph glasses for the Universal titles. I've noticed a lot of eBay sellers providing red and blue glasses (not the originals) and the 3D effect is substantially reduced. There are several places to find them online, e.g.: http://www.berezin.com/3d/3dglasses.htm.
 

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on July 21, 2006, 10:37 AM:
 
Is derann's print any diffent from the old universal8 print
of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE?.Both are in 3D.I wished derann
could have got their hands on Creature as well.Does derann's
print hold up better than the old one.Andy?.
 

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Posted by Eberhard Nuffer (Member # 410) on July 21, 2006, 01:07 PM:
 
I just saw that a Piccolo print of "IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE" is now on eBay Germany and can be obtained via "buy it now": http://cgi.ebay.de/Super-8-GEFAHR-AUS-DEM-WELTALL-3-D_W0QQitemZ9150200483QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1476QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on July 24, 2006, 05:57 AM:
 

quote:

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Note to anyone looking to buy these 3D titles...be sure you have red and green anaglyph glasses for the Universal titles. I've noticed a lot of eBay sellers providing red and blue glasses (not the originals) and the 3D effect is substantially reduced. There are several places to find them online, e.g.: http://www.berezin.com/3d/3dglasses.htm.

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quote:

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Red/blue glasses doesn´t work.

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Why does it work for me then?
 

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Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on July 27, 2006, 02:11 PM:
 
Maybe you only think it works, and you just don't know better?

When viewing the film without the glasses, do you see red/green images or red/blue ones?
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on July 31, 2006, 02:59 AM:
 
Hi,

I can tell that one channel is red - but the other channel is neither completely green nor blue for me
Nevertheless Eberhard Nuffer confirmed that one of his 3D-films (still shrink wrapped by piccolo) came with red-blue glasses and that he tried some red-green without success.
Nevertheless my red-blue-glasses (from piccolo, too) is using a lighter blue than the ones I've bought. And my original glasses seem to work better.

Jörg
 

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Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on August 16, 2006, 12:52 AM:
 
Okay.....The glasses that came with a print I also got 2nd hand say "DEEP VISION 3D" above the nose-piece and there were 2 pair. One side is red and the other is blue. Are they or are they not the genuine articles? The url given to order more is unloadable. Does anyone know an alternate source for replacement glasses?
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on August 16, 2006, 03:57 AM:
 
Hi,

yes, those "deep vision 3d"-glasses seem to be the original one. (There seem to be at least two different versions, though: one with black and the other one with red card-board for the frame.)

I got my 3D-glasses from 3-de@unimedige.de . They accept paypal, but I don't know if they do speak English.

The http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/stereo2.php is selling 3D-glasses, too.

Using google might pop up some more shops.

Jörg
 

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on August 29, 2006, 11:32 AM:
 
Does Derann not do 3D glasses.After all they have re-released
IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE in 3D.Andy.
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on October 23, 2006, 04:04 AM:
 
Hi,

this saturday I finally managed to see the whole film with the red-blue-3D-glasses I've bought... result: the 3D-effect didn't work in 80% of all cases. This could either be due to the fact that the new red-blue-glasses are red-lightblue rather than the original red-darkblue one. Or this could be due to the fact that the seller cheated me since the new glasses rather look like the red-cyan-glasses that are for sale on eBay
Anyway: Some of the other spectators took of their glasses and claimed that the film looked more like red-green to them. And I can confirm that it looked much greener when projected with a two-bladed Elmo GS1200 and a brighter-than-normal lamp than with my Bauer rear-projectot.
So I'll test the film again with some red-green glasses *sigh*

Jörg
 

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Posted by Kurt Gardner (Member # 440) on October 24, 2006, 10:14 AM:
 
Don't be discouraged. The red-green ones will work great. I had an original Universal 8 of "It Came from Outer Space" that I purchased at a collector's show in the 1990s. It came without glasses, so I used red-blue glasses (saved from the short-lived 3D craze during the 1980s!). I was never impressed with the effects and attributed it to color fade. However, when I received a NEW print from Derann this year, I saw that they provided red-green glasses. I watched the old print with the red-green glasses, and what a revelation! The rocks rolling downhill seemed to burst out of the screen!
 

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Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on November 12, 2006, 10:05 AM:
 
Hi,

the red-green-glasses worked far better than the red-lightblue-glasses... but I'm still thinking that the original red-darkblue-glasses worked even better... strange. Nevertheless we did a double-check without 3D-glasses: the film is definitely red-green...

Jörg
 

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Posted by Ricky Daniels (Member # 95) on November 15, 2006, 02:43 AM:
 
Joerg

Basically if the print is RED/GREEN you'll need to use matching glasses to block the RED/GREEN images and if the print is RED/'LIGHT'BLUE the same applies. The theory is the colours are exact opposites and should block each other sending only the appropriate image to their respective eyes.

Actually the RED/'LIGHT'BLUE (the LIGHT' BLUE is or should be CYAN) prints should work better in theory as they are opposites and encompass the entire colour spectrum.

With anaglyphs it's difficult to get outstanding results as they require EXACT colour matches for the individual eyes/images to work correctly.

Rick

BTW Whatever happened to 'that' posting a couple of years back by a guy who apparently could access a complete anaglyphic feature version of Creature From The Back Lagoon and was going to do a Super 8mm print run if there was enough interest?
 

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Posted by Peter Richards (Member # 738) on December 14, 2006, 10:41 AM:
 
Just found this on the bay if anyone is interested:-

http://cgi.ebay.com/Creature-from-the-black-lagoon-3-D-GREAT-PRINT_W0QQitemZ110067963473QQihZ001QQcategoryZ63821QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 31, 2008, 03:11 PM:
 
What a difference the glasses make! I just watched my Derann print of Creature from the Black Lagoon' using the 3D glasses that came with the just released DVD of Journey to the Center of the Earth -3D. With these particular glasses, almost every scene in ' Creature' now has very good depth whereas with the glasses shipped with the film by Derann I thought the 3D effect was very poor, with a lot of 'Crosstalk' between the left and right images. The new glasses have now made this print much more enjoyable and effective as a 3d - something I can now actually enjoy watching, as opposed to suffering through.
Comparing the two sets of glasses, the Derann are definately red and light green, whereas the ones that came with the ' Journey ' DVD are more magenta and dark green.
So if you have poor 3d from your S8 prints, it might be worth trying different glasses.
 

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