The last of the core Universal monster movies, I had a feeling that I would like this one more than the others. I've always liked the design of the Creature more than the other characters, even if the Creature was never very well defined. What does it do? It mostly just exists. I suppose it's unusually strong. But it's also pretty slow, and not especially invulnerable.
The monster isn't especially frightening. They try to ramp things up a little, but the Creature just seems to be a bit shy. This is a strange problem that the movie has. The Creature is both shy, then he's unusually violent. On the boat, the two male leads have opposing views about how to deal with the Creature. One wants to kill it, the other is only interesting in getting proof, but isn't interested in killing the Creature if they can avoid it. You would think that the peaceable approach would be the winning one, but it isn't.
What makes the movie is all of the underwater photography. For the most part, it looks great. It's a little vague, since it's in black and white, and it isn't as clear as the above-ground photography. The sequences shot around the Creature are remarkable. The logistics that went into the suit, the person in the suit, planning out each shot, and the limitation set by breathing requirements. They did a fantastic job. However, by modern standards, the Creature doesn't really make much sense. I would think he would be well-adapted to living in water, but he doesn't seem to swim very well. Not much speed, no real agility. I'd like to see how these shots would be handled in a modern studio. I wouldn't expect a modern approach to have good taste, but it would still be interesting.
In the end, it's an interesting piece of film history, and it's a nice feature, but it's not a remarkable movie.
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