(10.29) See the movie that inspired a 7-year-old Guillermo del Toro. Head over to the mall this Saturday afternoon for a good old-fashioned creature double feature: “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” from 1954, followed by the Claude Rains version of “Phantom of the Opera.” Total running time: 3 hours, 2 minutes.
Del Toro spoke to the Hollywood Reporter:
“The creature was the most beautiful design I’d ever seen,” he recalls. “And I saw him swimming under [actress] Julie Adams, and I loved that the creature was in love with her, and I felt an almost existential desire for them to end up together. Of course, it didn’t happen.” So young del Toro made it happen, sketching the fish-man and his love interest over and over again. “I had them eating ice cream, on a double bicycle, having dinner,” he says.
Personally, I prefer the original. In short:
The Creature from the Black Lagoon: A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists tries to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.
Phantom of the Opera: An acid-scarred composer rises from the Paris sewers to boost his favorite opera understudy’s career.
Monster double feature, 1pm, Saturday, October 29, Providence Place Cinema, (directions)