Hellboy Special FX Co. to Create New Creature from the Black Lagoon

There has been serious talk of a Creature from the Black Lagoon remake for a little while now, and although the project was put on hold thanks to the writers' strike, it is now officially back on track according to a scoop at ShockTillYouDrop.com. Director Breck Eisner even mentioned the specific designer and effects house that is working on the brand new Gill Man.

It will be Spectral Motion, the company which did creature/make-up effects for films such as Hellboy, Fantastic Four and X-Men: The Last Stand that will be bringing us the new Creature. In fact, Eisner says they've already built their first maquette, based on a design created by Mark McCreery, whose previous body of work includes designing the Penguin for Batman Returns, Davey Jones for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ghost Rider, Ang Lee's Hulk, and the reimagined Universal monsters for Van Helsing.

Eisner reports that the authentic Amazon locations have already been scouted, he himself is polishing up the screenplay, and McCreery's design is "very faithful to the original, but updated." The director is striving to keep the remake tonally similar to the original as well, while also retooling it to scare today's audiences as much as it scared them in 1954. It's expected to be a 2009 summer flick, so expect there to be a little more action as well, although the picture will remain a horror movie, and will not be transformed into a full-tilt action vehicle the way The Mummy was a decade ago.

I can remember a new Creature from the Black Lagoon being in the works for at least 20 years now--in fact, I believe John Carpenter was originally attached to it. Much like the Wolf Man, this is a Universal reboot I'm keeping my eye on.

Ben "Gill Man" Chapman 1928-2008

The Creature no longer walks among us. Benjamin F. Chapman Jr., best known for portraying the iconic Gill Man in the 1954 classic The Creature from the Black Lagoon, passed away yesterday in Honolulu at the age of 79.

Chapman was one of the last living actors to have portrayed one of the famous "Universal Monsters"--although he only portrayed the Creature in his out-of-water scenes (Ricou Browning, who played the underwater Gill Man, is still with us.) Although he only did a handful of other early 1950s B-movies, Chapman spent the rest of his life graciously meeting and greeting fans at conventions and autograph signings across the country.

Standing an imposing 6'5" (a big part of what got him cast as the Creature), Chapman served his nation in the Korean War, and even crossed paths with the Rat Pack during his days as a bartender, partying with the likes of Peter Lawford and a pre-presidential JFK.

For more on Mr. Chapman, check out his official website: http://www.the-reelgillman.com/.

Special thanks to Karswell of The Horrors of It All.

Hellboy to Duke It Out with Drac, Frankie & the Gang?

Ever since the Hellboy property came over to Universal, the rumors on the net have been swirling about the possibility that Universal's most cherished cinematic creations, the famed "Universal monsters" of the studio's classic 1930s-1950s horror films, might cross over into the world of everyone's favorite crimson ass-kicker. Feeding into these rumors has been director Guillermo del Toro's professed long-time love for these icons of the genre.

The rumors of Hellboy doing battle with the likes of Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon were further solidified earlier this week at the premiere of 30 Days of Night, when IESB.net cornered Mike Richardson, publisher of the Hellboy comic book and owner of Dark Horse Entertainment, to find out what we can expect from Hellboy 2. You can see the video interview for yourself here. Richardson states that such

a crossover is in fact being discussed, and it's clear from his reaction that it's more than mere speculation at this point.

Expect Hellboy 2 to hit theaters next summer. Also expect to witness the biggest silver screen battle royal since Godzilla took on King Kong.

On a side note, The Vault of Horror acknowledges the passing today of the great Joey Bishop, last of the fabled Rat Pack.

And on another side note, for all the horror/wrestling crossover fans out there, be sure and pick up the Dec. 2007 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, on sale now--cover story by yours truly...