Don't laugh but the underwater cinematography in Creature From the Black Lagoon is among the best ever filmed. Throughout the movie, there are long, uninterrupted scenes shot in a beautiful Florida spring. The dive scenes also showcase a range of vintage gear, from tiny tanks to two-hose regs to BC-less backpacks.

As for the story, well, our tastes run strongly in favor of 1950s sci-fi monster movies and this is a fun one. A team of scientists ventures deep into the Amazon to search for fossil evidence of a creature that could prove to be the evolutionary link between man and fish. Naturally they bring along a babe and, again, our tastes run strongly in favor of 1950s sci-fi monster movie babes. Julie Adams is the actress here and we give her all thumbs up.

Once on the Amazon, it doesn't take long for the team to realize that they have more than a fossil on their hands. They have a full-blown Creature. And it doesn't take that Creature long to realize that he has a 1950s sci-fi monster movie babe on his. He gives her thumbs up too. The rest of the movie is spent with the scientists trying to escape with their lives and their babe, and the creature doing his best to prevent them from doing so.

Creature From the Black Lagoon should be requisite viewing for all divers interested in how things used to be. The movie was actually filmed in 3-D and there are occasional theater screenings of this version. We highly recommend it in any format. It is available on DVD.