The Creature From The Black Lagoon Gill-Man Costume.

You can't talk about the classic monsters of cinema without mentioning the Gill-Man. The eponymous Creature From The Black Lagoon possesses a devilish alien physique, but somehow still exudes a sympathetic human quality. It's an iconic, unforgettable design that has carried the Creature's legacy far beyond the three films he starred in during the 1950's. Just think -- it's over fifty years later and I'm writing about the Gill-Man, a rubber-suit monster from a black and white movie, on the internet. That's the definition of notoriety and awesomeness.

The Gill-Man suit was designed by Millicent Patrick, though for many years she went uncredited for her work. What most may not realize is that Patrick also created the aliens from It Came From Outer Space (1953), the mutants from This Island Earth (1955) and the monstrous villains from The Mole People (1956), among many other film fiends. Her ability to design impressive and catchy monsters for film was second to none. For that, all fans of classic horror should collectively say a big thank you to Patrick.

There were multiple Gill-Man suits produced for the three Creature films. All were produced from foam rubber, which made the suits very light and flexible. This was especially necessary for the underwater scenes. For the water sequences, actor, stuntman and champion swimmer Ricou Browning performed without the aid of an air line. He's reported to have been able to hold his breath for up to four minutes, thereby making the Creature's swimming seem more authentic. Had bubbles been leaking out of the suit, I can't imagine how that would have affected the Creature's on-screen presence.

Because the Gill-Man suits were made from foam rubber, they do not still exist. Foam rubber breaks down over time due to exposure to the air. Eventually it falls to dust. If you ever come across a memorabilia retailer claiming to have all or part of an original Gill-Man suit, then it's a fake. Alas, no original Gill-Man suits still exist, but that's alright. The Creature is forever preserved in all its cinematic glory on the silver screen!

For further information, check out the following links!

Horror Icon: Millicent Patrick

An extensive interview with Ben Chapman, the actor whom played the Gill-Man during the out-of-water scenes in Creature From The Black Lagoon.

The Invisible Man And The Future Of Cloaking Technology.

In terms of the Universal Monsters, the Invisible Man is probably my most favorite. Released in 1933, The Invisible Man was a revolutionary film with dazzling special effects for the era. Many of the effects were completed through a particularly difficult process for the time. Claude Rains, the actor whom portrayed the Invisible Man, wore a black velvet suit and was filmed against a black velvet backdrop. Complete scenes were then matted over this footage to simulate his invisibility. While that may seem like a simple task today, it was nearly impossible to construct in 1933. The Invisible Man was universally praised for this accomplishment in film making. For its importance to the history of cinema, the movie was added to the United States National Film Registry in 2008 for preservation by the Library of Congress.

Needless to say, The Invisible Man is one hell of a good film.

Astonishingly, implementing actual invisibility is something that's closer to reality than you may think.

The cloaking technology implemented by the Predator is eerily similar to what current scientific efforts are hoping to achieve.

Many research teams and engineers across the globe are actively researching invisibility technology. Most applications of this research involve varying degrees of cloaking technology and the use of metamaterials (materials engineered to have properties not yet found in nature). Such technology bends or refracts the light that strikes a cloaked object, thereby rendering it invisible. Other cloaking techniques simply allow light photons to pass through them, as if nothing was there. A research team at the University of California, Berkeley successfully demonstrated this to be possible on the nanoscale level with the use of metamaterials. Other research teams have seen promising results through the use of nanobots, which can singularly bend light around an object as it actively moves through an environment.

While current research indicates that the method of invisibility seen in The Invisible Man is probably not achievable, we will be able to cloak objects and people through more rudimentary means in the near future. Considering many objects can already be rendered invisible to radar and atmospheric surveillance, I suspect we'll achieve invisibility within my lifetime. How cool is that?!