The third and final entry in the series is something of a failure, if still eminently watchable, because it presents too many angles and, then, is not prepared to follow any of them all the way through! For instance, the female lead initially comes off as something of a femme fatale, which lends the proceedings an added - and welcome - degree of tension, but during the second half the script basically lets this idea drop and simply blames this behavior on her husband's possessiveness; the latter, then, is somewhat ineffectual - both as the ostensible lead of the picture and as the misguided scientist so often a feature of the horror/sci-fi genre. The Creature itself is strapped to an operating table for most of the running time (although the final rampage, admittedly, is very well done), whereas the very brief underwater footage has been recycled from the previous films.
Besides, the alleged change in the monster's behavior pattern (from fish to man) is superficially treated - despite the high-falutin scientific discussion which crops up from time to time to pad out a rather thin plot line - as it is never really made to feel human apart from being dressed in over-sized clothes! Hell, it had a great deal more in common with the prototype male as a fish with an unmistakable eye for the ladies (another angle which is barely touched upon here, despite the delectable presence of Leigh Snowden...although, by this time, The Creature had probably learned its lesson)!! That said, the abrupt, downbeat finale of this one (not dissimilar to that of THE ELEPHANT MAN [1980]) ends the saga of The Creature From The Black Lagoon on a satisfyingly high note.
Besides, the alleged change in the monster's behavior pattern (from fish to man) is superficially treated - despite the high-falutin scientific discussion which crops up from time to time to pad out a rather thin plot line - as it is never really made to feel human apart from being dressed in over-sized clothes! Hell, it had a great deal more in common with the prototype male as a fish with an unmistakable eye for the ladies (another angle which is barely touched upon here, despite the delectable presence of Leigh Snowden...although, by this time, The Creature had probably learned its lesson)!! That said, the abrupt, downbeat finale of this one (not dissimilar to that of THE ELEPHANT MAN [1980]) ends the saga of The Creature From The Black Lagoon on a satisfyingly high note.