The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

A research team digging in the Amazon comes across the fossilized hand of a human fish creature. That night, the creature emerges from the swamp to kill. So begins one of the more recognizable classics of the science fiction and horror genres. Shot originally in 3-D, this has been a late-night TV hit for decades. The hand makes its way back to the oceanographic institute and soon conscientious scientist David Reed (Richard Carlson), greedy scientist Mark (Richard Cunha) and the beautiful girl they fight over, Kay (Julia Adams) are heading up the Amazon to find more fossils. Instead, of course, they run into the real thing, and terror begins. While Mark and David fight over what to do next, the creature falls in love with Kay, and makes plans of his own. Island diver Ricou Browning plays the creature in the spectacular underwater scenes, the highlight being a beautifully creepy scene of Kay going for a swim, while the smitten creature swims along below her, transfixed. The pounding, horrific score is credited to conductor Joseph Gerhsenson but was actually written by a team of composers, including Henry Mancini.