Recommended Movie of the Week - Creature from the Black Lagoon

This week's Recommended Movie of the Week is one that made a big splash back in 1954 - it's the Universal classic, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

This video also includes my interviews with both Ben Chapman, the land creature, and Julie Adams.

Rondo Thanks

Wanted to say thank you again to everyone who voted for Dr. Gangrene and all the ghouls and gals here at Creature Feature - close to 200 of you voted for us for Best Horror Host, and that's a tremendous show of support - it is greatly appreciated. You guys are the best!!

I also wanted to mention one other very special award that was given to the late Ben Chapman - he was nominated into the Rondo Hall of Fame. Over the past few years Ben Chapman has become a staple of conventions, appearing all over the country, meeting adoring fans everywhere. Ben was a great guy and was an overwhelmingly popular choice for the Rondo Hall of Fame.

Ben Chapman passes away

Just found out Ben Chapman, the gillman (on land) in Universal's Creature from The Black Lagoon, passed away. Here is the information on his website, the-reelgillman.com :

Ben Chapman passed away at 12:15 am Hawaii time on Thursday, February 21 at the VA hospital in Honolulu. His health began to deteriorate February 12 and he was admitted to the hospital on February 20. His life support was turned off Wednesday around noon and his pacemaker was turned off shortly before he died. He died peacefully with his wife, Merrilee, and son, Ben Chapman III, by his side.

His body will be cremated and a memorial service will be held at a church near the beach in Honolulu. More information will be distributed as it becomes known.

Ben was a great guy and will be missed by his fans and friends everywhere. Over the past few years he had traveled the convention circuit and seemed to legitimately enjoy it. I'm glad he got the chance to meet the fans and see firsthand what impact his performance had on people who still have fond memories of this, the last great Universal monster. I was honored to get to meet Ben on several occasions, and the last time I saw him he remembered me from a previous meeting and told me he had just been thinking of me because he had met someone else from Tennessee lately. I have a terrific interview with Ben that I will post on youtube soon and put up here too.

Farewell Ben.