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52%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #11,675
...out of 20,725 movies
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In a small town in 1967, plucky young sissy Phillip is about to celebrate his birthday at the beach cottage owned by his best friend Stan. All of Phillip's friends are gathered for the festivities, including Stan's hunky-but-impulsive boyfriend Billy, Billy's shy, nerdy cousin Joseph, and Randall, the chain-smoking, bitter queen of the bunch. Meanwhile, a horde of libidinous gay men - turned into ravenous flesh-eating zombies by toxic mosquitoes at a cruisy highway rest stop - are making their way towards our oblivious celebrants, eating every man in their path. With body parts washing up on shore and party guests disappearing, our heroes must find a way to stop the zombie onslaught. Will Stan keep the rotting corpses out of his spotless home? Will Joseph work up the courage to declare his love for Phillip? Will Billy keep it in his pants long enough to stay alive? Will Phillip's cheating boyfriend make it to the party - and if so, will he be there to save them, or to eat them? No one is safe in this campy mix of classic B horror flicks and pre-Stonewall gay melodramas.
--IMDb
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Going to a drive-in movie theater at their peak of popularity to see a horror movie during the 1950s and '60s yielded black-and-white picture, dirt poor acting, below-sea-level budgets, and feeble plots with underwhelming scares. Indeed, B-grade movies they were, down to a T. Albeit, the campy flicks of that era had a special fixed style compared to those of today - a style that gives them a cult status all their own. Creatures from the Pink Lagoon sets out to parody those flicks as well as become an homage to the classic Night of the Living Dead.
A small birthday party is planned for a young Phillip by his older friend Stan who is to host the party at his shorefront cottage. Meanwhile, mutated mosquitoes that carry a virus which turns humans into zombies are inhabiting a nearby rest stop. Of course, those who round the rest stop get bitten, turn into zombies, soon venture toward the party, stuff happens, and that's the story with its coat of Ed Wood fashion.
Well, not that it matters, but a small detail to tack on is that the group of main characters are homosexuals. Oh, and one more little side-note: that rest stop, where the infected mosquitoes are lingering around, is frequented as a homosexual hangout for sexual encounters. So, yes, if you wanted to sum up the plot for this movie in two words, you could easily just say "gay zombies." So I fibbed; in this movie, it does matter that the main characters are homosexuals - this is very much a gay zombie movie.
Creatures from the Pink Lagoon was a film I had anticipated viewing for quite a while. Honestly, a gay zombie-themed horror comedy - tell me that doesn't snap, crackle, and pop with fabulous potential. I imagined the film taking, what I believed to be, the most practical and propitious route by sporting a plethora of sight gags along with some playful social commentary on homophobia. To my dismay, it doesn't actually play out that way as the film takes a lighter approach with its comedy. Gay banter and poking fun at homosexual stereotypes is mainly what Pink Lagoon works with, and it does so with gusto. Although dildos and oral sex are present, the humor is never pushed too far nor presented in an overly crude or offensive manner. The characters themselves are portrayed tenderly by the actors, most considerably Phillip and Randall, played respectively by Nick Garrison and Philip D. Clarke, who were able to produce the most amusement out of the bunch. Garrison's character, being an adorable and merry delight, did a fine job making me question my sexuality for a minute or two, and Clarke's quippy character seemed to be an uptight reincarnation of Paul Lynde. As for production qualities and whatnot, given what the movie was going for, they needn't be judged since all sets well in place with the low-budget aesthetic.
Overall, I enjoyed Creatures from the Pink Lagoon, even though it certainly could have used some thicker meat in the comedy department. I am sure it should go without saying, but those part of the gay community are indubitably bound to love this more than straight folk. Either way, though, you'll definitely get a bucketful of chuckles, learn some new euphemisms for being homosexual, and end up hoping for more gay monster movie spoofs in the near future. Gay Frankenstein, anyone?
6.9/10
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