the first time i ever saw the movie was in 1997 and its good

The underwater scenes are at times claustrophobic, the rest of the movie is highly forgettable.

moronic/campy goodness.

As good as a movie like this can be. And then there's Julie Adams in that white bathing suit . . .

"...if there really is anything frightening about a man dressed up in a rubber suit with zippers where the gills ought to be, Arnold comes close to finding it."

Better than it has any right to be, likely owing to its decent budget and workmanlike direction, but still pretty dumb even for what it is. There's some genuine atmosphere and tension in the opening 10 minutes but it never really goes anywhere after that. The cautionary environmentalist subtext was probably ahead of its time for '54 but nowadays comes off as somewhat trite.

Unpersuasive and unsuspenseful horror hokum from the bottom drawer of imagination

There are few reasons why I consider this film rather good and important. First, it started something new - Universal studios stopped killing and reviving frankenstein/wolfman/dracula and added some science into fiction. Characters became modern people, not the gentlemen and ladies from 18th century. And there's a long-legged girl in bikini who's only purpose is to walk around and scream in terror. Also underwater photography is great, and I really consider re-watching it soon in original 3D.

I had a great time watching this, it's better than it should be and actually creates tension and atmosphere that I wasn't really expecting. The underwater scenes were great, especially the fight between Dr. Mark and the Creature. Oh and Julie Adams in that white bathing suit is a great way to keep you interested when it gets a little uneventful.

The B-movie plot is familiar (and so is the vague B-movie sexism), but this does manage to capture some competence and excitement, which puts it ahead of many other films of the time.

Cheesy B-movie fun. Keeps on flipping back and forth between iconic and terrible. The opening monologue is so great.

Classic monster movie. The film is full of powerful scares and steamy eroticism -- the famous swimming scene was obviously the inspiration for the opening sequence in _Jaws_. Originally released in 3-D, this film's great success led to the sequels and an entire school of monster-from-the-deep B movies.

Cheesy sci-fi fun. There's little in the way of actual scares (though the abrupt appearance of the creature for the first time got me a bit), but the monster, goofy as he is, is admittedly iconic, and there's a sense of adventure and exploration that props up the film. A great drive-thru/popcorn movie, if not much else.

A classic that's aged well, the plot is nicely low key (with one illogical premise), the characters and the creature all have personalities to some extent and the creature itself is an iconic and brilliantly rendered design. The excellent use of the underwater angles is not only technically impressive it's immensely effective at building the tension especially in the early part of the movie making it a must see not only for all fans of classic horror but for any fan of the movies at all.

Perhaps it was better 50years ago

It's a classic Universal Pictures monster movie. It's campy and over the top, but it's still fun. It's a blast to watch and commentate a la MST3K style. Pretty good!

However famous this movie is, god damn it's stupid

Pure unadulterated camp.