AIP’s strangely belated Jaws rip-off sees a Californian community terrorised by a giant octopus driven to madness and murder by what it hears on the radio. Given that this was 1977, you can hardly blame it.
A handful of big-name American stars and a supporting cast of familiar Euro-faces struggle gamely, but are thoroughly out-acted by two trained orcas and a tank-bound cephalopod…one of which, tragically, did not survive to the end of filming.
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Liz Kingsley is the insane genius behind And You Call Yourself a Scientist!
#1 by Braineater on October 31st, 2009
True, the octopus attacks the bow, as you can see in the screenshot above. But above water, in a classic Zombie Lake moment of discontinuity, we see him tearing off the transom.
I’d like to think that for the final fight they just went to the fish market and bought a second octopus that was already dead. But even if that were true, I still wouldn’t watch it being torn to shreds by hand puppets ever again.
#2 by lyzard on November 1st, 2009
I’d love to believe that, but in some shots you can see it struggling; so, no.
Oh, and I didn’t even mention that they dubbed that scene, so that the octopus is roaring in pain. Because it wasn’t nearly stupid or disgusting enough already.
#3 by Braineater on November 1st, 2009
I must have missed the octopus roaring in pain. The roar of pain I was making at that point probably drowned it out.
#4 by Carl on November 1st, 2009
Cephalopods can detect radio waves?
Radio waves can be transmitted through ocean water?
Oddly, this is a mistake found in Jaws: The Revenge, which I pointed out in a comment in Ken’s review. Maybe this movie did influence the sequels.
#5 by lyzard on November 1st, 2009
Truly, it is unnerving how many points of comparison there are between Tentacoli and a number of later Jaws copies, including the sequels – even stupid ones like how radio works. Talk about thinking the unthinkable.
#6 by El Santo on November 1st, 2009
“there is no language in which the word ‘tentacles’ isn’t adorable.”
Hate to burst your linguistic bubble there, Lyz, but only the Dutch poster (second from the right) reads “Tentacles.” The others read: “Octopus” (Turkish, far left), “Death’s Tentacles” (Swedish, second from left, which at least has “tentacles” in it), “Giant Octopus” (Danish, center), and “The Octopus” (German, far right– there’s a joke in there somewhere, but I leave it to somebody else to make it).
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#7 by lyzard on November 1st, 2009
I actually suspected as much…which doesn’t absolve you.
#8 by Rabukurafuto on November 1st, 2009
If it is any consolation, the Japanese title is Tentacles. However, the Japanese version of the movie uses the English pronounciation of the word rather than the native Japanese word shokushu.
#9 by B. Wood on November 1st, 2009
Still adorable in Japanese.
This is one of those movies that just has awesome looking posters for various countries the world over isn’t it? It’s funny how sometimes you see that happen. They may even be the best thing to come out of the movie.
#10 by Read MacGuirtose on November 2nd, 2009
Heh… my favorite bit from that poster at the end is this:
That seems… counterproductive.
#11 by Read MacGuirtose on November 2nd, 2009
Oh, by the way, Carl, the link in your post doesn’t seem to go where it was meant to. I tried to locate the page myself, since I was curious about your comment, but couldn’t find a review of Tentacoli on either jabootu.net or jabootu.com (even under its alternate U.S. title, Tentacles)…
#12 by Read MacGuirtose on November 2nd, 2009
Oh, duh, I’m an idiot. You didn’t say anything about a review there of Tentacoli; you said you posted the comment in Ken’s review of Jaws: The Revenge. So… yeah. Page is here; Carl’s comment is not among the form-submitted comments at the bottom, but is in the “Correspondents Respond” section just above that at the end of the review.
#13 by lyzard on November 2nd, 2009
Explosive ink release is nothing to laugh at!
#14 by Joshua on November 2nd, 2009
I beg to differ. Explosive ink is hilarous!
#15 by Cullen on November 3rd, 2009
Only if it’s not your pen…
#16 by Chris S. on November 2nd, 2009
“I was starting to get a serious Troy McClure vibe from that guy….”
… and that’s a bad thing?
#17 by lyzard on November 2nd, 2009
For the orcas, yes!