Tentacles (1977)

One of my all time favorites.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

A different way of telling a story

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

"If Jaws scared you Tentacles will shock you" ran the tagline along with some great artwork imagery for the poster when this movie was released . I can guarantee you that any young boy living on an island who hadn't seen JAWS was dying to this movie which featured a giant squid devouring swimmers . I later found out that the antagonist was a giant octopus rather than a squid but what the hell - it's got tentacles and a giant beak and an appetite for human flesh , that in the grand scheme of things is the only thing that matters . Add to this some highly regarded American character actors and I didn't really care this movie has received many lukewarm , soggy reviews over the decades because I still wanted to see it and after seeing it I don't think it's nowhere as bad as the majority view is stating . Now don't get me wrong , with TENTACLES you're not going to be watching some heart pounding , thrilling lost classic of cinema but for what it is - a B movie inspired by a much superior film that it mercilessly apes - it's more than competent The opening sequence sums up the strengths and weaknesses of the movie . A woman leaves her toddler alone in a pushchair as she crosses the road to talk to her female friend . As the two woman talk cars and buses pass obscuring the pushchair and as someone mentions lunch a bus passes and when the beachfront comes in to view the pushchair is missing . It's cheesy , a little bit tasteless but unpretentious with the audience being one step in front of the plot turns which are mainly composed of " Guess which character in this scene gets turned in to sea food ? " . The scene is also too brightly lit especially for something that's supposed to be a horror film of sorts and it's obvious it's a European film complete with bad lip sync and mood muzak . If you don't notice the incidental score in this scene don't worry because you'll notice it later especially during an octopus attack where literally dozens of people get devoured though not on screen Despite all this TENTACLES is a film I find it very difficult to hate . There is a scene a few minutes in to the opening that is classic startle scene material that caused me to jump . I'm also a constant and harsh critic of CGI in movies and here we see a giant octopus created for the big screen via film footage of a normal sized oct , miniature models featuring a normal sized oct , backscreen projection and some giant sized model . To be blunt this mixing of technique isn't often if ever successful but is still preferable to CGI and is in keeping with the keeping with rather camp goings on in this type of movie which is old fashioned and enjoyable simply because of its silliness

Come on people it was not that bad. It was not that good either but what the hey. A giant octopus is rather far fetched but this is the SyFy channel after all. When the orca's are released and swim away you just know they will return to kill the octopus and save their pet human. There are the usual human sacrifices to the killer octopus including a couple of kids. Pathos for those who need it to get involved with the film I guess. Of course the octopus is killed by the orcas and the humans are saved, the orcas swim away and it is assumed (that word again) they have run off to e free. Surprise!!! At the end of the movie they show up to say good bye and then like a watery western they swim off into the sunset.

Sometimes you get a movie that is awful. So awful that you have a sense of dread while watching it. But, on rare occasions, an average movie-goer has at least one or two or maybe three movies that qualified as guilty pleasures. As for myself, I, too, have that syndrome. I don't know if other movie-goers have this syndrome or suffer from this scenario, but it has happen to me.And, in the case of Tentacles, this may be one of them.The story takes place on a sea resort in California called "Ocean Beach". Ocean Beach is starting see some major problems. Tourists are beginning to disappear one by one. Ned Turner, (John Huston), the local everyday man and news reporter, suspects that there's something sinister happening on his sea resort. He appointed the deputy sheriff, (Claude Akins),that a octopus is picking off the tourists, turning the beach into a snack shop. Enter the biologist, (Bo Hopkins), who explains to Turner that there is a very angry octopus eating up the townsfolk. Meanwhile, Turner's wife, (Shelly Winters), takes her children out on a sailboat and one of them volunteers to participate in the town's sailboat race. When Hopkins' girlfriend is killed by the monster and one of Winters' children's friends gets eaten by the beast, it's up to Hopkins to find the octopus and kill it. To do this, he must enlisted the help of two killer whales that can find octopus and kill it. While that is going on, the local oil tycoon, (Henry Fonda), gets blamed for waking up the angry beast.Yes, I know Tentacles is an awful movie. Yes, this is one of those ensemble cast movies or all-star movies that took its course during the 1970's. But, you got to admit that this movie is ridiculous to watch even if you hate it. I've always say that in implausible films that you don't ask any questions during the viewing of the movie. Well, I ignored answering some of the obvious questions that this movie asks. Sometimes you got to accept things for what they are. In this movie, all high expectations go right out the window for me.Where do I begin to say which parts I like? Well, I'll begin with the most stupidest. And that is, the cast of some of the most talented actors and actresses that are included in this movie are probably their money's worth. I got a feeling that Huston, Fonda, Winters, Akins and especially Hopkins, got their money's worth for making Tentacles. But, I will say that I enjoyed their performances even if they were on the big screen trying to impress in any which way possible. As for the octopus, it's shoddy. Yet, I have to admit that I enjoyed both the octopus and the two killer whales. Of course, it's is simply a bad rip-off of Jaws and Orca. In fact, if I had to rank Tentacles or Orca as being the best or worst rip-off of Jaws, I would have to say that Tentacles ranks high and below Orca, even I enjoy less of Orca.Tentacles is a stupid movie and goofy at the same time, but it's quite terrifying for a second up until the final confrontation between the octopus and the two killer whales. Now that I got that out of the way, I can say now that I just reveal one of my guilty pleasures. ★★★ 3 stars.

Shoddy picture is a complete rip off of "Jaws", as a coastal community is terrorized by a mysterious aquatic creature, right before a big sailing race, only here it is a giant octopus, rather than a shark. Only a marine biologist can save the town, with the help of his killer whales...Strange to see actors like Henry Fonda, John Huston, and Shelley Winters in the cast, as well as Claude Akins and Bo Hopkins. Poor octopus effects and direction, uninspired and derivative script, though has one effective scene at night when a yacht is destroyed, and an unfortunate woman is lifted in the air by the octopus, but otherwise, a waste.