Tentacles (1977)

Trailer:

*Spoilers Throughout*

What’s It About: A seaside ocean resort, aptly named Ocean Beach has a big problem in the shape of a giant angry octopus. Seems the company behind the underwater construction of a tunnel is using radio frequencies that are too high and really pissing off the octopus. So the octopus takes revenge “Tentacle Style!”

Here are some of my observations as I watched the film:

• The opening credits have slow background music with a taxi driving with the taxi dispatcher speaking on the CB. I much rather just have titles on black.
• Tentacles already has something the other nautical horror movies do not: a man with an actual wooden peg-leg!
• Less than 7 minutes in and already two victims already! And the first one was an infant! Eat your heart out Jaws 2!
• John Huston’s character’s name is Ned Turner?! John Huston could just swear in a movie and I’ll like it.
• “In my opinion, we’re in for a nightmare.” I hope he doesn’t mean the movie.
• John Huston. Shelley Winters. And now Henry Fonda. Geriatrics vs Octopus!
• Henry Fonda is the CEO of a company called Trojan but sadly not the condom factory.
• I LOVE the sombrero Shelley Winters is wearing. Seriously she’s wearing a hat that’s as big as her kid.

¡Olé!

• SCUBA Diving is not a sport. It’s not even a contest. It’s like calling bird watching a sport.
• Wouldn’t the dead fish float to the surface instead of slightly sink to the bottom with their mouths touching the sand bed?
• Did I miss a scene? Will Gleason’s wife’s sister went out on a boat that was attacked by the giant octopus. Next scene Gleason is looking for his wife but in the next scene his wife is already on another boat looking for her sister’s boat. That’s some editing!
• Will Gleason’s wife’s boat is attacked and destroyed by the octopus and while she tries to cling onto a buoy the octopus grabs her and lifts her up into the air! I’m assuming the octopus enjoyed that very much.

Excuse me, your tentacles are showing.

• Next scene is a slow crawl of people watching boats glide past the marina for what feels like 3 minutes. Camera pans to Will Gleason towards the end but I don’t know if he knows his wife was attacked by the octopus in the earlier scene or he just doesn’t know where she is.
• Another montage but this time of the annual yacht race festivities and set up. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t 4 minutes long and had his horrible elevator music.
• The film actually freeze-framed a few innocuous and non-action specific shots for absolutely no reason. Very odd. It keeps doing it while a new montage of the octopus attacking the kids in the sloops during the race but most of the freeze-frames are of the spectators who don’t even know of the attacks. Shelley Winter is trying in vain to reach her son via walkie-talkie but that’s the only indication something is wrong.
• The giant octopus must really hate boats because there were dozens of racing boats in the water and every single one toppled by the mollusk.
• Will Gleason is literally asking his trained orcas, Summer & Winter for help in killing the octopus. Kinda strange but on the plus side, we’re going to see orcas fight an octopus!
• Or maybe not…the octopus attacked the vessel that housed the orcas and they were released and fled. Will Gleason and his friend go down to find the mollusk.
• Diver quickly evades the octopus’ ink by swimming away but moments later can’t flee falling coral and rocks.
• ORCAS ATTACK!!!! Kicking octopus’ ass!
• So basically John Huston, Shelley Winters and Henry Fonda meant very little to this film. We haven’t seen any of them for over 20 minutes and never again will. Henry Fonda was in three scenes, all at the same house so it was obvious he filmed all his scenes in one afternoon. I’m still not sure why Shelley Winters was even in this movie.

Is It Actually Scary: Its scarier than Jaws 3 but not scarier than the original Jaws.

How Much Gore: Not much at all. I guess the octopus doesn’t like to brag.

dum, dum, dum, dum, dum

Best Scene: Easily, its the Orcas vs. Octopus scene. Not only do they kick octopus ass but they come to the rescue of the divers who were pinned in a small cave by the octopus. Its not a Godzilla vs. Monster Zero worthy fight but for a cheap Jaws rip-off I’d say it was awesome. They really made the orcas the heroes which is a nice difference to all the other sea creature horror movies.

Worst Scene: The yacht race attack scene had that really annoying music and freeze-frames. If they just showed the complete rampage by the octopus instead of being “artsy” with the editing I think it would’ve been the best scene.

OK you two, get a room!

Any Nudity: Sadly no octopussy (I’m sorry I couldn’t resist). But the actress who played Gleason’s wife’s sister was a cutie in a bikini.

Overall: I’d have to admit that I liked this picture. Its easily in my top-five sea creature horror movies behind Jaws, Orca, The Deep and Humanoids From The Deep to name a few. Not bad company I’d say. It has its fair share of issues like the cast (Huston, Fonda and Winters are basically worthless in this) and the editing (the yacht race scene disappoints me) but its still better than most in this sub-genre. I also enjoyed the fact that it took the orcas to defeat the giant octopus instead of a person. Not only was it a much more novel approach in a movie but it also makes the most sense to have a sea creature fight another sea creature. I’d recommend this one, especially if you’re a fan of Jaws and other nautical horror movies in the 70s.

Score: 8 Actual Wooden Peg-legs (out of 10)