Tentáculos

I have to wonder how this star-studded train wreck came about; I hope there's a better story than "they were in it for the money." Three legends - Shelley Winters, John Huston, Henra Fonda - in a low-budget, poorly..., well everything movie. The giant octopus is rarely seen, and when it is, it's pretty much obvious that it's a regular octopus filmed at angles and with bubbles thrown in to demonstrate violence in the water. And despite the three stars having above-the-title billing, they really only have supporting roles, and none of them get to Roy Scheider the octopus.

Actually I think I have it all figured out. Trying to cash in on the Jaws craze, they commissioned people to create another sea monster but overreached in hiring stars and blew their whole budget on their salaries. There we go.

Did this movie strike anyone else as odd in that the big name actors (mainly Huston and Fonda) seem to be delivering their lines as though they don't know the plot of the film? Fonda in particular has so many scenes where his lines are vague and could fit into any number of plots, I truly wonder if he signed on for a giant cephalopod film.

I guess the actors were excited about being sent to Italy, and the downside is that..it was to be in this movie. I guess the producers were thinking they would make some money doing a version of "Jaws" with an octopus instead.

But the casual moviegoer, who has reasonable intelligence, will either be laughing at the whole thing or bored to death. Either way, the movie is not insultingly awful. At least Shelley Winters is under control, for the most part, but John Huston as a reporter is a riot. Danova had all his dialogue dubbed, which seems strange since he speaks English (he did in "Viva Las Vegas" and "Mean Streets", to name two instances). Henry Fonda & Bo Hopkins are also along for the ride.

When people start disappearing in a small seaside resort town, Ned Turner (John Huston), a newspaper reporter, becomes suspicious that is has something to do with an underwater construction project being conducted by Trojan, a company run by Mr. Whitehead (Henry Fonda). As Turner digs deeper into the mysterious events, his suspicions that something more sinister is responsible begin to grow. These suspicions are supported by marine expert Will Gleason (Bo Hopkins).

The above sounds much more appealing than it has any right to. This is one of the worst films I've ever seen, and I like Ed Wood! Tentacles is one of the many films that were made in the wake of Jaws that tried to capitalize on Jaws' incredible success. Unfortunately, almost everything about the film is completely incompetent. There are only two minor saving graces that caused me to give this film a "high" rating of 2 out of 10. One, there are some quality actors involved--Huston, Fonda, Hopkins, and Shelley Winters have all done fantastic work in other films, and two, there are a couple moments where the incompetence achieves a level of sublime ridiculousness so that Tentacles becomes "so bad it's good". However, don't put too much weight on either of those "pros", as the better performances (Huston and Hopkins) can't even begin to save this film and you have to sit through a tortuous, boring hour to get to a point where the film starts being more funny than painful.

There are a couple reasons you might want to watch this film. If you're a completist with respect to a member of the cast or crew, you'll have to watch, and this will likely be the lowlight of their career for you (at least no other film will "top" it, even if others can match it). Also, if you're a horror film completist (as I am), you'll want to grin and bear it once. Another good reason to watch it is as a lesson in how not to make a film, from every technical aspect. The script is horrible and at times completely incoherent. It may also set a record for the largest number of abandoned threads. The director appears to have slept through most of the shoots. The composer scores every scene inappropriately, and to top it off, one of the primary instruments is a harpsichord. The score basically sounds like random 70s porno music. The editor seems to think that his job involves not leaving any footage unused.

At about the hour mark, the director decides to employ a lot of freeze frames during a "high tension" sequence. It's also accompanied by bizarre non-sequitur "jokes" told by a guy in an Uncle Sam outfit while Shelley Winters desperately tries to reach two other characters on a walkie talkie, only we can't hear anything she says--we just see her mouth moving while we hear Uncle Sam's performance art. This is where the film finally becomes unintentionally funny. It makes little sense in the context of the film, although that seems to be a leitmotif.

Tentacles contains the most boring action/suspense sequences I think I've ever witnessed. There wasn't one for which my attention didn't drift. I started thinking about things like mowing the lawn, cleaning out the refrigerator, and so on. It's difficult to believe that any of the crew had a career after this, but amazingly, most of them did.

Inferior exploitation indirectly based on the characters created by Peter Benchley but turns out to be an absurd sea-monster film with average creation of tension, thrills, horror, emotions and chills . Bone-chilling movie with scary scenes , lousy direction and contains similar argument screen-written to first entry directed by Steven Spielberg (Jaws) and second directed by Jeannot Swarc (Jaws 2). The film is developed in a shore community where each year 10,000 tourists visit Ocean Beach. Several people have disappeared , when appear the bodies , these are gnawed to the skeleton, the investigators have no idea which monster could do such things. This summer Ocean Beach has attracted SOMETHING ELSE! the townsfolk were terrorized by a giant octopus that threatens and attacks to pacific tourists at the local seaside and it's turning the beach into a Buffet . Two mean construction owners (Henry Fonda, Cesare Danova) made a tunnel in the underwater and disturbed its shelter . The local journalist (John Huston) tries to convince to local authorities( the sheriff played by Claude Akins) who reluctant listen him to empty the resort place , and they think he's nutty. But the large squid attacks and the victims are eaten and making a real carnage and those serving for lunch .Some adolescents are sailing on their sporting boats during celebration a regatta when the giant octopus threaten and destroy them . Then , a biologist (Bo Hopkins) helped by two killer Orcas determine to track down and kill it. He along with his pal are forced to fight for their lives in a mortal confrontation.

It's an absurd rip-off with some moments that get certain creation of tension, thrills,terror , emotions and brief gore. The rotten monster octopus attacks images deliver the exciting , devouring some notorious players and united to thrilling score by Stelvio Cipriani who heightens the suspense. Mediocre performance from known Hollywood stars as Henry Fonda , Shelley Winters , John Huston and Bo Hopkins . It packs sunny and colorful cinematography by Piazzoli filmed in location in Marineland of the Pacific , Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes,Oceanside,Pismo Beach, California . The original picture ¨Jaws¨ considered a real classic obtained three Oscars well deserved, this exploitation is very inferior and results to be embarrassingly directed by Ovidio Assonitis (Piraña 2 , Beyond the door). Rating : Below than average.

Other films about large squids are the followings : ¨Devil Fish¨ by Lamberto Bava , a recent version titled ¨Kraken tentacles of the deep (2006)¨ by Tibor Takacs with Charlie O'Connell and Victoria Pratt and of course the classic version ¨ 20.000 leagues under the sea¨ by Richard Flescher where appears the unforgettable giant octopus.