L'oeil de la bête

If you accept the fact that this is a B-movie from the outset, this isn't too bad of a movie. The writing wasn't too badly stilted anywhere, the story is...well...a fairly predictable "sea monster" story, and the acting, while nothing to write home about, was certainly nothing to complain about. Of course, James van der Beek makes the movie a little easier to watch too. :)

My biggest complaint about the movie, other than the obvious low-budget quality, was the straight-forwardness of it. Establish the town, figure out the relationships, show monster to viewers, nobody believes monster exists, prove monster exists, deal with it, male and female leads fall in love and live happily ever after. Wow, now there's a story that hasn't been told about a million times before!

But in spite of its shortcomings, it was suitably entertaining for a Saturday afternoon where I had nothing better to do. I don't think I'd ever watch it again, but I'm not disappointed at having watched it a first time.

And this one seems to know just when to attack so that nobody knows it's out there. Just like all its relatives seem to.

A lot of influence from Jaws (a nice way to say they ripped off some plot devices from it), but there is a well developed story here. The plot centers not to so much on the creature itself, but the lives (and of course some deaths) of those who have encountered it. Witnesses to its existence are treated like an outcast nut cases, while fishing revenues drop mysteriously and steadily, and mutilated bodies wash up on beaches all over. A few characters are given more dimension than to be just screaming victims, but there is a tad too much talking. It's done to give exposition on the characters and the creature they're up against, but there were probably some better ways to do this.

The movie lets the monster remain an unseen foe until near the end, which succeeds at making it more threatening. The monster appears hokey when you do finally see it, although the acting of the people in a life-or-death struggle with the creature is convincing enough to offset this.

Overall, decent enough for rainy Saturday afternoon entertainment.

You can either take them or leave them, where the cheaply made straight to TV horror effort "Eye of the Beast" starring former teen idol James Van Der Beek turned out to be a neat, if unassuming b-production. It might somewhat get bogged down within the halfway mark and consist of some daftly cheesy clichés, but there's enough going on; you know tentacle action (you can't get enough of that), feuding fisherman, James Van Der Beek frowning a lot and to top that off 10 reasons are given to why fishing is a lot better sex. Quite convincing arguments too. The special effects for such a low-budget are well implemented, but actually there's very little (up until to the squid's glorious reveal) and the tentacles when they come into play are mainly prosthetic. It could have used a little more action and creativity in its attack sequences, but Van Der Beek and Alexandria Castillo are agreeable in their parts making it enjoyable to watch. Then there's the constant bickering (ecological messages) and dramas between the characters of this drably lit small ocean community to keep it moving, despite it's fairly laid-back pace. Mildly amusing, lazy afternoon entertainment.

"A giant squid in a lake"?

No, this one won't win any awards, but its not too bad either. Anyone who watches this kind of film from time to time has seen much, MUCH worse movies, acting and general film making... The plot is a near identical rip from the 1996 TV miniseries 'The Beast' staring CSI's William Petersen and Charles Martin Smith. If you like that, you'll like this... only less.

I mean... it's not terrible. In fact it's better than one might expect. But some of the acting, plot contrivances, and the practical and computer generated effects leave a bit to be desired.

They actually used practical effects when they could. They could have been a lot better but... they're there.

And the movie feels really short.

I'll watch it again just to pass the time. And I've always loved giant squid. They're a lovely, terrifying animal.