Tentacles

Tentacles arrives as another entry in the post-Jaws creature feature sweepstakes, and for two acts, it makes a case for itself. This Italian-American co-production puts John Huston in the role of a reporter investigating mysterious deaths off the California coast, while Bo Hopkins plays the marine expert who identifies their eight-armed antagonist.

The film opens with a death that breaks horror conventions, establishing its willingness to go where other films might hesitate. Huston brings his distinctive baritone to exposition-heavy dialogue and makes it sound natural—no small feat in a genre where characters often speak in marine biology textbooks. The supporting cast includes Claude Akins as the local sheriff and Henry Fonda as a business magnate, both cast to type and cashing a paycheck, but welcome nonetheless.

Stelvio Cipriani’s score deserves particular mention, recycling material from The Great Kidnapping to create a musical landscape that alternates between dissonant piano and synth for suspense, then shifts to jazz for the action sequences.

The underwater photography convinces throughout, avoiding the static quality of studio tank work.

The octopus attacks work when the film uses real creatures with miniatures and rear projection. A standout sequence shows a boat under attack from a wide angle, avoiding the tired trope of actors throwing themselves around a stationary set. The film delivers a remarkable point-of-view shot from below deck as the hull fractures and water crashes in with fatal force.

But Shelley Winters proves problematic as Huston’s sister, appearing entitled and helpless while sporting an inexplicable oversized sombrero. Her character never faces danger, which feels like a missed opportunity.

The film shows its Italian origins through extensive off-screen dialogue, designed for easier dubbing.

Technical inconsistencies emerge—a swimmer keeps his sneakers on underwater, characters manage walkie-talkies while sailing—but these pale beside the film’s fatal third act collapse. The climax abandons Huston, Winters, and Fonda for a sequence where Hopkins brings killer whales to fight the octopus. Instead of wide shots, we get the aforementioned trope of Hopkins throwing himself around the cabin to simulate the octopus rocking the boat. Then Hopkins gets trapped in an underwater avalanche (how does that happen?) and requires rescue by his marine mammal colleagues. Imagine Jaws ending with Quint’s pet dolphins attacking the shark.

In the end, Tentacles promises a spectacle it never delivers. Imagine Winters getting jerked backward into the ocean via a tentacle, or Huston firing a harpoon through the creature’s eye. That would have been something. Instead, after building genuine suspense and delivering effective scares with innovative techniques, the film throws it all away for an overlong, underwhelming, trope-filled finale that feels pulled from a different movie.