''Octopus'' is a 2000 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

produced by Nu Image that premiered on the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

on October 11, 2000. The film stars

Jay Harrington James H. Harrington III, professionally known as Jay Harrington, (born November 15, 1971) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as the title character in the ABC sitcom '' Better Off Ted'' in 2009–2010, and from 2017 to 2 ...

David Beecroft David Beecroft is an American actor noted for his television appearances, having played both regular and recurring roles in series such as ''Falcon Crest'' (as Nick Agretti), ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' and ''Melrose Place''. Early life and e ...

and

Ricco Ross Ricco Ross is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of private Frost in the 1986 science fiction action film ''Aliens (film), Aliens''. Early life Born at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, he is the fifth of eight chi ...

Plot

In October 1962, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, a Soviet submarine delivers barrels of nuclear material to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, and has to outrun an American submarine. When one of the crewmen suggests that the submarine should slow down and identify itself, the captain shoots him. The submarine is hit by torpedoes and damaged, drowning the crew and releasing radioactive material into its nearby waters. It causes an octopus to grow into a monstrous size, attacking submarines and naval vehicles off Cuba's coasts. In the year 2000, in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria, two

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

officials, Roy Turner and Henry Campbell, discuss about files, before they go out for a walk. Meanwhile, someone disguised as an old woman gives a bag to an official's daughter, but the bomb inside the bag detonates, killing everyone inside the American embassy and injuring many people nearby. The two officials pursue the old woman, but the old woman's henchmen crash a car at Henry, injuring and killing him. Afterwards, Roy pursues the old woman and captures her, and she is revealed to be the leader of a terrorist group. The terrorist is captured and taken into a submarine, but his henchmen hijack the vehicle and threaten the crew to release him. However, the submarine is attacked by the giant octopus from before.

Cast

as Roy Turner * Ravil Isyanov as Casper *

as Capt. Jack Shaw * Carolyn Lowery as Dr. Lisa Finch * Rico Ross as Brickman *

Jeff Nuttall Jeffrey Addison Nuttall (8 July 1933 – 4 January 2004) was an English poet, performer, author, actor, teacher, painter, sculptor, jazz musician, anarchist and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was ...

as Henry Campbell * George Stanchev as Salvanto *

Martin McDougall Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart� ...

as Taylor

Production

''Octopus'' was in development as early as 1999. Director John Eyers was approached by David Varod, Danny Lerner and

Boaz Davidson Boaz Davidson (, ; born 8 November 1943) is an Israeli film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and studied film in London at London Film School. Biography Davidson was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to ...

Nu Image Millennium Media (formerly Nu Image and Millennium Films) is an American independent film production and financing company that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort and Danny Lerner in 1992, and is one of Hollywood's longest runn ...

with a treatment for the film, followed by a screenplay being developed "pretty quickly" according to Eyers. "My directional background has been in doing quite a bit of sci-fi, so it wasn't that much of a stretch." The film was shot in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

with a 36 day shooting time and a $5 million budget. The octopus in the film was created through a combination of CGI, miniatures and animatronics. One of the tentacles has a 30-foot section of animatronic arm while the CGI sequences were done with a greenscreen in Bulgaria.

Release

The film was shown on television on the

on October 11, 2000. The film was released on DVD and VHS in November 2000. By July 2000, Nu Image had already been planning for '' Octopus 2'' which would bring the monster to New York City.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Jerry Bokamper of the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' declared the film a "concomitant mess, an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink disaster.", suggesting that "If you want a sea monster movie that really sits up and barks, go back to the classics, such as ''

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms ''The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' is a 1953 American independent monster film directed by Eugène Lourié, with stop motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. It is partly based on Ray Bradbury's 1951 short story of the same name, which was later ...

''. An anonymous reviewer from ''

The Advocate-Messenger ''The Advocate-Messenger'' is a newspaper published Tuesday and Saturday in Danville, Kentucky. The printed version of the newspaper is delivered by US mail. The newspaper serves central Kentucky, with distribution primarily in Boyle, Lincoln, ...

'' gave the film one star, stating it was a "cheesy monster flick" with "mediocre special effects, banal dialog and the predictable story line add up to a crash bore"

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0221905 2000 films 2000s English-language films 2000 television films Films about cephalopods Films about the Cuban Missile Crisis Films about terrorism in Europe Films set in 1962 Films set in 2000 Films set in Bulgaria Giant monster films Submarine films 2000s monster movies American monster movies 2000 horror films Films shot in Bulgaria Nu Image films American horror television films Films produced by Boaz Davidson Films with screenplays by Boaz Davidson 2000s American films English-language science fiction horror films