Octaman

Plot

A scientific expedition to a remote Mexican fishing community discovers unhealthy amounts of radiation in the local waters. They also find a small mutant octopus with nearly-human eyes that can crawl on land and make mewling sounds like a baby. In order to receive further funding for their project, Dr. Rick Torres travels back to the States to make a deal with circus owner Johnny Caruso, who is interested in the bizarre mutation as a carny act. They return to the camp to discover that their crew has been slaughtered by someone (or something) and the octopus specimen is missing. A young man from the village says that a local legend about a creature said to be half man and half sea serpent is true, and offers to take the scientists to the lake where it is purported to live. What they find is a seven foot tall walking octopus with amazing strength and a lust for killing, and soon the expedition realizes that the monster is now hunting them. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi

Review

Written and directed by the man who once penned the screenplay for Creature from the Black Lagoon, this goofy, low budget monster show draws inspiration from 50s era creature features and nuclear cautionary fables. Naturally, the whole point of this exercise is the Octaman, an absolutely ridiculous creation that walks upright on two tentacles, can break through a man's chest with the others, and has a permanently fixed mouth ringed with fangs. Thanks to frequent POV shots, we also know that this freakish cephalopod has compound eyes which would be more appropriate for a mutant killer bee film (see Invasion of the Bee Girls). For the most part, the monster is only interested in offing the minor Mexican characters (including exploitation vet Buck Kartalian attempting a pitiful accent), leaving the Caucasian scientists free to ponder the strange whims of nature and wonder why the human race is intent on poisoning the environment. Though the silly rubber suit affords the viewer a fair amount of yuks, Octaman is a cheap, sluggish vehicle that gets tiresome long before the monster finally gives up and dies, and bad day-for-night shooting renders many sequences murky and hard to decipher. Academy Award winning makeup artist Rick Baker began his professional career by creating the Octaman costume; for actress Anna Maria Pier Angeli, it was her last performance, as she died of a drug overdose shortly after finishing the film. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi

Cast

Anna Maria Pier Angeli; David Essex; Norman Fields; Harry Guardino; Jerome Guardino; Buck Kartalian; Kerwin Mathews; Jeff Morrow; Robert Warner; Wally Rose; Richard Cohen

Credit

Harry J. Essex - Director, Robert Freeman - Editor, Post Prod - Composer (Music Score), Doug Beswick - Makeup, Rick Baker - Makeup Special Effects, George Barr - Makeup Special Effects, Robert Caramico - Cinematographer, Michael Kraike - Producer, Bud Costello - Set Designer, Harry J. Essex - Screenwriter, Lawrence Morse - Screenwriter

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