''Octaman'' is a 1971 Mexican-American
monster film
A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall und ...
written and directed by
Harry Essex, with the costume design by future
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winner
Rick Baker
Richard A. Baker (born December 8, 1950), known professionally as Rick Baker, is an American retired special make-up effects creator and actor. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker won the Academy Award for Best Make ...
. It follows an expedition team that becomes the target of a murderous
humanoid octopus. The film received negative reviews.
On April 18, 2019, the film was shown theatrically in the United States as part of the
RiffTrax Live series.
Plot
A scientific expedition to a remote Mexican fishing community, led by Dr. Rick Torres and Susan Lowry, discovers unhealthy amounts of
radiation in the local waters. They find a small mutant
octopus that can crawl on land. Torres travels back to the States to present his findings, hoping to be granted more funding. Reception from the scientific establishment is lukewarm, so Torres makes a deal with Johnny Caruso, a circus owner who is interested in the bizarre mutation as a carny act. After their departure, a humanoid octopus, Octaman, attacks the camp and slaughters the remaining crew.
The scientists return to the camp in an
RV a few days later and find it abandoned. Davido, a young
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
man from the nearby village, says that a local legend about a creature said to be half man and half
sea serpent
A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse (Jörmungandr).
Mythology and fo ...
is true, and offers to take the scientists to the lake where it is purported to live. Meanwhile, Octaman kills some villagers. The next day, the scientists find another small mutant octopus, and Octaman has gone to the camp and killed a crew member and escaped. Johnny, witness to the attack, decides to capture the monster for his circus.
Octaman returns to the RV, but Lowry honks the horn to signal for help. The other scientists arrive and the monster flees. They go searching for it on the lake, and it pulls down another crew member out of their boat. When it reappears at the RV and captures Lowry, they blind it with their flashlights to stop it in its tracks, then light a ring of
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...
around it. The fire consumes enough
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...
that the monster suffocates and falls unconscious, and Lowry is rescued. They finish the capture by
tranquilizing it and trapping it under a net. In the morning, however, a thunderstorm brings rain which revives the Octaman and allows it to escape. It moves to seize Lowry, but she communicates with it and sends it away.
Davido tracks Octaman into a cave. The others consider abandoning the pursuit, but Davido goads them on. Octaman chases them into the back of the cave, gaining enough time to block the cave mouth and seal them in. However, Davido finds another way out. They return to the RV, but find Octaman waiting for them inside. In order to spare her colleagues, Lowry allows herself to be captured. Now determined to kill the beast, the remaining expedition members arm themselves and pursue the pair. Lowry shoots the creature at close range with a concealed handgun, allowing her to escape its clutches. The expedition members fire more shots at the creature, which retreats into the lake and sinks below the surface.
Cast
*
Pier Angeli as Susan Lowry
*
Kerwin Mathews
Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor best known for playing the titular heroes in ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) and ''Jack the Giant Killer'' (1962).
Early life ...
as Dr. Rick Torres
*
Jeff Morrow
Leslie Irving Morrow, known as Jeff Morrow (January 13, 1907 – December 26, 1993), was an American actor educated at Pratt Institute in his native New York City. Morrow was a commercial artist prior to turning to acting. Early in his caree ...
as Dr. John Willard
* David Essex as Davido
*
Read Morgan
Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the American western television series ''The Deputy''.
Life and career
Morg ...
as the Octaman
Release
Home media
''Octaman'' was released on XXX X, 19XX on the VHS format by the
European Video Corporation. A 40th anniversary widescreen DVD edition was released in 2012 by Bay View Entertainment.
Reception
Fred Beldin from
AllMovie gave the film a negative review, writing, "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." On his website ''Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings'', Dave Sindelar called the film "dull and repetitive", and complained that the film was too dark, making it difficult to see any of the action. Sindelar also criticized the film's lack of pacing, uninteresting characters, and design of the title monster.
Dread Central wrote, "''Octaman'' I recommend strictly for fans of old school monster movies and cult cinema, as well as bad movie aficionados, and even then there’s a part of me that suggests you be prepared to fast forward when things get bogged down with dry, talky dialogue and a needlessly long cave searching scene that only results in the characters ending up pretty much back where they started."
See also
*
List of killer octopus films
Natural horror is a subgenre of horror films that features natural forces, typically in the form of animals or plants, that pose a threat to human characters.
Though killer animals in film have existed since the release of '' The Lost World'' in ...
References
External links
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* {{tcmdb title, 559465
1971 films
1971 horror films
1970s monster movies
1970s science fiction horror films
American monster movies
American science fiction horror films
Films set in the United States
Films set in Mexico
Mexican monster movies
1970s English-language films
1970s American films
1970s Mexican films