I have recently been reliving my youth by watching vintage horror films from the 70’s and 80’s. Some of you may or may not have discovered yet, so without further ado.
Tentacles
Released-1977
In the same vein as Jaws, viewers will notice very familiar scenes throughout the movie that give a nod to the classic film. Tentacles was released in 1977 and is an American-Italian horror film directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis. There are plenty of kills in the movie; one of my favorites would be the scene with the legs sticking out of the water, slicing through the ocean like a fin to the horror of the female sunbather before disappearing into the murky depths. This is the type of humor that allows a person to suspend disbelief and provides a good bit of fun to the movie
People are turning up dead in the seaside town of Solana Beach, stripped of their flesh and their marrow sucked out. It is up to a newspaper reporter (John Huston) and the Sheriff (Claude Akins) to find out who or what is causing the calamity.The movie has a well rounded and known cast for its time including Henry Fonda, Claude Akins, Shelley Winters and Bo Hopkins.
Showing the ability for a vintage film to be contemporary, I liked the inclusion of Orcas,
commonly known as killer whales. The movie seemed to be ahead in its time in regards to the acknowledgement of the intelligence of these mammals. Recent news reports of Orcas are using strategy to attack and disable boats in the Strait of Gibraltar.
A warning to the viewer, the version I watched has some editing issues and at times is pretty hokey. I’m fine with that, the 1970’s ‘nature gone crazy’ craze that hit movie theaters produced quickly to meet the demand. Many of them owe a lot to Jaws and often mimic and parody that classic film. This is one of those movies I saw as a young kid and enjoyed, campy, blood and a killer octopus.
Being part of Generation X, I feel fortunate to have experienced the ‘80s video stores. The horror genre was in high demand and the shelves were flooded with horror films. I grew up watching B/W horror films, then moved on to edgier fare such as Evil Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We didn’t have films online, we had to hunt down a copy of these classics and sometimes wait for a film to be returned by another customer. This was all part of the fun
Peace, Love and Mosh Pits
Scott
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