"It’s a submarine John. If it can go under water it can go under ships too."
Who doesn’t like a good giant octopus movie? Especially when it is taking down the Golden Gate Bridge or climbing up the clock tower of the ferry building at the embarcadero.
When a submarine headed by Cmdr. Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) is attacked by a sea monster on its maiden voyage a piece of the monster is torn off and disables the sub. 2 scientists are tasked with finding out what it is. Prof. Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue) and Dr. John Carter (Donald Curtis) determine that the monster is a giant octopus from the Mindanao Deep that, due to Atomic testing, has become radioactive and is now chasing away its normal food.
The beast starts attacking ships and people along the Pacific coast. Mathews, Joyce and Carter are charged with locating the monster and developing a way to kill it.
No one cares about anything else. It’s a giant octopus and it’s a Ray Harryhausen octopus. Although it only has 6 tentacles its still badass. No one is really interested in the potential love interest between the commander and the female scientist. It’s only something happening between octopus attacks. And there are enough attacks to keep the movie going and to keep me happy. Even the standard helicopter takedown is great.
The collaboration between Harryhausen and producer Charles Schneer would last from their first movie “It came from Beneath the Sea” (1955) through “Clash of the Titans” (1981).
The submarine used in the movie was an actual submarine built by the Electric Boat Co. in Groton, Ct. called the USS Cubera, however, it was not a nuclear submarine and several real sailors played supporting roles. (A cubera is a type of fish.)
Reference was made to the octopus as having tentacles. Actually, scientifically, the octopus has "arms." The correct plural of "octopus" is "octopuses," not "octopi," although it has slipped into common usage. "Octopi" is a combination of Greek and Latin. Not done in Science.