Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep (2006)

So here in Oregon we have our share of crappy weather Saturdays. I personally choose to enjoy a day of lame Sci-Fi (or SyFy, whatever) channel movies. Yes they're all B-movies, but some are just so bad they're GREAT!The Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, however, is NOT one of those.This film puts the UN in unwatchable. The plot is so thin you couldn't cut it with a razor. The acting is atrocious! Especially Charlie O'Conner! My god is he bad! His acting in this film actually makes Victoria Pratt and Jack Scalia look like Oscar nominees! While we're on the subject, Mr. Scalia is supposed to be Greek. But his accent changes constantly from European, to Austrailian, to non-existent! The directing? I don't know if the director even showed up!My suggestion? Skip this one. It's boring, contrived, nonsense. Too much silly, predictable treasure hunting, not enough giant squid.

I thought this movie was rather good for what it was. I've recently watched A-list movies that were much much worse. It's very watchable and interesting, the characters are attractive, and I like the mythical connotations in the movie. I love Greek Myths and Folklore. I don't usually watch the Syfy Channel, but I came across this movie and got sucked in...it's awesome. My only complaints about this movie would have to be the main character, Ray, although sexy, sounded like he had emphezema. lol But he pretty much made up for it with his sexy looks...as he looks a lot like Ty Pennington. It's not my all time favorite, but definitely worth your time.

I have to say that the script actually saves this creature feature. Aside from the lousy CGI, the character development and witty banter actually make me empathize with the characters. The draft writers should really be moving on to more emotionally engrossing projects. Maybe give them a run on Stargate or Battlestar Galactica? We all should understand how SciFi movies work. They really hamper the creative talent. I know from inside sources that Larva, written by an Emmy nominated scribe, had its budget slashed 3,000%. What the dilly yo SciFi? If we genre fans are willing to shell out $500 for the latest Superman bust (well worth it, teehee), then surely you can spend the big bucks on our flicks. At the very least, you can take a chance on some fine young writing talent.Just my two cents. Live long and proser,Jim

"Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep" is an all-right creature feature.**SPOILERS**Off the coast of, a diving crew, Nicole, (Victoria Pratt) Jenny, (Kristi Angus) and Michael, (Cory Montkeith) find a collection of sunken ships from throughout different time periods sunk in the area. Ray, (Charlie O'Connell) hears this and offers his help. After going on a dive, they are attacked by a giant squid, and barely make it back. Maxwell Odemus, (Jack Scalia) an old rival of Nicole's, arrives and offers a reluctant Nicole a proposition about the creature. After finding the true nature of the treasure found earlier, the two teams race to find it before being killed by the protective squid.The Good News: As far as giant squid movies go, this one wasn't all that bad. The best aspect is that it decides not to spend all the time on the creature and instead weaves into the lives of others, rather than just being stuck over a single night of carnage. It takes place over a couple days, and that's a rare sight for a film like this. It was also a pretty nice idea to not make it just a biological mutation and was instead just a regular creature. That makes for a far more believable monster. The underwater action is all great, combining to make some great moments. The first attack near the wreck is pretty suspenseful, as it's hard to really get a sense of what's going on in the scene and there's an air that something isn't quite right. It's one of the few scenes around that features a similar idea that's successfully executed right, making the suspense out of what is on-screen through the elements presented. The second dive does the suspense to a much lesser degree, but it makes up for it with the addition of a couple kills and some gore to the mix that is a little welcome. The few non-dragging deaths in here was also nice, but it's only too bad that it hardly ever happened.The Bad News: Frankly, this one suffers from one nagging problem that all similar films suffer from; the use of bad, cheap, phony looking CGI to render the monster. It looks very bad, hardly ever meshes with the actors on the screen, and doesn't really gel with the general rest of the film. It even changes sizes a couple times, making it less of threat. It really should be stopped. The only other really big gripe with the film is that it has a majority of deaths that just involve pulling someone under the water. Most of the kills are done that way, and it really didn't do a lot to establish a general feel for the creature. a couple of different methods would've made it a little more of a frightening creature. There's still a couple of other little moments in here that didn't work or were examples of the usual disregard for logic, plot, continuity or whatever else the Sci-Fi Channel's originals are consistently missing, which are in abundance here as well.The Final Verdict: It's a pretty decent film, but there's still some decent work in there along the way. The biggest thing is that the killer in the film isn't all that threatening, which can really destroy many films. Had that been fixed, it would've been an alright film at best.Rated : Violence and some language